Wearing second hand clothes ‘an example of white privilege’, students told

Wearing second-hand clothes without this being blamed on “the bad morals of my race” is an example of white privilege, students have been told in a compulsory diversity course.

The University of Kent has instructed every student to complete the four-hour mandatory module, covering topics such as white privilege, microaggressions and pronouns.

The course, titled Expect Respect and seen by The Telegraph, includes a white privilege quiz where participants are asked to pick which of 13 options are societal benefits allegedly enjoyed by white people in the UK.

If the student ticks all 13, a gold star is awarded, and if not, a button appears directing them to retry.

One white privilege example listed is: “I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.”

Other examples include “I can go shopping without being followed or harassed”, being sure of having “neutral or pleasant” neighbours and “I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race”.

Scottish teachers have recently been urged to take a “white privilege test”, seen below:

The course on students’ moodle webpage also claims systemic racism is “built into the very building blocks of British society”, including schools, courts and churches.

It adds that some ethnic minorities engage in “white ideology” to benefit from the power “whiteness” brings.

Lecturers have been told in an internal email: “We expect all students, regardless of programme, level or site of study, to complete the module.

“It introduces students to the culture and expectations we have at Kent in terms of respectful behaviour and discussion, and also helps to increase students’ awareness and understanding about a variety of different themes and nuances in relation to equality, diversity and inclusivity.”

Staff have also been emailed by faculty managers to consider adding trigger warnings to exam papers, and carry out “pronoun checks, make a note of them and use them correctly” when meeting new students, such as they/them or ze/zir.

Philistine and irresponsible

However, it has sparked a backlash from professors, who told The Telegraph they are refusing to comply and branded it a “philistine” betrayal of academia’s core values.

“I’ve said I’m not going to do it (add trigger warnings or decolonise reading lists) and I'm not going to tell students to do this module either,” said Ellie Lee, a professor of family and parenting research at Kent, adding “quite a lot” of colleagues had followed suit.

“Encouraging people in the academy to narrow their field of reading and narrow students’ reading seems to me to be simply philistine and irresponsible. Students are being instructed through this module that there is a correct way of thinking.”

Prof Frank Furedi, a sociologist at Kent and author of 100 Years of Identity Crisis, criticised the “thought policing” move, adding: “There’s a danger of promoting conformism on campuses under the guise of education that you indoctrinate people into woke dogma.”

A Kent spokesman said the module was "supporting everyone to ensure all members of our community are treated with dignity and respect".