Sainsbury's worker, 52, sacked after picking up a cuddly toy and saying 'Black Lives Matter' - "The co-worker who made the complaint against Ms Cunnington thought she heard her say: 'I'm offended Black Lives Matter?'."
Parliamentary staff write poems about their privilege after Black Lives Matter protests - "Parliamentary staff have been urged to admit their 'privilege' through an online platform that has been set up in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.Officials have reportedly been issued with an 'inclusivity toolkit' by senior figures which encourages white workers to acknowledge their 'internalised racism'.The digital wall was set up by Parliament's diversity group Parli-REACH for staff to profess their privilege, write poetry and give their 'support' for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) colleagues... This comes soon after staff were given advice on how to support Black Lives Matter protests, such as 'attending protests and social media use'... One person posted on the platform arguing that staff could no longer watch American comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which stars Andy Samberg, because it sold a 'cosy lie' about policing."
Warwick Labour Society on Twitter - "We are disgusted by the recent interview @Keir_Starmer gave to BBC Breakfast. To say that defunding the police is ‘nonsense’ is a slap in the face to all the Black academics and activists who have been working on conceptualising a just society for so long. (1/4)"
Warwick Labour Society on Twitter - "Vote Labour on May 5th in Police and Crime Commissioner elections to fight against police cuts and increased crime"
What a difference a few years makes
Sargon of Akkad - Posts | Facebook - "The killing of Matt Ratana was horrible, and it’s understandable that other police officers are devastated. But this is a far right meme and it’s extremely disturbing that a police force has tweeted it out."
"Being against murdering the police is far right now."
Paint it black: UK postboxes change colour to honour Black Britons - "Four of Britain’s distinctive red postboxes have been painted black and gold and adorned with images by or of illustrious Black Britons, in a novel way of celebrating Black History Month... The Royal Mail is the latest institution to have engaged with Britain’s Black heritage in recent months, jolted by the Black Lives Matter movement and by the toppling of the statue of a slave trader by protesters in the city of Bristol in June.Among other changes, another slave trader statue was removed by officials in London, a concert hall in Bristol renamed itself and a charity that runs hundreds of grand country estates published an in-depth report about how the properties benefitted from slavery and colonialism.The trend has been met with a backlash, with parts of the media and some politicians dismissing it as “wokery”. The government has warned a number of major cultural institutions including the British Museum that their public funding could be called into question should they remove statues or other contentious objects."
Uhh
Please don’t import the US culture war to Britain - "No doubt, these lockdown rule-breakers are also the very same activists who would describe Covid-19’s disproportionate impact on the UK’s black population as a national scandal.The left in the UK, desperate to be a part of the anger and frustration felt by its counterparts abroad, has sought to frame police brutality and police-led racial abuse as a common UK-US problem. They have sought to strike parallels between the deaths of George Floyd and Mark Duggan in 2011. The comparison is insulting. Duggan was a hardened gang member who was once accused of shooting a man in a nightclub. And while policing in the UK needs a great deal of improvement, comparisons with the US are unwise. (It is also worth noting that significant numbers of white Americans have also been victims of law enforcement aggression.)Ethnic minorities in Britain are broadly trusting of the police. According to the most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales, seven in 10 black people in the UK had confidence in their local police force, which is not far below the corresponding figure for white people (75 per cent). This is an inconvenient truth for those leftists shouting ‘fuck the police’, apparently on behalf of ethnic minorities.According to the 2010 EMBES survey – one of the largest surveys of minority attitudes available – the vast majority of ethnic-minority Brits say they are satisfied with British democracy more broadly. Indeed, more BAME Brits are ‘very satisfied’ with UK democracy than white Brits... certain elements of the British left are eager for a more racially divided, structurally unjust Britain, in order to have the ammunition to press ahead with their moral crusade, inspired by US culture wars.A particularly chilling aspect of the US culture wars is left-wing ‘anti-whiteness’, which is finding a home within the contemporary British left. Despite telling us they are keen to create a racism-free society, anti-white sentiment is now being normalised among radical left activists in the UK. This is true not only of activists of an ethnic-minority background, but also of middle-class Guardianistas who feel ‘white guilt’. Such circles are ironically guilty of acts of racism, such as ordering white people not to participate in race-related debates. While portraying themselves as social-justice warriors fighting institutional racism, few have much to say on the mismanagement of large-scale cases of child sexual abuse across much of England which has strained race relations."
