On Wednesday (03/05), the Faculty of Law hosted Tomiwa Owolade, the writer to whom Diane Abbott wrote a response that caused her to lose the Labour Party whip.

Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington and alumna of Newnham College, responded to Owolade’s article “Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue. It’s far more complicated” two weeks ago. In a letter to The Observer, Abbott claimed that white ethnic groups such as Irish, Jewish and Traveller people can experience “prejudice”, but not racism. She also claimed that “redheads” could face this prejudice.

In Owolade’s talk, titled “Against Race Essentialism”, he argued against viewing racism “through an American frame of reference”. Abbott’s original response to Owolade cited an example from Jim Crow-era America, the fact that “Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus.”

Abbott has had the whip removed and is facing calls for expulsion from the Labour Party. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer called Abbott’s comments “antisemitic”, and stated that he “could not believe what [he] was reading.”

At Wednesday’s talk, an audience member asked Owolade if he thought the Labour Party’s disciplinary action against Abbott was deserved. Owolade said that Abbott’s words were “such a clear violation” of Keir Starmer’s “zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism”, but also said that “if Diane Abbott had explained why she said what she said and then apologised”, he would have been open to the idea of her rejoining the Labour Party.

Abbott tweeted that she wanted “to apologise publicly for the remarks”, but also claimed that the remarks were “errors” from “an initial draft being sent”.

In his talk, Owolade outlined the differences he perceived between British and American racism, namely that British racism manifests “primarily in terms of hostility to immigrant communities”. He also argued that societies will always create out-groups to be prejudiced against, saying “I can’t imagine a future where things can change”. He also promoted his upcoming book This Is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter.