Race Equality Week

This is the first blog in a four-part series about Race Equality Week. 

Hello and welcome back.

Recently, I have found myself thinking a lot about Race Equality Week and what it means for us as a university community. Race is important to me for many reasons, and I would like to share some of them with you.

I am Nigerian, and in Nigeria I was simply Nigerian. I was identified by my tribe, my family, and my community. It was only when I left my country and came to the UK that I became Black. Black meant that I was suddenly different from White people. My hair was different. My accent was different. This shift came with both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

I have had moments that were painful, such as being called a horse because someone thought my voice sounded like an animal. That was racism. But I have also met people who were kind, curious, and genuinely interested in learning about where I come from and my culture.

Race is also important to me because I am a decolonial researcher. My doctoral research explores how colonial histories in Africa have shaped education, particularly how local languages are silenced in favour of foreign ones. Prestige is often attached to English, while Indigenous languages are pushed to the margins and, in some cases, towards extinction.

Another reason I think deeply about race comes from something Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once said. She explained that people often focus on what affects them most. For some, that might be gender. For others, sexuality, religion, or class. For me, as an international student living in a city like Bath, where the Black population outside the University is relatively small, race has become something I cannot ignore.

Over this series, I want to reflect on how race has shaped my experience as a student, particularly while living in University accommodation. I have lived in city accommodation for two years, first in a six room flat and later in a four room flat. These experiences were very different, yet both taught me something important. Where you live can either become a space to learn about other people’s cultures and identities, or a place where difference is avoided.

In my first year as a PhD student, my flat included students from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe. Race could not be ignored. It was present in food, greetings, phone calls home, celebrations, clothing, accents, and friendships. And yet, it was also softened by care, curiosity, and genuine interest in one another.

So as we mark Race Equality Week, I invite you to reflect. In your accommodation, what role has race played? What role have you played? Has race become a dividing line, or has it been blurred through the warmth of friendships formed in shared spaces?