The Yaboiposting - Posts - "You have to feel bad for the British police normally at this this time of year they would be twerking with drag queens at pride."
BBC denies 'softening' Black Lives Matter protest picture - "The BBC has denied underplaying the level of violence during the Black Lives Matter protests after an image of a man threatening police officers was apparently cut out of the corporation’s coverage.Social media users pointed out yesterday that a picture taken during London’s demonstrations had been cropped to remove a man apparently brandishing a large piece of wood at a line of police.It came as the BBC came under criticism for an online story initially headlined: “27 police officers injured during largely peaceful protests anti-racism protests in London”.The story was later changed to: 'George Floyd: London anti-racism protests leave 27 officers hurt'... “How can an event that has left 27 police officers injured merit the description ‘largely peaceful’?”Colin Sutton, a former senior investigating officer at the Metropolitan Police, accused the BBC of “chicanery” after an image of the violence was apparently altered."
Comment: "Could you imagine what the narrative would be if 27 police officers were injured at a pro Brexit rally?"
Boris Johnson issues warning during statement on Black Lives Matter protests - "the Prime Minister accused thugs of “hijacking” the wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd in the US. “I will not support or indulge those who break the law, or attack the police, or desecrate public monuments,” he wrote. “Those who attack public property or the police – who injure the police officers who are trying to keep us all safe – those people will face the full force of the law.” Mr Johnson also criticised the mass protests for risking a fresh surge in coronavirus infections by “flouting” social-distancing rules.His broadside followed a weekend of protests across the UK that saw police attacked in London, graffiti sprayed on the plinth of a statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square and a 125-year-old bronze of slave trader Edward Colston toppled and hurled into Bristol harbour... “We have a democracy in this country. If you want to change the urban landscape, you can stand for election, or vote for someone who will.”He said violent protesters were “hijacking a peaceful protest and undermining it in the eyes of many who might otherwise be sympathetic.”"
How ironic that all the people who fantasise about "punching 'Nazis'" have such disdain for Churchill - who did more to fight Nazis than they ever will
BLM protests: Met Police boss 'sickened' by abuse against officers across UK - ""If bottles and fireworks are being thrown at our police officers, we should have public order equipment on. No ifs. No buts. Our colleagues' safety should be of paramount importance to our police leaders."... John Apter, the chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers in England and Wales, criticised Avon and Somerset Police for its decision not to intervene in the protest."
Black Lives Matter: Police condemn 'violent criminality' at UK protests - 35 officers hurt - "Of the 35 injuries, two of the officers required hospital treatment... one person was seen to climb the Cenotaph and attempted to burn the Union Jack.Some demonstrators also threw bottles and a flares towards officers... "When officers sought to protect colleagues and iconic landmarks they faced further obstruction and sustained assault."The violent criminality we saw is disgraceful and will have been very frightening for others."It will never be acceptable to attack police officers, damage property and leave others in fear of their safety... "We have had enough warnings. The tactics being used by the Metropolitan Police are very wrong."
