UBC Zoom presentation bombarded with racist comments and images
A statement released by UBC’s Black Law Students’ Association (BLSA) revealed that a lecture at Peter A. Allard School of Law was targeted by anti-Black comments and imagery.
On Thursday, November 9, Professor Raymond Atuguba was giving a Zoom presentation to the law school when racist images and anti-Black slurs were drawn onto the screen using the whiteboard function.
Atuguba is the dean of the University of Ghana School of Law, and many members present during the racist attack were “members of BLSA UBC Chapter and the Black academic community at large.”
The statement by the BLSA said that faculty attempted to remove the comments and images but were forced to disable the presentation.
“Although attempts were made to erase the images by Allard faculty and staff, more images were drawn and eventually anti-Black racial slurs were written, at which point the Zoom was disabled while the presentation continued,” the statement read.
View this post on Instagram
The student association shared its dismay with the incident but also called it unsurprising.
“We are saddened and frustrated, though ultimately unsurprised, by what this incident emphasizes about anti-Black racism at Allard and UBC more broadly. While this incident may appear to be isolated, it serves as a microcosm of the pervasive micro-aggressions, overt racism, and marginalization that Black students, faculty, and staff regularly experience,” the statement continued.
Amid the calls for the Allard school to recommit to recommendations of fostering greater care and belonging for the Black community at UBC, the statement praised Atuguba for his work.
“To Dean Atuguba, we wish to make it emphatically clear: we see, value, and celebrate your work and its profound impact.”
The Allard school is currently investigating how the incident unfolded.
Dean Ngai Pindell of the Peter A. Allard School of Law told the Allard community in an email that their initial understanding is that “the Zoom link and password were shared publicly on social media prior to the event and without Allard’s knowledge.”