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Book Review: ‘This is London,’ by Ben Judah In A-Level History I was introduced to the well-used quote from L.P. Hartley that ‘the past is a foreign country.’ Yet, at times, it is the present that feels alien. The imperial splendour of the 200-year old buildings on Strand, Drury Lane, Kingsway and Charing Cross Road […]
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Image description: Marianne and Connell stand facing each other “Is that really weird?” “Yeah. Yeah, that’s really weird Marianne. But I think I understand it.” That is the premise of the BBC’s 12 part adaptation of Sally Rooney’s acclaimed novel of the same title. The show unfolds the agony and ecstasy of first love before […]
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Britain has a problem with immigration, but probably not the one we are led to believe. The current emergency has thrown a spotlight onto the misguided rhetoric and contradictory policies and attitudes concerning the movement of people into and out of the UK. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to change attitudes to immigration in the future. […]
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‘Not a good start Boris!’ Shouted about a million years ago means something different now. For all the noise about the start, and the necessity of getting it right, anyone who tried to judge what Boris’ premiership would be about based on in the beginning would’ve been way off. First impressions can be deceiving. Jurgen […]
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Whilst most of the world is in lockdown, literature is still free to comfort, entertain and let you explore different cultures. Here are my favourite books from around the world, to be read whilst our world is a little further away from us. Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (originally in Spanish) An underrated book […]
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Ramadhan. To the naked eye, it could show weary, famished and thirsty faces. To the learned eye, it could suggest showing solidarity with the less fortunate. To the theological eye, it’s a kaleidoscope of entwining elements. Yet, when this month is expected to unveil itself during a global pandemic, what do our eyes envision? For […]
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Image Description: Doctor talking to a patient From its very beginnings when emerging in Wuhan last December, to the current mistreatment of NHS staff, Covid-19 has brought to light and deepened the existing structural inequalities and prejudices of our society. Recent statistics have revealed that the virus is having a disproportionate impact on those from […]
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Image description: Woman in Adhmedabad A few days ago I woke up to a headline which brought back the unforgivable discrepancy between how the majority and minorities are treated in India. This time, the place of divergence was a hospital: it was discovered that Civil Hospital, a public hospital in my hometown, Ahmedabad, had allegedly […]
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Image Description: Diane Abbott at the ‘Don’t Bomb Syria’ protest Diane Abbott’s treatment in the media in recent years has been nothing short of a public persecution. Whether it is in regards to her drinking a ‘tinnie’ on the London Overground last spring or her getting the numbers wrong when discussing Labour’s plans for more […]
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Image Description: Students receiving A-level results “You’re so smart!” Those were the words that characterised my years at school, particularly during GCSEs and A-Levels. Although these words were well-intentioned, constantly being called smart led me to internalise that label, and to define myself by that characteristic. Being academic became my identity, and something that I […]
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Recently, I had a conversation where the statements “people are too PC these days…especially about cultural appropriation” and “no one bats an eye when you wear a French beret” were thrown around. What a simplistic take on such a complex issue. It’s upsetting to hear in 2020. Terms like cultural appropriation or microaggressions have become […]
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Household chores and childcare were pretty evenly distributed in my house but if there was one thing that fell directly under my mother”s responsibilities, it was my hair. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are of me sitting between my mother’s legs, head lolling off to sleep and her hands lovingly braiding my hair. […]
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I understand the fear that follows a viral outbreak. When swine flu broke out in 2009, I was terrified – my naïve 9-year-old self imagined a post-apocalyptic world, my head filled with delusions drawn from the dystopian novels I spent my free time reading. Despite having a relatively low risk compared to common illnesses like […]
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Image Description: Marsha De Cordova MP, who was recently mistaken for another black female MP, Dawn Butler, by the BBC As a black woman, I am increasingly aware of the way that some mainstream media outlets misrepresent black people. But whenever something potentially racist is done by the mainstream media, the backlash against it is […]
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Like Patel, I am a female of South Asian descent. Unlike Patel, I do not have access to the power, platforms and policies at her fingertips. Frankly, we have very little in common. This was perfectly crystallised when Patel unabashedly decided in a recent interview that Meghan Markle was not a victim of media racism. To add insult to […]
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We hear the term ‘impostor syndrome’ a lot at Oxford. For most people, it describes feeling out of place or feeling like you do not deserve to be somewhere because maybe before you became used to being the smartest in your school or class, but now you are around people who may be more prepared […]
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Image Description: The author with her mother and paternal grandmother ‘Where are you from? … No, where are you really from?’ These two questions haunt those of mixed-race like the plague. I’m from Newcastle. Really. The term ‘mixed-race’ itself is, in a sense, an impractical one, referring to anyone who is half Filipina half white, like […]
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We are both very proud to announce the launch of Identity, our new section dedicated to spotlighting the issues, opinions and experiences of BAME students within the University. The Oxford Student has always believed in the importance of representing the wonderful range of views and backgrounds that exist in the University we all share, and […]
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