UK cop thrown from horse during violent Black Lives Matter protest - "A British cop was flung from her horse after crashing into traffic lights as it bolted during a violent Black Lives Matter protest — leaving her with a collapsed lung and broken ribs... Disturbing video shows the police horse taking off as protesters hurled bottles and even a bike at it outside Downing Street"
Boris Johnson - Posts | Facebook - "Why attack Churchill? What has the world come to when one of this country’s greatest ever leaders – perhaps our greatest - has to be shielded from the wrath of the mob?... Where will it end? Are we supposed to haul down Cromwell who killed so many thousands of people in Ireland? What about Nelson and all the other innumerable reminders of this country’s imperial past? Take the case of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, whose portrait hangs in Room 15 of the National Portrait Gallery. He was a native of the Gambia who was known and admired in C18 London as a translator of Arab texts. He was also, originally, a slaver himself. Does that mean he should be purged from the Gallery?... As it happens, he generally changed with the times. He changed his view on India, and her capacity for independence; and whatever he may have said about Islam in the 1890s, he also built the Regent’s Park Mosque in the 1940s. And above all – as so many have rightly pointed out – it is the height of lunacy to accuse him of racism, when he stood alone against a racist tyranny that without his resistance would have overwhelmed this country and the rest of Europe... It is not just that is wrong to destroy public property by violence. I am also extremely dubious about the growing campaign to edit or photoshop the entire cultural landscape. If we start purging the record and removing the images of all but those whose attitudes conform to our own, we are engaged in a great lie, a distortion of our history – like some public figure furtively trying to make themselves look better by editing their own Wikipedia entry.Would it not be better and more honest to ask our children to understand the context, to explain the mixture of good and bad in the career of Churchill and everyone else? And rather than tear some people down, we should build others up, and celebrate the people who we in this generation believe are worthy of memorial."
Liberals pretend that antifa is following in the footsteps of the fight against Nazism, while villifying one of that fight's greatest figures (when they aren't villifying WWII veterans as being old, straight, white men)
Soldiers from Household Cavalry heckled as they clean up after protesters deface war memorial - "Soldiers from the Household Cavalry were heckled by a group of protesters as they cleaned graffiti daubed on a Whitehall war memorial during the Black Lives Matter march"
Black Lives Matter latest news: Priti Patel vows to brings 'yobs' to 'justice' after protests turned violent in London - "Bristol's police chief has defended his officers for not intervening to stop protesters pulling down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston... Avon and Somerset Police have launched a criminal damage investigation into what happened to the statue, which has long been a source of controversy in the city where it has been situated since 1895.Chief constable Andy Marsh said that had his officers intervened to arrest those responsible there would have been a “very violent confrontation”... the mainstream media rushed to report supposedly independent findings that 93 percent of BLM protests were peaceful and non-destructive, and that police intervened in more BLM protests than non-BLM protests
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has said he is “happy to lose” any customers who oppose the Black Lives Matter movement...
“Marching and protesting is one thing, but when thugs and yobbos turn around and try to disrupt public order, that's a completely different kettle of fish.“[Winston Churchill] stood behind this country in 1939 when parliament almost turned its back on him and it's thanks to him that we've not got a different statue there.“It could have been a fascist dictator stood there today and there could be swastikas flying.”...
Thousands of people are demanding the removal of controversial monuments and statues around the UK, which campaigners describe as “racist and unwelcoming”... One such petition, which has amassed more than 26,000 signatures, demands the removal of a caricature of a black man atop the 18th century Greenman pub sign in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.The Grade II-listed sign, which arches over St John's Street, depicts the face of a black man, which one 20-year-old anthropology student from the town, who did not want to be named, said resembled a gollywog, a 19th century rag doll which is largely considered racist."
How to get a free pass to commit crime in the UK
Strange how despite being a big "antifascist", Churchill isn't lionised by liberals unlike all the American soldiers who supposedly punched Nazis
Sadiq Khan on Twitter - "To the thousands of Londoners who protested peacefully today: I stand with you - and I share your anger and your pain. To the tiny minority who were violent - you endangered a safe and peaceful protest and let down this important cause. #BlackLivesMatter"
Sadiq Khan on Twitter - "This is totally unacceptable. We will not tolerate attacks on our police and perpetrators will feel the full force of the law. It is clear that far right groups are causing violence and disorder in central London, I urge people to stay away."
Naturally.
