'It was normalised': Drama school accused of 'systemic racism'

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A group of actors and artist who studied at a drama school with a south-west London site have accused the institution of widespread and systemic racist abuse. In an open letter, former students outlined several accounts of historic racism that they say they endured during their time at ALRA, which has bases in Wigan, Manchester, and Wandsworth.

British-Gambian actor Lamin Touray, who studied at ALRA North, posted the open letter on his Twitter account at the end of August in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

"This is our official open letter, which contains several detailed accounts and experiences of the historic racism that students have endured during their time at ALRA. The treatment towards black and Asian students from ALRA has effected many of us for years," the letter said.

"In light of BLM protests, this has lead to us speaking out openly about our experiences. We believe these incidences are part of systemic racism within the school that Adrian Hall headed up that ALRA has accepted. Therefore we would like to issue a group complaint, an open letter in the hopes to rid ALRA of the racism." The letter outlined some examples of racism students had endured.

They included being told "white people are the reason black people are not slaves" and that "black men should cross the road late at night for a white woman because our race is associated with crime". Eshmit Kaur, who graduated in 2017, told ITV News London that "getting into drama school was the absolute dream". But she discovered that life at drama school could be more of a nightmare for students of colour.

It is only now, three years after she graduated from the Wandsworth campus that Eshmit fully understands the school's "toxic" environment".

"It was a racist and it was an oppressive place for students of colour, or students who look like me," she says.

She tells ITV News London about one incident that has stuck in her mind, when a teacher told a friend of Eshmit, a student of colour who was growing a beard that he "looked like a terrorist". Defending himself the following day, the teacher said it was "freedom of speech".

"I can say whatever I want to say," he told Eshmit.

Much of the abuse, the students say, came from the teaching staff, but they also faced prejudice from their peers.

"Because the culture of the school was that racism was so normalised it was infectious in the sense that it wasn't just the teachers, but there were students involved in that as well because it was seen as being acceptable," Eshmit says. Eshmit claims her head of year dismissed the incident and told her to move to a different class and she says the hardest part was how the issue was dealt with."Knowing that I'm speaking and I'm using my voice in the best way that I feel capable, but still you're not listening to me."

She says there were also multiple micro-aggressions around type casting and around the types of parts BAME students were allowed to play, often being overlooked for leading roles.

Chay February tells ITV News London he has "never ever experienced racism" of the kind he endured during his time at ALRA's Wigan campus.

He recalls one incident when a teacher, handing him a brown stick, said "a brown stick for a brown boy".

Chay says a lot of these incidents were reported to the school, but ALRA did nothing about it at the time.

"I felt like I was the one that was the aggressor," he tells ITV News London.

He says the experience at the Manchester school "broke" him.

"I just hope other students don't have to go through what we went through, because, I tell you, it wasn't great.

"They'd be days when I'd come home and I'd cry," he says.

Chay said he lost his confidence "completely" following his experience.

"If you're going to invest in someone, if you're going to invest £40,000 into someone, and their placement, surely you should be building them to be the best that they can be," Chay says.

The students came forward in the light of the death of George Floyd, the black man who died under the knee of a white officer in Minneapolis.

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"It's sad that it took a black man dying for people to want to listen," Chay says.

"At ALRA we never had a voice."

The drama school has "openly acknowledge" the accusations.

In a statement, they said: "We openly acknowledge that there have been failings and trauma caused by racism at ALRA in the past which we are taking very seriously. We apologise unreservedly for this, and for the time it is taking to investigate each complaint with the scrutiny they deserve.

"Individual complaints have been looked into and group letters have been acknowledged. As a result, structural changes have been made and processes have been scrutinised and developed to run effectively. We are unable to share specific details but can assure you that we want to keep the conversation open to support all of our students, graduates and staff through this incredibly difficult process. "Taking the utmost care over each step will, regretfully, take some time. We have a plan in place and several points on our Action Plan Against Racism have already been realised, including an independent audit panel of specialists who are reviewing our complaints process curriculum and policy. "To ensure that racism is removed from every aspect of the Academy, the audit panel will publish a report in early 2021 making recommendations and outlining failings. "