UK university’s axing of black studies MA has ‘dangerous parallel’ with US, says academic

Kimberlé Crenshaw expressed ‘profound concern’ about the plan to withdraw the MA in black studies and global justice, just months after the course was launched. Photograph: Jasmine Clarke/The Guardian

A leading US civil rights scholar has urged Birmingham City University (BCU) to reverse its decision to close its black studies course, comparing it to the attack on diversity, equity and inclusion in the US.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles and Columbia University, expressed “profound concern” about plans to withdraw the MA in black studies and global justice, just months after the course was launched.