Man charged with arson after Pride flag was burnt in Brighton - "Moulay Abdelhakim Ismaili, 36, of Beaconsfield Road, Brighton, was detained on suspicion of committing a homophobic hate-related crime after a Pride flag was taken from a garden in Beaconsfield Road and burned at about 9.55pm."
No wonder they can't catch the people destroying so much public property
Police Federation Accuses Khan of Failing to Look After London Cops - "The head of London’s policing union has criticised Labour mayor Sadiq Khan for failing to protect the city’s police officers by allowing what became violent protests to take place despite coronavirus lockdown measures.The chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, Ken Marsh, revealed on Sunday that a total of 62 Met police officers were injured at Black Lives Matter protests in the past week... “Why didn’t he shut the Tube when he knew this was going to happen?“Leaders at tough times like this need to lead. He’s been a great advocate for the lockdown, but when it comes to this, he’s done nothing.“How’s that for looking after your coppers? I’m bewildered.”... Sky News shot footage of a police officer walking alone down Whitehall with blood running down his head, with dozens of reinforcements running in the opposite direction.Black Lives Matter extremists chased another group of officers down Whitehall, pelting them with glass bottles and garbage while yelling, “run, piggy, run” before the unarmed officers sought shelter in the grounds of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office... The London officers were attacked despite some of their colleagues taking the knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters. Mr Marsh told The Times that the country was operating under two sets of rules, with one for the law-abiding and the other for the far-left protesters. He said: “We are in the middle of a pandemic killing thousands of people. My colleagues don’t have any choice to be there. Lots of them may now catch Covid-19. There are several sets of rules going on in this country right now.” The Defund the BBC campaign’s Twitter page has gained 58,000 followers since Sunday after the taxpayer-funded broadcaster described the weekend’s protests which resulted in so much brutality against police as “largely peaceful”."
Sargon of Akkad - Posts | Facebook - "Sadiq Khan told that 'black officers were attacked' by Black Lives Matter protestors"
"Boris and Priti called them thugs and Sadiq defended the BLM instigators never forget that."
Sargon of Akkad - Posts | Facebook - "Taking the knee: ... those who do not do so may become the focus of the protesters attention... This has a very positive and engaging effect and when taken by officers, has a positive reaction on the protest groups"
"The British police response to BLM protests was not to ban knee taking to protect all officers and remain apolitical. But to throw non woke officers under the bus, great."
Man jailed for urinating at PC Keith Palmer memorial during protest - "Andrew Banks, 28, of Stansted, Essex, was photographed during Saturday's right-wing protests in London. He was sentenced to 14 days in custody, after pleading guilty to outraging public decency at Westminster Magistrates' Court."
Of course, the leftist mobs essentially got a free pass
Imperial College told to remove bust of slavery abolitionist because he ‘might now be called racist’ - "Imperial College London has been told to remove a bust of slavery abolitionist Thomas Henry Huxley because he “might now be called racist”, following a review into colonial links. An independent history group for the Russell Group university has recommended that a bust of the renowned 19th century biologist, dubbed “Darwin’s bulldog”, be taken down and the Huxley Building on campus renamed... The report also said the Beit Hall and Beit Quad should be renamed because these benefactors to the college, Alfred and Otto Beit, gained their fortune from diamond and gold mining in South Africa.">
First, they came for the Confederate Generals...
