Lecturer Called Student's Henna 'Weird Brown Stuff' And 'Unprofessional', London Uni Hears
A student at City, University of London considered dropping out after a lecturer accused them of being “unprofessional” in front of a packed lecture theatre for wearing henna, which the tutor described as “weird brown stuff”.
It is one of a string of claims of discrimination and microaggressions towards Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students that were shared with university bosses as City attempts to tackle racial injustices on campus.
BAME staff were invited to share their experiences of racism at a so-called “town hall” meeting organised by the university on July 20, while City Students’ Union shared students’ anonymous accounts.
The student wearing henna – which is a traditional practice at some Hindu, Sikh and Muslim weddings and other religious festivals – was told by their health sciences tutor that it would make their patients feel “uncomfortable”, the meeting heard.
“It was a highly embarrassing moment for me and I seriously considered dropping out because I wasn’t good enough,” the anonymous student said.
In a video created by the union that was shown at the meeting, a Muslim health sciences student described how she was forced to buy her own uniform for placement because of the university’s failure to understand “the issues faced by Muslim women”.
After being told there was a “problem” with her clothing because she was wearing sleeves, she tried to explain the situation to her tutor. “I was met with a ‘deal with it’ attitude from my peers and tutor,” she said.
“In the end, I had to spend my own money on buying disposable sleeves for myself because placements and universities do not have the knowledge or equipment to deal with it appropriately due to lack of diversity.”
Another student described how, despite the fact that City is a diverse university, its journalism course is predominantly white.
“It has been challenging to navigate complex and sensitive matters around race and...
