11: Underlying paternalism

I work in an academic institution with very few BAME staff or students. A couple of years ago when a very accomplished Black scholar applied for a job with us, he had to go through the usual procedure of job talks, interviews and having dinner with staff members and the other candidates. When I asked one of my colleagues how dinner had gone, he mentioned the other candidates as being ‘sparky’ or ‘interesting’ but when he mentioned this scholar he said ‘I mean he’s a nice lad but socially he’s completely out of his depth’. The Black scholar is in his 40s. I think comments like that show this insidious underlying paternalism that is sometimes difficult to easily challenge. When I said ‘You can’t say that,’ the staff member was bemused and said ‘But he is a nice lad. I don’t mean anything by it. He is a nice lad’.