Problems with Diversity Part 97

The Students’ Union at the University of East Anglia in Norwich banned a local Mexican-themed restaurant (Pedro’s Tex Mex Cantina) from handing out sombreros to students in 2015 as part of a marketing drive. Union officials claimed the hats breached a policy forbidding stall-holders from handing out materials including ‘discriminatory or stereotypical imagery’. https://vk.com/video677203037_456239348

Problems with Diversity Part 94

Last year, a senior professor at a college at Yale University had to resign after he and his wife were accused of downplaying concerns over ‘inappropriate’ Halloween costumes. He was accused of ‘creating space for violence’ and of trivialising students’ concerns because he suggested people could turn away if they felt offended by students in… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 94

Problems with Diversity Part 93

The word  ‘Illegal’ is apparently a pejorative word and therefore unacceptable when applied to migrants — even to describe those who have, indeed, entered a country illegally. One set of guidelines in the U.S. states: ‘Actions are illegal, people are not . . . The word ‘illegal’ has been applied and abused by those advocating… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 93

Problems with Diversity Part 92

The Native American headdress is another victim of the cultural appropriation police. Singer Ellie Goulding was accused of racism after tweeting a picture of herself wearing one. ‘Don’t mock a dying race, you insensitive and ignorant excuse of a person,’ screeched one virtue-signalling critic. David Beckham’s son Brooklyn was the target of similar howls of… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 92

Problems with Diversity Part 91

Mother is a word that’s far too old-fashioned in our modern world where there is sensitivity about transgenderism. The British Medical Association some time ago advised members that mothers-to-be should be referred to as ‘pregnant people’ to avoid offence and ‘celebrate diversity’. Another previously innocuous M-word frowned upon by the PC brigade is ‘man’: censors… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 91

Problems with Diversity Part 90

‘Lame’is a word deemed offensive by some disability campaigners, particularly when used in the sense of being ‘ineffectual’ or ‘unappealing’. According to the ‘Ableist Word Profile’ (an online guide that ‘explores a variety of feminist issues through a disability lens’), use of the word ‘lame’ is ‘pejorative’ as it ‘reinforces ableism in our culture by… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 90

Problems with Diversity Part 89

Some Scots have suggested any non-Scot who wears the kilt is guilty of cultural appropriation — particularly considering England’s long history of ‘oppression’ against its northern neighbour. ‘Scottish Gaelic culture has been subject to rampant cultural appropriation for centuries as a result of its subordination to Anglophone culture in an Anglo-centric British Empire,’ laments Michael… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 89

Problems with Diversity Part 88

This traditional Caribbean dish became a recipe for a race row when chefs at Pembroke College, Cambridge, were ordered to rethink the menu after ethnic minority students complained that the ‘Jamaican Stew’ — as well as other dishes including ‘Tunisian Rice’ — constituted ‘micro-aggressions’ against them, since such offerings did not properly represent the foods… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 88