THE University and College Union (UCU), which represents more than 100,000 university lecturers and staff, says that people should be allowed to identify as black no matter what colour they are born.
The UCU said: ‘Self-identification is a standard practice in many organisations and the Office for National Statistics says that “there is no consensus on what constitutes an ethnic group, and membership is something that is self-defined”.’
The Telegraph reports that one beneficiary of this idea is Anthony Lennon, 57, a white theatre director who describes himself as an ‘African born again’. He won a two year Arts Council-funded (ie taxpayer-funded) scheme intended to help ethnic minorities develop their stage careers.
So is blackness or whiteness a grey area? Discuss.
