Deloitte staff anger at conference with ‘anti-white’ professor
Deloitte staff have expressed concern after the company invited a professor who described Winston Churchill as a white supremacist to give a talk about identity to employees.
Professor Kehinde Andrews, whose latest book is entitled The Psychosis of Whiteness, is set to give a talk to Deloitte staff on 31 October about “identity and authenticity and black excellence” as a part of a series of lectures the City consultancy firm hosted for black history month.
Mr Andrews, a professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University, described Winston Churchill as the “perfect embodiment of white supremacy” and the British Empire as “far worse than the Nazis” at an event in Cambridge in 2021.
In the same year, discussing Queen Elizabeth II, he said on Good Morning Britain: “The Queen is probably the number one symbol of white supremacy in the entire world.”
A Deloitte source told The Telegraph: “My colleagues and I find Deloitte’s association with Andrews, a prolific anti-white race activist, highly concerning and uncomfortable.”
“He recently published a book called ‘The Psychosis of Whiteness’, in which he implies that whiteness, and therefore white people, are mentally ill by nature.”
“His views are unpleasant and divisive, and he should not be anywhere near an important British company like Deloitte.”
Mr Andrews’ latest book takes aim at “whiteness”, which he described as “a set of ideas produced by the racist political and economic system”.
In the book, Mr Andrews continued: “As long as that system remains intact it will continue to reproduce delusions that prevent all of us from seeing the brutal reality of the social order we inhabit. There is no reasoning with Whiteness; instead we must destroy the system that creates it.”
Mr Andrews wrote that the aim of his book was “to demonstrate that Whiteness is deluded, irrational, and based on a set of collective hallucinations.”
“The only metaphor we can use to understand it is a collective psychosis, one that shapes how we understand and move through the world.”
Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, Director of the campaign group Don’t Divide Us, said: “Andrews’ obsession with “whiteness” is a classic example of toxic identity politics.”
“These activists are attempting to normalise a racial hierarchy that is antithetical to Enlightenment values of moral equality and freedom.”
“This is frankly obscene to anyone who remembers when black people were treated unequally in Britain in the past.”
“Deloitte should go out if its way to invite articulate voices who could offer an opposing view.”
Deloitte is one of the Big Four accounting firms and has operations in over 150 countries and territories worldwide.
The event with Mr Andrews was advertised on the company intranet as “building on the firm wide theme of Unveiling the Tapestry of identity”.
Mr Andrews is due to speak for an hour and employees can choose to attend in person or online.
The intranet advertisement says: “The event will look at black role models, their stoles of heritage and the impact it has had on their life’s work and legacy.”
“We will also draw on heritage stories closer to home and hear from our black colleagues at Deloitte.”
“This will ensure key messages resonate with both our black community as well as allies.”
Mr Andrews is described as “a frequent contributor to several media outlets” and it is claimed “His natural ability in front of the camera lends him to being called upon by television programmes such as BBC’s Newsnight and ITV’s Good Morning Britain to comment on race-related issues.”
Deloitte hosted four other events throughout October for black history month, including “BlackTechFest” in which discussions were held around the “Power of Gen Al and the Metaverse”, a panel event focused on identity and a talk entitled “Representation in Medicine and Black Medical Illustration” featuring an artist “known for the famous illustration of a Black pregnant woman with a Black foetus”.
Deloitte and Kehinde Andrews were approached for comment.