Black Lives Matter training among new diversity courses offered to NHS staff - "NHS England staff are being offered training on the Black Lives Matter movement despite the Health Secretary’s crackdown on "wokery"... New diversity courses available for health and care staff on the NHS People website cover white privilege, unconscious bias, "authentic allyship" and the intersectionality between race and gender... The latest diversity drive comes despite Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, telling parliamentarians this month he would be “watchful for any waste or wokery” from the NHS following the tax hike to fund healthcare. A Government insider raised concern that the NHS description of BLM failed to mention the contentious calls from some supporters to defund the police.“Managers, nurses and doctors are being indoctrinated with deadly doses of dodgy diversity and pernicious propaganda — all at the taxpayers’ expense,” a Whitehall source said.In another of the four NHS People diversity courses, medics are warned: "You may lose 'friends' as you commit to anti-racist allyship"... The revelations come after it emerged that the NHS diversity tsar Prerana Issar, the chief people officer, earned £35,000 more than the recently departed NHS chief executive... Sir John Hayes, the chairman of the Common Sense Group of more than 50 Tory MPs, has written to Mr Javid asking whether taxpayers’ money is being “squandered on woke propaganda”.He labelled it “grossly inappropriate” for the health service to be “propagating the work of radical critical race theorists and peddling the dangerously divisive notions of collective racial guilt and collective racial oppression”.His letter was prompted by a blog post on the NHS Leadership Academy website, titled “Dear white people in the UK”, which advised white staff to be uncomfortable when discussing issues of race.The Telegraph then revealed how NHS leaders had been told in a series of online seminars on “whiteness” and racial justice this year that speaking with a “cottage cream-thick English accent” was an example of privilege."
A slave owner or a peninsula? Debate after BLM group launch protest against 'Penrhyn' street name - "A decision by a Black Lives Matter protest group to protest the name of a street in the Barry has spurred debate online after some argued that it was a common Welsh language place name. A protest on Saturday by Stand Up to Racism Cardiff and Black Lives Matter Cardiff and Vale will call on Vale of Glamorgan Council to change the “disgusting” and “shameful” name of ‘Ffordd Penrhyn’ in Barry. The protestors say that the street has the same name as Penrhyn Castle, which was built the Pennant Family who made their money from the transatlantic slave trade. Others, however, have argued that as ‘penrhyn’ is the Welsh word for ‘peninsula’ and that the road in Barry leads to a peninsula, there is no clear link with the Pennant family. Penrhyn Castle itself is so named because it stands on a peninsula. Richard Pennant and later Edward Douglas-Pennant were given the title Baron Penrhyn."
Oxford University college votes to remove portrait of the Queen from common room - "The Education Secretary today slammed the 'absurd' cancelling of the Queen by Oxford students, who voted to take down an 'unwelcoming' portrait of the monarch from the graduates' common room because 'she represents recent colonial history'. Members of the Middle Common Room (MCR) at Magdalen College passed the measure by a substantial majority, with one student commenting that 'patriotism and colonialism are not really separable'. Expressing his outrage, Gavin Williamson tweeted: 'Oxford University students removing a picture of the Queen is simply absurd. She is the Head of State and a symbol of what is best about the UK. 'During her long reign she has worked tirelessly to promote British values of tolerance, inclusivity and respect around the world.' Oxford's vice-chancellor Lord Patten also weighed in, calling the decision 'offensive and obnoxiously ignorant'. The committee will now explore replacing the portrait with 'art by or of other influential and inspirational people' and subject any future depictions of the Royal Family to a vote, according to committee minutes that have not been published... The decision sparked an immediate backlash, with the president of Magdalen College swiftly moving to distance the institution itself from the students involved. It comes amid growing concern at the rise of intolerance and 'cancel culture' at British universities... Twitter user Samantha Smith said: 'The Queen was a pioneer of anti-racism in an era of widespread segregation and apartheid. Imagine trying to cancel the reigning monarch.'... Left-wingers working at King's College London reacted angrily to an email bulletin they received after the Duke's death in April, featuring a photograph of him opening the university's Maughan Library with the Queen in 2002. Following weeks of simmering tensions, Joleen Clarke, the associate director at King's College libraries, sent out an extraordinary apology for the 'harm' caused by including the photo in her email...
All Souls College in January removed the name of an 18th century slave trader from its main library but defied calls to take down his statue. The college reviewed its link to Christopher Codrington, a Barbados-born colonial governor, in the wake of last year's Black Lives Matter movement...
