Oxford; the university every aspiring British child wants to study at. A university of opportunities, the best in the business... the biggest guilt trippers and thought shamers of any university, apparently.
According to the Equality and Diversity division of Oxford uni, not making eye contact or avoiding any form of communication could be seen as racism (or to use the term they used, 'racial micro-aggressions). They don't care about context, they don't care if you share racial traits with the person you're in the situation with. You're racist. It's also racist if you ask someone where they're originally from.
Racism is a very controversial topic. There's debate whether you can be racist to white people, the whole idea of cultural appropriation and just saying the wrong things in general. While we can have our discussions there, it's almost unanimous that these two aspects aren't racist and it's actually ridiculous if people believe it is. It's almost as ludicrous as the belief of the world being flat. Dr Joanna Williams of the University of Kent is one of the bigger POIs when it comes to talking about this, saying to The Telegraph "'the guidance was “completely ridiculous” and will make students “hyper-sensitive” about how they interact with one another'".
I'll touch briefly on asking where someone is from. Asking someone where they're from is usually a polite thing to ask. It shows interest in a person as long as you're not coming off as condescending. It's no different than asking if someone has pets or what hobbies they have. At my university, there are people from many different parts of the world and, heck, many different parts of the UK. I have asked numerous times if people are local or have asked where they're from if they're Erasmus students. Lecturers have even asked this in some of our Language classes to try and help or get a different perspective on a topic such as when we did a module on dialects. It's a conversation starter. Hell, you could make a fucking argument for it being racist NOT TO ask someone where they're from because you're ignoring their indentity. I don't agree it's racist either way but I'd say there's more of a case for the opposite.
But that doesn't get my blood boiling. Let's move on, shall we?
University is a very stressful time. Students have a plethora of assignments to do, have to balance free time with study time and have to attempt to fit in with the right crowd and do well. Let's add the guilt of being racist onto that by doing two things that are not racist in the slightest. You know what else students struggle with? Anxiety and social situations.
In 2014, The Psychologist did a study regarding social anxiety in higher education. They surveyed 1500 students across 2 universities and showcased what the students felt that have said they struggle with anxiety; "...self-selecting participants reported frequent anxiety in learning
situations that involved interacting with students and staff (Russell,
2008a; Topham, 2009). They described intense anxiety and embarrassment,
physical symptoms (e.g. sweating, blushing), self-consciousness, fear of
criticism, cognitive and behavioural impairment (e.g. forgetting,
stuttering) and a tendency to dwell on past performance. Students
habitually avoided public situations such as lectures, seminars and
project groups by being absent or through non-participation".
On the official Social Anxiety UK website, they describe the different symptoms associated with social anxiety and I want to bring attention to the behavourial aspect; "It exceeds normal "shyness" as it leads to excessive social avoidance
and substantial social
or occupational
impairment.
Feared
activities may include almost any type of social interaction, especially
small groups, dating,
parties, talking
to strangers, restaurants, etc. Possible physical symptoms include
"mind going blank",
fast heartbeat,
blushing, stomach ache, nausea and gagging.
Cognitive
distortions are a hallmark, and learned about in CBT
(cognitive-behavioral therapy).
Thoughts are
often self-defeating and inaccurate". Keep the phrase "social avoidance" in mind. It not only refers to avoiding going out but also AVOIDING EYE CONTACT.
The worst fucking thing you can do to a socially anxious person is make them feel guilty for being socially anxious. You are not alleviating racism on campus; you're putting a strain on those with a potentially emotionally and mentally crippling disorder. They're not making eye contact not because they hate coloured people. They do it because they feel guilty. They feel like they're offending someone or creeping them out by making eye contact. They become nervous if their eyes lock onto someone elses. That's how I feel.
I'll try to give some context as to why this makes me so angry. I have struggled with social interaction since primary school. I didn't fit in in primary or secondary school, I acted like an idiot in college to try and hide my insecurities (and I became ridiculously emotionally reserved after as a result), I was bombarded with stuff that did not help me with a job search when I was denied going to university in 2013 which decimated the little confidence I had and when I finally got into uni, I had my first panic attack in early 2016. I am feeling fucking awful just typing this anecdote. You know what is a result of all of this? Struggling with eye contact. It does not matter who it fucking is, I struggle so much with it. I struggle looking fucking family in the eyes, the same flesh and blood. To link a common trait of social anxiety with something so heinous is such a ballsy move. I have not even touched on the fact it's also a trait of autism and aspergers and there's people that just generally find it awkward to make eye contact with strangers. I commend Oxford in a fucking weird way for having the audacity to come up with such an absolutely fucking inane idea.
You're a bunch of fucking cunts.
Here's a picture of Hunter, one of my cats.
Isn't he a cutie?
Inspired by the article "Students who avoid making eye contact could be guiltyof racism, Oxford University says" by Allison Pearson of The Telegraph.
