A hashtag has emerged which exhibits the racist side of academia, a career which is predominantly white. Academia is an industry far from perfect and is often described as toxic, competitive and discriminatory. Despite this, academia and its employees are portrayed as prestige and hard working – the bias and white privilege within academia is rarely spoken of.
The Twitter hashtag sees academics and students past and previous discussing some of the rife inequalities which are evident within the industry. As well as overt discrimination (less funding, less diversity in STEM etc), there are many subtle (and yet just as insidious) ways in which people within academia and the industry itself are harming Black scientists. This hashtag has bought these to light.
Microaggressions usually occur within the form of remarks and comments which are not quite outrageous enough to be met with retaliation. These can include:
- Complimenting someones English skills, without prior knowledge of whether English is their first language
- Being mistaken for other people of the same race, with no other similarities other than skin colour
- People not making effort to pronounce names correctly
- Being ignored in discussions and meetings
- Scientific abilities and “belonging” being doubted
Defense mechanisms to shield from Micro-aggression’s within academia are commonly used by those experiencing them, including complacency and laughter. When Black people within academia stand up for themselves, they are often met with anger and Racial gaslighting. Racial gaslighting occurs when one party tells the other party how they should feel after receiving a racially charged comment.
In response, Black people have stated that to pacify the racial discrimination’s, they:
- Disguise accents before speaking
- Avoid speaking out on racist comments, for fear of retaliation
- Over-emphasise intelligence
- Pacify racist remarks by laughing and smiling
Be aware of the language that you use when speaking with Black peers, colleagues and professors. The racism within academia can have long-lasting effects on self esteem and mental health.
These are just a few Tweets and examples of the struggles that black people face within academia, and I urge you to read through them. As scientists, we have a responsibility to understand the racial discrimination that our peers and supervisors face on a daily basis.
There is no doubt that racism is embedded within the very core of academia and recognising and admitting this is just one small step in the fight for equality.
Brynstein Science 