Enough is enough.
Whilst this happened in the UK, you don’t have to be a British national to sign the petition being raised in order to prevent such a tragedy from repeating itself.
The recent death of Dr. Jason Arday, the youngest black person to ever become a Cambridge professor has yet again, highlighted the issues others have towards people of colour. To summarise what happened: a few weeks ago, the media reported that Dr. Arday had allegedly plagiarised some of his writings and made false claims about his life. This should have been looked into by the university, his employer, following due process and respecting the people involved. That’s how it works when similar accusations are done against other academics. Instead, the press made a big scandal. It amplified racist and prejudiced voices in and out of academia, all the while blaming Dr. Arday.
I understand from watching his Vigil, which was televised by Sky News, that Dr. Arday endured racism and prejudice throughout his tenure at Cambridge University. He was appointed in 2023. This is particularly aggravating when we consider that Dr. Arday was a professor of sociology of education, whose publications explore the realities of racism in the UK.
Shortly after Cambridge announced an investigation into his appointment, Dr. Arday resigned. The attacks did not stop. They continued. Just nine days later, on 14 August, he was found dead due to suicide. My heart goes out to his family, who have to deal with all this on top of grieving and planning his funeral.
It is not a secret that there are members of academia hold racist views. Because of this, pupils and students of colour face more obstacles, fail their qualifications more frequently, and get lower grades for work of the same quality as their white peers. In the wake of Dr. Arday’s death, many have come out to point at how white professors accused of similar issues have not been harassed by the press. In many occasions, they walk away without facing any consequence at all.
This is the main argument of the petition being pushed by the Good Law Project, a non-profit that brings together legal action, investigations and campaigning to fight against hate and spread hope. The petition, directed at the UK Prime Minister and the UK Secretary of Culture, demands and immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press.
This week, I already talked about the importance of organising against the rising threats to equality and human rights. One of the members of the Ella Baker School of Organising, which is the entity offering training across the UK to achieve just that, knew Dr. Arday personally, and vouched for his character in a message directed to the entire network.
There was also a vigil in Trafalgar Square, by Sky News, which you can watch on YouTube to learn more about Dr. Arday:
