University of Cambridge CUSU women’s officer Lola Olufemi has become the face of a push for more diverse literature in the English department. (Lola Olufemi/Facebook)
A Black student at the University of Cambridge has ignited a firestorm over a request for more works from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) writers to be included in the curriculum. “Decolonising the English Faculty,” a letter from a group of students that Lola Olufemi has become the face of, has earned a response from faculty. The school announced Wednesday, Oct. 25 that it would review the overwhelming representation of white authors. However, some publications have described the push as racist.
It began last June, The Guardian reported, when Olufemi, the student union women’s officer, collected classmate proposals for Black literature in an open letter. The message, presented to English faculty chairman Peter De Bolla with 150 signatures, was the result of a meeting with lecturer Dr. Priyamvada Gopal after students completed an optional postcolonial paper.
“What we can no longer ignore, however, is the fact that the curriculum, taken as a whole, risks perpetuating institutional racism,” the letter said. “The history of the canon is a history that has willfully ignored, misrepresented and sidelined authors from the global south. Sadly, the current syllabus is a result of this history; it is far too easy to complete an English degree without noticing the absence of authors who are not white.”
While the letter was simply asking for Black and other non-white authors to be considered for inclusion, two publications — The Telegraph and the Daily Mail — said it was forcing decolonization and excluding white authors.
Something v concerning about way Telegraph put only this young woman's pic & not more complex story on front page. As if to incite trolling pic.twitter.com/iVdSykYod2
— Samira Ahmed (@SamiraAhmedUK) October 25, 2017
The publications were bashed over their representations of the request.
Lola Olufemi asked only that we study some writers from a BME background. And this is the vile, racist response.https://t.co/G9emNIqeMu
— Sam Knights (@samjknights) October 24, 2017
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And others have lent their support to Olufemi.
Full solidarity with Lola Olufemi @CUSUWO and huge love to the women of colour at this uni and @CambridgeFLY who lead these fights https://t.co/qixQ7jjSMm
— Jase (@jasebyjason) October 25, 2017
solidarity with #LolaOlufemi and shame on those who would demonise a black woman for supporting curricular inclusivity/expansion
— kat 🐌 cto of antifa (@katmsinclair) October 25, 2017
Solidarity with #LolaOlufemi. The right to critique, shape and expand the canon of texts in university is a fundamental academic freedom.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) October 25, 2017
The publications have since issued some form of a correction on each website, one of which Olufemi posted on Facebook.
Cambridge issued a statement, which was retweeted by Olufemi. It noted that no changes have been made to the curriculum as yet and condemned the online harassment that has ensued.
Statement from University of Cambridge in support of Lola Olufemi @CUSUWO in reaction to today's media coverage. pic.twitter.com/2Q53sjQZNj
— Cambridge University (@Cambridge_Uni) October 25, 2017
Rianna Croxford, a co-author of the open letter, gave some input about what a revamp of the curriculum would look like.
You could study The Tempest in juxtaposition with 20thc adaptations that re-entered the subaltern voices of Caliban and Sycorax i.e Cesaire
— Rianna Croxford (@The_Crox) October 26, 2017
and hey look! This is all without even excluding white authors
— Rianna Croxford (@The_Crox) October 26, 2017
It's writing an essay about the foils, the minor characters, the dark figures in the backdrop who sent the scene, be it women or poc
— Rianna Croxford (@The_Crox) October 26, 2017
And Gopal, who spoke to The Telegraph, chimed in to clear some things up.
'One important point–though Lola Olufemi has become the face of the campaign, the majority of students demanding the changes were/are not BME but 'white.' They've started to understand how central the British Empire was to the formation of British and English identity…
— Priyamvada Gopal (@PriyamvadaGopal) October 25, 2017
to their own experience of the present, and want to know more.
— Priyamvada Gopal (@PriyamvadaGopal) October 25, 2017
I repeat: NOT ONE SINGLE WHITE MALE WRITER will be harmed in the adding of a few BME writers to any syllabus. Not one single one. Not even a token sacrifice of a Guy on a bonfire.
— Priyamvada Gopal (@PriyamvadaGopal) October 25, 2017