(Telegraph) - The University of Edinburgh has been criticised for hosting an “anti-racism” event in which white people were due to be banned from asking questions.
The conference has been organised by the Resisting Whiteness group which opposes racism and describes itself as a QTPOC (queer and trans people of colour) organisation.
There will be two “safe spaces” at the event one of which white people will be barred from entering.
The safe places are meant for those who feel “overwhelmed/overstimulated or uncomfortable”.
A blurb for the “conference, talks and workshops” at the city’s Pleasance Theatre, which aim to “amplify the voices of people of colour, says: "We will therefore not be giving the microphone to white people during the Q&As, not because we don't think white people have anything to offer to the discussion, but because we want to amplify the voices of people of colour.
"If you are a white person with a question, please share it with a member of the committee or our speakers after the panel discussion."
Questions explored during the conference will include “what does it mean to be a queer and/or trans person of colour in a society that frequently does not want to see us?”.
However, Jane McColl, an anti-racism campaigner, said the event itself was “blatantly racist”, adding: “It sets back the battle to achieve equality and fairness by decades, all because of the actions of a tiny group of extremists, whose perverse sense of logic has led them to belittle white people, not by who they are as individuals, by merely because of their skin colour.
"Imagine if this event was called 'Resisting Blackness' and non-white people were told they could not ask questions, nor access a room because they were the 'wrong' colour."
Telegraph.co.uk
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