University Granted £1.5 Million in Taxpayer Money to Decolonise ‘White-Centricity’ of English Folk Music

Woke academics have been granted nearly £1.5 million in taxpayer money to study the “white-centricity” of English folk music and how to “decolonise” the art form.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield are set to embark on an “unflinching look at the white-centricity of folk music repertory, performers and audience by conducting fieldwork to shed light on long-standing vernacular singing practices of ethnic minority cultures in England,” according to a report from The Telegraph.

The stated aim of the project will be to “increase accessibility to the folk club scene and take the first step in a process of decolonisation within the folk music canon”.

The academics have been granted £1,485,400 from the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) “Future Leaders fellowship’’, which is funded by the British taxpayer.

The move by the UKRI to use taxpayer money to fund woke endeavours was criticised by the TaxPayer’s Alliance, with investigations campaign manager Joanna Marchong saying: “Taxpayers are fed up with research councils marching to the beat of their own drum and ignoring all concerns for value for money.

“Time and time again, these institutions force hard-pressed households to pay millions for academics to rewrite history and achieve minute goals in return.

“The next government needs to clamp down on research councils to ensure that only worthwhile projects are being greenlit and that any funded research will be of value to taxpayers.”

Like in the United States, UK academics have become increasingly preoccupied with social justice ideologies, with British researchers paying particular attention to the supposed evils of the British Empire.

There has also been a strong push to “deconstruct” English heritage and even the very fabric of what it means to be English. For example, last year “anti-racist” academics at Cambridge argued that the ethnic group of the Anglo-Saxons never actually existed, while claiming that they were being used to prop up “nationalist” sentiments among the public.

Commenting on the obsession with attacking “whiteness” in academia, Professor Dennis Hayes, the director of Academics for Academic Freedom, said that there is an “endless supply of stories about disciplines being told by universities to ‘decolonise’ and of money being spent on studies of ‘whiteness’ in any and every conceivable subject.”

“The reason for this is institutional groupthink in universities. Universities have adopted the need for decolonisation, and the victim hierarchy of intersectional theory, as essential to upholding their inclusive values. This groupthink is a threat to academic freedom. It silences almost all opposition as academics fear being charged with racism if they speak up against being told what to think.

“But the only solution is for academics to speak up and put in the time-consuming work on university committees and at university meetings where they can challenge institutional groupthink.”

Professor of music at Sheffield University Fay Heild defended the £1.5 million project, saying: “The term decolonisation is often misinterpreted. Our research highlights the different under-recognised communities who have helped to establish cultural life in England. Folk music is a constantly evolving genre, which has taken influences from a diverse range of people over centuries.

“It is part of the UK’s cultural heritage and should be celebrated. Our aim is to break down the barriers for people to get involved in folk music. Opening up the genre to different audiences will help to sustain the nation’s folk music for decades to come.”

A spokesman for the UKRI said that the publicly-funded “invests in a diverse research and innovation portfolio. Decisions to fund the research projects we support are made via a rigorous peer review process by relevant independent experts from across academia and business.”

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