Critics said the cocktail was 'trivialising centuries of oppression'

The Oxford Union has passed a motion branding itself ‘institutionally racist’ following a row over a cocktail with an offensive name, it was reported yesterday.

The historic debating society provoked outcry last week by advertising a drink called a 'colonial comeback' on posters showing a slave in chains.

The cocktail, which students said ‘trivialised centuries of oppression', was offered during a debate over Britain making reparations to former colonies.

The historic debating society provoked outcry last week by advertising a drink called a 'colonial comeback' on posters showing a slave in chains

After the event, an online apology was issued by the prestigious society, whose alumni include Boris Johnson and Tony Blair.

Now students have reported its governing body has passed a unanimous motion recognising that it is ‘institutionally racist’.

Society treasurer Zuleyka Shahin said the cocktail was ‘symptomatic of a wider problem’ of racism at the union.

The nearly 200-year-old society hosted a debate entitled ‘This House Believes Britain Owes Reparations to her Former Colonies’ with speakers including Sir Richard Ottaway, the former Conservative MP.

But the event was marred by criticism over the Brandy, Peach Schnapps and lemonade cocktail which was advertised by a ‘tongue in cheek’ poster.

Annie Teriba, of Oxford's Black Students' Union, told student paper Cherwell that it was 'trivialising centuries of oppression'.

Union officers now face being sent to racial awareness workshops amid growing concern about a ‘culture that marginalises black and minority voices’.

At a Standing Committee meeting to address the fallout over the cocktail, the society’s Treasurer Zuleyka Shahin proposed a motion that the society was ‘institutionally racist’.

Kiran Benipal, co-chair of the Campaign for Racial Awareness at Oxford University, said there was an ‘uncomfortable silence’ before the motion was passed.

The Oxford Union has passed a motion branding itself ‘institutionally racist’ following a row over a cocktail with an offensive name

She told the Daily Telegraph: ‘We had been discussing whether the cocktail was racist, and whether the way the Oxford Union dealt with it was indicative of further problems.

‘The Treasurer proposed a motion that “The Oxford Union is institutionally racist” and it was discussed for about 15 minutes before being passed.

‘They now have to do some work to deal with the fact that they have recognised that they are an institutionally racist organisation.

‘The cocktail was symptomatic of a wider problem in the Union of racism. There is a culture where someone felt comfortable enough to make a poster like that and felt that it would go unpunished.’

She said that the Union had made contact with her about arranging race training workshops for its officers.

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, a spokesman for Rhodes Must Fall, an Oxford University group which campaigns against imperialism, said: ‘Officers realised that [the cocktail] was reflective of an institutionally racist culture that marginalises black and minority voices.

‘This motion sends a very clear message that the Union and its leadership acknowledge the scale of the problem and that there is a systemic problem in the Oxford Union that silences certain voices.’

The row over the ‘colonial comeback’ cocktail prompted the resignation of the Union’s Black, Minority and Ethnic officer Esther Odejimi.

She told Cherwell: ‘It’s clear that my role was just an act of political correctness and they had no intention to actually engage with the BME Rep position. I want nothing to do with them at all. I’m disgusted. Racism is definitely not dead.’