White students ‘feel unable to talk about race’

Minister hits out at ‘monoculture’ that’s stifling university debate

DEBATE among students is being stifled because white people are not allowed to talk about race, the universities minister has warned.

Sam Gyimah, whose parents are from Ghana, condemned the belief that white people cannot have ‘an opinion worth sharing’ because they do not know ‘what it means to be black’.

He said people are also finding themselves unable to voice views on transgender issues ‘unless they are trans themselves’.

The minister stressed these are symptoms of a student ‘monoculture’ which assigns people an ‘identity’ and tells them they cannot comment on anything else. He insisted labelling people and putting them in ‘silos’ is damaging because it stops them speaking freely.

Mr Gyimah, an Oxford graduate, delivered his damning verdict on student politics in a speech at the ‘Wonkfest’ higher education ideas conference in London. He said: ‘When I talk about monoculture, what I mean is having a culture where dissenting views – whatever they are – are unwelcome.

‘And people can only speak from the silos or the identity that is prescribed them.

‘If there was an issue to do with race, someone might say to you “How do you know what it means to be black?”. Of course you might not be black, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t have an opinion that is worth sharing.

‘If there is a trans issue, and you are a 50-year-old white man and you got involved in it, [people might say] you shouldn’t comment on this because it’s not the silo allocated to you.’

Mr Gyimah added that all too often people are told they are not allowed to talk about trans issues ‘unless they are trans themselves’. He said: ‘It has become the case that people feel they cannot deviate from the silo that has been assigned to them by the monoculture – and it stifles debate.’

His comments come after Oxford professor Nigel Biggar was branded ‘racist’ and a ‘bigot’ for suggesting the British Empire had good as well as bad aspects. Student campaigners suggested he was viewing history through a ‘white male’ lens.

Meanwhile, professors who have raised concerns about the transgender lobby have been shouted down because they do not know the torment of gender dysphoria. Mr Gyimah said dismissing people because of their identity is often simply a convenient way to silence their voice, adding: ‘There is a lot of that in our universities.’

Private schools have been told to share facilities like swimming pools, playing fields and science labs – and even teachers – with state schools in new Government guidelines. They may also invite local disadvantaged children to take part in ‘mixed’ lessons in the optional scheme.

A number of schools already have such partner schemes.

‘People can only speak from silos’