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Whilst many may remember him for his disagreements with current Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, or as a potential Mayoral candidate himself, others may remember his forceful stance towards multiculturalism. However, Phillips admitted he might not be as well known to students. On Friday 1st June he led a talk on the topic of ‘Identity and the Changing World’, as well as living with diversity, on behalf of Club of PEP.
This isn’t the guy that does the Tonight show!
Born in the UK, Phillips grew up in Guyana but went on to study at Imperial College London. There he became the president of the Students’ Union, and was subsequently elected as the first black President of the NUS in 1978. Phillips spent some years working at London Weekend Television before a career move into politics. In 1999 he was awarded an OBE. Once a supporter of multiculturalism, Phillips is now one of it’s most outspoken critics, famously saying he thought it could cause Britain to “sleepwalk into segregation”. Philips heads the recently founded ‘Commission for Equality and Human Rights’, which aims to promote equality issues across ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and other minority interests.
Organised by the Club of PEP, Phillips talked about a wide range of issues such as gender, identity, and immigration at the event.
Phillips began talking bluntly about the state of the world, and said: “I am going to depress you now. I’m going to tell you why life is going to be awful for you. We think there will be two great challenges for humankind. The toxic bundle of issues surrounding global warming, and the issues of conflict around how people of different races live together. Essentially, how we treat our planet and how we treat each other.”
He added: “Conflict is caused by the failure to manage our differences. It is almost certainly the most destructive issue your generation will face.”
On issues of immigration, Phillips said: “A hundred years ago, immigration was in a different position. It took months to travel to Britain. There was no going back. There was a particular attitude towards fitting in – people strove to be what is characteristically British. Today it is different. People can go back. They can call home, or even watch their families on the internet. The issue of identity is different. We don’t have to fit in.”
He added: “Consequently we are more conscious, but there are social results. Increasingly, schools are becoming ethnically segregated. A recent study by Bristol University found that schools are mono-racial even in ethically diverse communities. Our diversity is fragmenting us.”
During the session Phillips also took the time to discuss issues of gender, raising questions concerning the changing position of women in society, and the effect this will have upon society’s views of equality. He explained:
“We must make sure everyone knows they have the right to be treated fairly. We shouldn’t ask people to abandon what they are. With gender, we have to decide whether male and female are different, and if so, we must eliminate discrimination and strive for identical conditions.”
Recent controversy has been sparked by accusations that York is a racist university and whether the proportion of ethnic minorities on campus is representative. The Yorker asked Trevor Phillips whether he thought universities should admit prospective students only upon academic achievement, or whether they should address the issue of ethnic minority proportions at institutions.
"I think the first thing is, no university should be admitting people who aren’t up to the academic standard. It’s no good for the university, and it’s certainly no good for them, because all that will happen is that they will end up dropping out.
I think what is important to understand is why proportions of students from ethnic minorities at York doesn’t reflect the country. The question you have to ask is why aren’t those people from certain groups coming here. I don’t know what the answer to that is, but it could be one of two things; there is something about York that means they don’t want to apply, or there is something about the way that York chooses it’s students which is filtering them out. I’d like to think it’s the first.”
Phillips further added: “I think it would be worth the University paying some attention to try and work that out. And once you know the answer, then there are a range of solutions which may solve the problem.”
The talk by Phillips was the second major coup by Club of PEP to secure renowned speakers who were willing to answer students’ questions. There was no doubt that Phillips’ talk was enlightening, and promoted debate amongst the students who attended.
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