It came as new Church of England guidance, published last month, urged churches and cathedrals to consider the history of their buildings and the physical artefacts and how it could impact their congregations' worship. Churches that have already taken action include St Margaret's church in Rottingdean, Sussex, which has removed two 'deeply offensive' grave headstones which contained racial slurs. St Peter's Church in Dorchester has also covered a plaque commemorating a plantation owner."
We're still told that liberals don't hate their countries
Oxford student who led move to remove Queen's portrait is American - "Katzman is the son of commercial lawyer Scott Katzman, 65, who lives in a DC mansion worth more than $5.5 million, according to the Mail. He previously attended the $48,000-a-year Sidwell Friends School, a historic Quaker private college — where the Mail says he “likely” counted former President Barack Obama’s 22-year-old daughter Malia as a contemporary. Her younger sister, Sasha, also went there, as did Nancy Reagan, Chelsea Clinton, President Biden’s grandchildren and the offspring of other presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon. His total education has cost at least $640,000... Katzman is also seen in photos on social media with a Captain America shield, alongside the Stars and Stripes. But the computer sciences scholar insisted to the outlet that removing the portrait did not “equate to a statement on the Queen.” “The royal family is on display in many areas of the college, and it was ultimately agreed that it was an unnecessary addition to the common room,” he said. “It was decided that the room should be a welcoming, neutral place for all members regardless of background, demographic, or views”... Magdalen College — which has distanced itself from the vote — had long been “solidly royalist,” with its famous alumni including King Edward VIII, and the Queen herself getting an honorary degree in 1948. The monarch also visited in 2008 to mark its 550th anniversary."
When students are passing motions to abolish the monarchy, I fear for the future of the Royal family - "It was a privilege to justify the monarchy’s existence in the hallowed debating chamber, founded in 1823 to protect against the university’s restrictive rules surrounding the discussion of religion and politics – sound familiar? – and to champion freedom of speech, currently much curtailed today. Following in the footsteps of former speakers Winston Churchill, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Margaret Thatcher is an undisputed thrill, even if your stomach lurches in anxious anticipation of facing the largely left wing, “woke” student body... Charlie, on a military scholarship to Oxford and joshed by fellow students for having a framed portrait of the Queen in his bedroom, was passionate about the relationship between the armed forces and the monarchy, inspiring young people to serve their country. He admirably set out our stall to the other side, citing the benefits of the Crown – its diplomatic soft power, valuable tourist draw and political advantage of having a neutral head of state – and concluded that, while it may well be seen today as absurd and anachronistic, constitutional monarchies are happier and more stable... Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, a pressure group which campaigns for the abolition of the UK monarchy presented the Queen as if she was the David Walliam’s character, Gangster Granny. She was portrayed as lolling in her lavish lair, unscrupulously ripping off her subjects. The Royal family was “a racist institution by default” bellowed besuited Mr Smith. As well as being “anti Catholic”, it was “immoral, unethical, wrong in principle and corrupt”. He cited historians as describing the monarchy as “more secretive than M15” because they kept the royal archives at Kew, vetting access to them. Dr Ken Ritchie, the founder of Labour for a Republic, a Labour-affiliated pressure group, agitated over the monarchy “reinforcing the social pecking order”, urging us to rid them of their “social status and power”. They exist, he told us, in a bubble of privilege “against the background of huge numbers of people struggling to make ends meet”. The monarchy, he insisted, “doesn’t recognise this”. Surely, if anyone knows about economic disparity in Britain, it is the highest working members of the Royal family, who tour the country, visiting its every impoverished nook and cranny? I spoke last, weighing in against Mr Smith and his inaccurate Marie-Antoinette caricature of the Windsors. Yes, they are a dysfunctional family but they are our dysfunctional family. Yes, the Sussexes are divisive but the Cambridges are a unifying force. Princess Anne and the Queen have a dizzying work schedule; Her Majesty is diplomatic, experienced, hardworking and, in times of crisis, brilliantly binds the nation. Instead of the status, subjugation and superiority that the republicans hammered home, they should consider the service of senior royals."
