Indian-origin academic Gopal at centre of Cambridge racism row
Priyamvada Gopal, who teaches in the Faculty of English at Cambridge, has refused to supervise students at the university's King’s College in protest against what she described as “consistently racist profiling and aggression by porters” at its gate.
An alumni of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Gopal, 50, cited “this long festering sore” and said unless the college (founded in 1441) addresses it, she would not supervise students at the college.
Gopal is an expert in colonial and postcolonial literature.
On Tuesday, she tweeted that she stood by her decision after the college issued a statement denying racism, as reports in the British news media and on social media sparked much reaction, including support to her and criticism of her stand.
Gopal tweeted: “I have been subjected, like many other PoC (people of colour), some of have come weeping to my office, to, yes, I’ll say it – outright racist treatment – at Kings Gates. Since Kings denies it, this will not change. And so, my refusal to any more work for them stands”.
“I have now received hate emails and a continued barrage of vitriolic racist abuse”, she added.
Gopal cited examples of racism at the college and claimed that her attempts to raise this with the fellows and management of King's had “failed to elicit any changes”.
LONDON: