During a debate on Free education of which I was on the panel, a large group of students interupted the meeting to protest about the NUS's disgraceful decision to find Kings College SU president not guilty of racism.
In my speech on Fighting for Free Education I spoke about the need to fight for your rights; that the ruling classes dont just wake up and think 'what am i going to do today?, erm, maybe i'll give women the right to vote'. NO, women had to fight for this right. And the Black Students Campaign were exactly right to disturb this meeting and fight for their rights.
Wes streeting complained that he felt intimidated and harrased, and one of our own Co-Presidents called security.I'm not suprised that the security guard, who is Nigerian, did not rush or try very hard to remove said protesters.
In my speech on Fighting for Free Education I spoke about the need to fight for your rights; that the ruling classes dont just wake up and think 'what am i going to do today?, erm, maybe i'll give women the right to vote'. NO, women had to fight for this right. And the Black Students Campaign were exactly right to disturb this meeting and fight for their rights.
Wes streeting complained that he felt intimidated and harrased, and one of our own Co-Presidents called security.I'm not suprised that the security guard, who is Nigerian, did not rush or try very hard to remove said protesters.
The Minority Students Campaign forced NUS President Wes Streeting to answer questions which he has for the most part avoided. In all fairness, althhough he spoke like a true politician, typically avoiding the truth, he did issue an apology and admitted that the NUS has handled this case poorly and will oversee changes in procedures to ensure that we do not see a repeat of this event.
Not known for mincing his words Lee Jasper severly reprimands Wes.
Well done to Mpegwa for demonstrating, and demonstrating what can be acheived when you stand up for your rights. Being his very first protest it wass great to see a whole new layer of angry students want to get involved.
Written by Alex Donald
23/10/08
A damning statement, demanding an “immediate apology” and threatening “further action from being taken”, has been released by the SOAS Student Union Executive (SU Exec.).
The joint statement, which was signed by Ben Sellers (President of Sports and Societies), Marya Ahmad (President of Welfare and Education) and Nizam Uddin (President of Finance and Communication) directly accuses the Enuff is Enuff campaign of “false claims, inaccuracies, misrepresentation and slander” regarding their coverage of last Wednesday’s demonstration in the Junior Common Room (JCR) against Wes Streeting, the President of the National Union of Students (NUS).
The statement, which can be read on the SOAS SU website, directly indicts SOAS African-Caribbean Society (ACS), Minority Students UK (MSUK), Afrikan and Afrikan-Caribbean Youth and Student Action group (AA-CYSA) and an unnamed SOAS co-Black Officer.
“The Students’ Union is requesting an immediate retraction and apology from all parties concerned to counter the disrepute that it has placed upon the SOAS Students’ Union and prevent further action from being taken.”
SNEWS has learnt that the President of SOAS ACS, Symeon Brown is currently in direct talks with Mr Uddin about the incident.
The statement released counters claims made by the ethnic minority students campaign group MSUK that the presence of Mr Streeting at SOAS last Wednesday was as a result of an “undemocratic invitation” by the “powers that be within SOAS Union.”
The SOAS Exec argues that it “defends its behaviour in line with its principles”
MSUK also accuses Mr Uddin directly of having “political affiliations” with Mr Streeting, an allegation that the statement dismisses as “false”.
Last Wednesday (15th), protesters stormed the SOAS JCR demanding the immediate resignation of Mr Streeting for failing to act swiftly against “institutional racism” within the NUS.
A heated argument, which can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/wat
Meanwhile, a source from within some of the groups mentioned, who wishes to remain anonymous, told SNEWS that statements responding to the Exec's statement will be released soon.
6 comments:
It's called the British education system for a reason.
The first time I heard of Westley was his appearence at NUS conference (I'm so glad I've never been to one).
He is (1) a blatant oxygen thief (2) destined for a great career in Unison, now there's no safe Labour seats and (3) if we are all still around during the revolution he will be signing our death warrents for the government and sending out throatslashing goons to drain our blood: he will have a song in his heart and skip in his step.
While Racism is such a serious issue I would like to point out that false accusations of racism are an equally serious issue. The incident at Kings that sparked this entire situation should have been dealt with, sending a clear message that racism is in no way acceptable but that does not mean the NUS president should be declared a racist. The SOAS ACS along with MSUK and AA-CYSA need to be careful banding around accusations towards anyone who disagrees with their interpretation, accusations that could affect people for the rest of their lives especially if they are exaggerated or false. It is right to stand up against racism but if you ignore the point of view of anyone who disagrees with you based on the colour of their skin and dismiss them as racist then you are engaging in the same hate crime that you are accusing the other of. my only point in all this is make sure you don't jump in playing the race card unless there is an absolutely clear cut case of racism otherwise you at the very least are guilty of slander and you poison the cases of any one who is truly fighting racism!!
Anonymous, you are absolutely correct. However, i don't remember anyone calling Wes a racist. And i categorically say that he is not. He is known for speaking at Unite against Fascism meetings and events and even on Stop the War motions and demos.
The protesters are campaigning against the way that this whole issue has been dealt with.
If you don't remember Claire I suggest you review the video of Mr. Mpegwa Mwakang'ata protesting the Presence of Mr. Wes Streeting at the debate on free education. At 5 min 12 sec he clearly points towards the panel where Wes is and says "these people are protecting and collaborating and supporting this racism" a pretty damning accusation that equates by any definition as racism, and even though he does not specifically name Wes at that point it would be naieve to assume that he would change the focus of his protest from Wes to an unspecified group and then back again while not intending to implicate him as being part of the group. He Also clearly states that Nizam asking the security guard to step in during the protest is "the tool of white supremacy and racism" these are strong and dangerous accusations
Mr. Mpegwa Mwakang'ata acts rather unreasonably, I'm asian and I can understand his frustration, but by going at Nizzam and pointing at Wes et al. and branding them as supporting racism, made him look rather naive and petty in my opinion. Also, back to his point of not wanting to hear the word "nigger", this guy is a DJ, I heard he opened up for acts like Akon, 50 cent etc. so someone told me some time ago...I'm not sure abt how true this is...but you shouldn't talk about not wanting to hear the word, and then promoting the music anyway. I was Djing on the SOAS boat party, and he was bopping his head to what I was playing, I didn't hear him complain then... However, I agree with his points, but he shouldn't throw the term racism around so easily, and especially pointing at Nizzam saying he was defending "white supremecy". it looked more like a competition for him to put every single anti-racist, colonial, impreialist phrase in a 9 minute rant, he nearly succeeded. I felt sorry for Nizzam when I heard about this, and also, Nizzam hasn't got nowt to do with organising events, never mind Black History Month, he made his good argument seem a bit more like an attack, by adding such fatal errors. Still, the bloke who was making jokes about slavery is a complete c**t!
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