I spoke up for the Queen at Oxford's debate... and was jeered - "When I proposed that the Queen was an inspiring feminist, I was booed, and later jeered for suggesting that instead of watering down the trappings of the monarchy, we should consider that nowhere in the world can replicate our crowd-swelling pomp and pageantry. I can’t remember any roar of applause when I said that the Queen represents continuity and stability, brilliantly binding our nation. And that while Prince Philip was her strength and stay, to abolish the monarchy would be to rid the country of its own strength and stay. I did get some laughs when I explained that the Queen was Britain’s best trade ambassador given the advantages of a Royal warrant to business. Weary of the earlier endless slurs that the Queen and the Royal family were racist, I then braved the view we had no actual evidence of this. I suggested that Meghan was positioning herself on the world stage exactly where she wanted to be, so she could reign as an anti-establishment heroine to her adoring woke subjects. This was met with gasps of horror. As we know from Piers Morgan’s fate at GMB, to challenge Meghan these days is to commit heresy... Due to the insistence by the young that their views are sacrosanct, there is no longer room for nuance, to point out that institutions like the monarchy and the empire need to be allowed to further evolve, not to be abolished. Or if those voices do exist, they are a scared whisper. The painting of the Queen wasn’t hung in Magdalen until 2013, after the same committee campaigned to put it up, but less than 10 years later, a world where a student would campaign to do such a thing is barely imaginable. Paradoxically, part of the reason that the British monarchy has survived is because it is the antithesis of woke. It hasn’t adopted fashionable causes but has remained solidly anachronistic. Its stability has come from its refusal to be swayed by the hysteria of the day. But this war against the monarchy and everything it represents to the younger generations, so quick to take offence and soak up distortions, is gaining worrying momentum. At the end of the debate, Oxford undergraduates passed the motion to abolish the monarchy by 79 votes to 57. How ironic if Meghan and Harry’s truth bombs are what finally obliterates it when their own lives of privilege – including Harry’s trust fund and Meghan’s fame – are built on the very Crown that they readily repudiate."
Oxford Student Newspaper to Employ “Sensitivity Readers” to Prevent “Problematic” Articles - "The Oxford Student Union (OXSU) is to set up a ‘Student Consultancy of Sensitivity Readers’ which will be tasked with vetting student newspaper articles."
Oxford University professor suggests ‘decolonising’ music syllabus to make it... - "Oxford music academic proposes to “decolonise the syllabus” and make the subject more inclusive following pressure from Black Lives Matter demonstrations. A professor from one of the world’s leading universities is hoping to “decolonise” its degree-level music offering and enhance the diversity of the undergraduate curriculum. In documents seen by The Telegraph, an academic from the University of Oxford proposed a lighter focus on Euro-American elite music, “arising from international Black Lives Matter demonstrations”. They said they want to address the “white hegemony” in Oxford’s music syllabus, and to better represent other forms of music. Possible changes to undergraduate courses include reducing the focus on canonic classical composers like Mozart and Beethoven, in a proposed move away from “white European music from the slave period”. It was reported that the professor questioning the music curriculum’s “complicity in white supremacy” also proposed a lighter focus on western music notation, allegedly described in the documents as a “colonialist representational system”... the faculty member also suggested learning skills like playing the piano, or conducting orchestras, should no longer be compulsory. They said these skills “structurally centre [around] white European music”, causing some “students of colour great distress”. Documents also highlight the issue of an “almost all-white faculty” giving “privilege to white musics”."
Oxford University staff propose to 'rethink' teaching sheet music because of its 'complicity in white supremacy' - "Western music, however, has been a long evolving art form that, as the Telegraph notes, predates the trans Atlantic slave trade entirely. Music evolved along with the Catholic church and was about worship of the divine. Musical notation does not even have its origin in the west. The first known musical notation was found on a cuneiform tablet from ancient Iraq, then known as Babylonia. That tablet is now some 4,000 years old. That first notated song is known as the Hurrian Hymn No. 6, and because a fragment of it has survived in notation, it is able to be recreated today."
