The Head Master of Eton College, Simon Hernderson said he is appalled by the racism experienced by the prolific novelist, Dillibe Onyeama who was thee first black person to complet e his studies at Eton College.
Eton was founded by King Henry VI in 1440 and has a worldwide reputation for its high educational standards; Eton has a reputation for educating highest ranking members of British Society including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is the 20th British prime minister to have attended the school, as did Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and both the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex. It currently charges fees of more than £40,000 ($50,000 and about 19,400,000 in Naira) a year.
Dillibe Onyeama never actually signed up for Eton College; he was registered to attend Eton at birth (the first black boy to be registered in the elite school) by his father, Charles Dadi Umeha Onyeama who studied at Oxford University, worked as a magistrate in British-ruled Nigeria, and eventually became a judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
Mr. Henderson, Eton College Headmaster told BBC the following:
“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”.
He said that he would invite Onyeama to meet him in order 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,” he added.
Mr. Onyeama told BBC that:
– the apology was not necessary and did not change his view of Eton, which on the whole was positive.
– the apology however, “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”.
In a statement, Mr. Onyeama said that he was taunted on a daily basis at Eton by fellow students. He was asked questions like:
“Why are you black?”, “How many maggots are there in your hair?” and “Does your mother wear a bone in her nose?”
Moreso, it would seem that whatever move he made back then in school, was questionable and attributed to his race.
Mr. Onyeama said that at times when he had poor academic performance or excelled in sports, the students attributed it to his race. And when he obtained seven O-level passes, they’d ask if he cheated.
After leaving the school, he detailed these experiences in a memoir and in 1972 he received an official letter informing him that he was banned from visiting Eton.
The headmaster’s response comes as some leading British companies and institutions, such as insurance market Lloyd’s of London and pub chain Greene King, have apologised for historical links to the slave trade.
Those apologies were spurred by the recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests.
Mr. onyeama is the author of the best-selling book- ‘Nigger At Eton’, and many others including Juju: A Novel, Secret Society: A Novel, Johnbull’s nigger, The Story of an African god, The Return: Homecoming of a Negro From Eton.
Image ctedits: Eton, BBC, Facebook
