A student who banned white people and men from a students’ union equality event has insisted that she can’t be racist because she is an “ethnic minority woman”.
Publicity for event claimed that it aimed to be all about “challenge the white-centric culture of occupations”, “diversifying our curriculum” and building a “cross-campus campaign that puts liberation at the heart of the movement”.
But when Bahar Mustafa, Goldsmith University’s Students Union Welfare and Diversity officer, took to Facebook to invite people to the event, she insisted that it was for “BME Women and non-binary people” only, adding “if you’ve been invited and you’re a man and/or white PLEASE DON’T COME”.
Breitbart London reported at the time that Miss Mustafa had repeatedly confirmed that the event was segregated.
Her remarks quickly drew criticism from Goldsmiths students, who branded her comments “patronising” and “laughable”.
A senior member of the Students Union who wished to remain anonymous told The Tab “For Bahar to have the nerve to write this is patronising beyond belief.
“She (if that is her preferred gender pronoun) has made it very difficult for white cis males on campus who feel like they can’t say anything for fear of retribution. The irony that she (or they) think that they are diversifying the student community in the name of feminism and multiculturalism is laughable.”
Goldsmiths University said that it had written to the union to “express concern”, adding “We are proud of our diverse community and do not tolerate any form of oppression, including racism, sexism or any other form of bigotry.”
But Ms Mustafa has hit back, insisting that she can’t be racist because she’s not white. Speaking during the final student assembly at Goldsmiths last week, she told the audience “There have been charges laid against me that I am racist and sexist towards white men.
“I, an ethnic minority woman, cannot be racist or sexist towards white men, because racism and sexism describe structures of privilege based on race and gender.
“Therefore, woman of colour and minority genders cannot be racist or sexist, since we do not stand to benefit from such a system.”
In a statement stretching to seven minutes, she insisted that she represented “the most marginalised people at Goldsmiths” and accused people who “benefit from white supremacy” of “clinging on” to power, saying “We are not going down without a fight.”
“Reverse racism and reverse sexism are not real,” she said. “We will not be silenced; we are militant. The world is not ready for minorities to challenge the status quo, but resistance to our resistance is futile.”
This is not the first time that Miss Mustafa has drawn criticisms of racism and segregation. Earlier this year she organised a screening of a film titled Dear White People and advertised it as being for “BME ONLY”. A poster for the event stipulated that BME related only to “African, Caribbean, Arab, Asian and South American ethnic origin” students.
The racial segregation at the event led the Spectator to warn “we’ve got a serious storm coming”.
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