In this blog, I reflect on resources relating to race and higher education.
UAL’s anti-racism action plan (Purnell and Patel, 2021) sparked my reflection on performativity, and on how anti-racism is “evidenced” by universities. The plan says it will create “measurable commitments” and deliver change in its “data”. My view is that issues relating to racism in university teaching are far more complex than the simplistic stories that numbers can paint – especially when considering theories of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) and the matrix of domination (Collins, 1990). It is apparent that universities’ reports on awarding gaps are flawed – underrepresenting many people’s diverse characteristics as well as those unwilling to disclose their information. The UAL plan also introduces student-facing workshops and events, which can easily be counted to show that the university has acted. However, this stops anti-racism being more thoroughly integrated into everyday work life – instead becoming a one-time consideration.
I had similar thoughts when reviewing the Telegraph’s report: “The charity turning UK universities woke” (Orr, 2022). It critiques AdvanceHE’s Athena SWAN and equality charters by interviewing students and experts from Cambridge. It argues that AdvanceHE’s guidelines are unhelpful, leading to trainings that push a particular ideology. To support this, the interviewer speaks with a recent Cambridge PhD, who says that a cambridge-published report found just one racism report per year to HR (over the short period of five years). This ignores i) the bias of the institution itself publishing the report, ii) systemic HR challenges that block complaints, and iii) broader cultural issues that discourage people from reporting in the first place.
Despite interviews with students who say AdvanceHE-influenced ideas helped them better understand and engage with others, the interviewer frames it as an attack on free speech. In one interview, an interviewee notes that, given the diversity at universities, it can be hard to fit in – a genuine point about the plurality of perspectives on campus. The interviewer uses this to suggest people can’t express their views (although, no one had noted that they can’t). The interviewee then mentions changing “hello ladies and gentlemen” to “hello everybody” in their teaching – the point where the clip cuts off. This minor, voluntary shift in language to me brings more students into discussions: not posing a threat to free expression.
This brings me to my reflection on a video clip of students doing a privilege walk (Channel 4, 2020). Its benefit and drawback is that it makes alienation visible. This is useful for sparking reflection in students (see Mann, 2001; Demirdiş, 2021; and my earlier blog link). However, as a pedagogic technique, care is needed to ensure this exposure doesn’t have harmful effects. Many anti-diversity rhetorics tap into white guilt which leads to white defensiveness (Levine-Rasky, 2000). People often react angrily to guilt, doubling down rather than considering how to change. This emotional reaction may help to explain the popularity of free speech arguments used against universities.
For teaching, I’d thus love to explore more how to invite reflection on race throughout courses and better manage emotional discussions. Any recommendations welcome!
References
Channel 4 (2020) ‘The School That Tried to End Racism’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3wJ7pJUjg.
Collins, P.H. (1990) ‘Black feminist thought in the matrix of domination’, Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment, 138(1990), pp. 221–238.
Crenshaw, K. (1989) ‘Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics’, University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), pp. 139–167.
Demirdiş, M. (2021) ‘Bertolt Brecht’s Theatrical Techniques’ Connection with Critical Pedagogy and Their Usability in Learning Environments’, in. Available at: https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:252019494.
Levine-Rasky, C. (2000) ‘The practice of whiteness among teacher candidates’, International Studies in Sociology of Education, 10(3), pp. 263–284.
Mann, S. (2001) ‘Alternative perspectives on the student experience: alienation and engagement’, Studies in Higher Education, 26(1), pp. 7–19.
Orr, J. (2022) ‘Revealed: The Charity Turning UK Universities Woke’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM6vOPTjuU.
Purnell, J. and Patel, N. (2021) ‘UAL Anti-racism Action Plan Summary’. University of the Arts London. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0032/296537/UAL-Anti-racism-action-plan-summary-2021.pdf.
Hi Corey, I really enjoyed your thoughtful analysis of the resources—particularly your reflection on the privilege walk and the Chanel 4 reference. I also explored this resource in my blog post and drew on a compelling critique by Morton (2022), Against the Privilege Walk, published in Dissent Magazine. Morton argues that while the exercise offers a powerful visual metaphor for inequality, it can unintentionally centre guilt or pity rather than fostering a deeper structural understanding. This strongly echoes your point about the risks of triggering white guilt and defensiveness (Levine-Rasky, 2000), which can stall critical reflection.
In my own response (in my blog post 3) to the final part of the activity—where students are asked to run from their acquired position—I questioned what might happen if facilitators instead asked those at the front to slow down, giving those at the back a chance to move forward. This small change could transform the exercise into a more embodied and relational enactment of equity, redistributing not only pace and space, but the symbolic weight of privilege itself. It also aligns with Sadiq’s (2020) emphasis on the importance of experiential approaches to anti-racist practice. I think Morton’s piece might resonate with your reflections and add another useful layer to your critical engagement.
Reference Morton, B. (2022) ‘Against the Privilege Walk’, Dissent Magazine, Summer. Available at: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/against-the-privilege-walk/ (Accessed: 14 July 2025).
Hi Monika,
Thanks for the resources. It’s great to read from Morton how guilt can be fostered instead of understanding.
I find in general this is one of the key challenges of any experiential approach. Students need to be motivated to engage in reflection to reach transformative understandings, and not just exposed to experiences or representations. Whilst outside of the domain of teaching, Slovak et al. (2017) describes this challenge in relation to design computer systems for people’s reflection. There might be something interesting in here that could help with you’re thinking on exploring experiential approaches to anti-racist practice cf. Sadiq (2020).
Slovák, P., Frauenberger, C., & Fitzpatrick, G. (2017). Reflective Practicum: A Framework of Sensitising Concepts to Design for Transformative Reflection. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2696–2707. https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025516
All the best,
Corey
Hi Corey,
I strongly related to your criticism of UAL’s anti-racism plan, especiallyy your point about performativity. My takeaway from your blog was your conversation about emotional reactions, specifically white defensiveness. I think that’s a very important point, wanting to do the right thing doesn’t mean that people are ready to assume discomfort, especially if they feel accused or overwhelmed. It reminded me of recent discussions around climate activism: When radicals use certain tactics, like shutting down transportation or throwing soup at artworks, the public responds with a backlash. As one article reported, “research also indicates that radical tactics may dampen popular support for social movements” (The Guardian, 2022). It’s not the message people necessarily reject, but how it’s delivered that can drive them away.
That made me think more carefully about what we say and don’t say about race and inequality. As you said, it’s not about trying to avoid the emotional work, it’s about trying to build space that encourages rather than silences reflection. I’m also spending more time considering the facilitation and pacing that might be required for us to help students, and ourselves, sit with that complexity without falling into guilt or silence. Appreciate you raising them!
Hi Rebekah,
Thanks for the insightful comments.
It’s very interesting to relate these ideas to climate activism and the just stop oil protests. I know many people who have the reaction you describe and thus think of just stop oil as simply a public nuisance. It is great that it conveys a message and reaches the wider public – but whether it leads to the right type of discussions I’m unsure. Great to think about!
Sitting in the complexity is also a fantastic way to frame the kinds of things we’ve been talking about. How best to scaffold this for the students? Hmm…..
All the best,
Corey