Eton College, a prestigious British public school, has apologised to an ex-student, Dillibe Onyeama, a Nigerian now an accomplished writer, for being subjected to racial discrimination while studying.
This comes as the global outpouring of George Floyd ‘s murder in US police custody continues to flare up conversations about past experiences of racial injustice.
Mr Onyeama, the first Nigerian and first black student to graduate from Eton College, obtained his certificate of school leaving in 1969.
In an interview with the BBC, Baring his mind on Black Lives Matter, the Nigerian writer shared how racial subjugation and subsequent ban from Eton College spurred him to write a book about his school experience.
The headmaster, Eton College, Simon Henderson, when contacted by the BBC for comment, said he was “appalled” by the racism Mr Onyeama experienced.
Eton College is renowned for educating some of the highest-ranking members of British society, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is the twentieth British Prime Minister to attend the school, as well as Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, former Duke of Sussex.
Mr Henderson said the school had made great strides in dealing with racial issues without mentioning them, but acknowledged “more to do.”
“We have made significant strides since Onyeama was at Eton but – as millions of people around the world rightly raise their voices in protest against racial discrimination and inequality – we have to have the institutional and personal humility to acknowledge that we still have more to do,” the headmaster said.”
He promised to invite Mr Onyeama to apologise in person and “to make it clear that he will always be welcome at Eton.”
“We must all speak out and commit to doing better – permanently – and I am determined that we seize this moment as a catalyst for real and sustained change for the better,” the headmaster added.
But Mr Onyeama told BBC that the apology was needless, and that he did not change his opinion of Eton, which was optimistic in general.
The writer, who said fellow students taunted him daily at Eton, added that the apology “compels the recognition that prejudice on the grounds of colour or race dehumanises its victims in a way that ordinary forms of prejudice do not.”