Jottings the history of Rhodes in any detail ,” and described him as a figure of importance and enormous generosity to Oxford . He added , “ We must not allow this wokeness to happen .”
And it ’ s not just Oxford . Over in Cambridge , “ serious plans ” are reported to be underway to change the name of the University ’ s Churchill College . While the official line dismisses such rumours , insiders are concerned about Winston Churchill ’ s legacy outside the UK .
One was quoted as saying , “ A more neutral name might help ,” while another added that after the removal of the Queen ’ s photo in Oxford , “ Anything ’ s possible .”
Postal racism
Spain ’ s state-owned post office has been accused of racism after issuing a set of four new stamps on the anniversary of George Floyd ’ s death last month . Correos said it hoped the “ Equality Stamps ” would “ send a message against racial inequality .”
The stamps , issued in collaboration with Spain ’ s national SOS Racism Federation , come in shades of brown , gradually getting darker in tone , and ending in black . In its promotion of the set , Correos said this was deliberate so that “ you ’ ll need more black stamps than white ones ” on letters .
However , the criticism has come from those who say that , because the values of the stamps decrease as the tone increases – from € 1.50 for the lightest brown to 70 cents for the black - it suggests that darker colours are of less value . Social media users described them as “ accidentally racist ” and called Correos “ tone deaf ,” while the SOS Racism Federation itself said they perpetuate the notion of black inferiority .
Correos meanwhile has withdrawn the stamps and refused to make any comment .
Woke Word Play
Britain ’ s National Health Service has swiftly removed a draft document related to “ equality , diversity and inclusion ” from public view after it was criticised for being “ highly divisive .” The website on which it appears was quickly password protected , but not before much of its content had been attacked on social media .
The document is an A to Z glossary of terms in current use but has been branded an “ alphabet of woke ” by Tory MP Neil O ’ Brien who says it includes a “ whole bunch of concepts ” including “ white fragility or white supremacy ” which should , “ not be pushed by NHS managers as a sort of gospel .”
In the glossary , G is for gender , gender dysphoria and gender identity , while T is for taking the knee , tokenism , tone policing , transgender man , transgender woman , transitioning and transphobia . Under W , white fragility is defined as “ a state in which even a minimum of racial stress becomes intolerable , triggering a range of defensive moves by white people .”
The NHS says the glossary is a draft document and is not NHS guidance . “ It was not intended for publication and has been removed ,” it added . Part of the cancel culture then ?
Meanwhile , the LGBT charity Stonewall says that the word “ mother ” should be replaced with “ parent who has given birth .” The advice has been given to organisations which want to be included on its Workplace Equality Leaderboard .
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