Tobi Akingbade, 24, a Londoner has spoken of her distress at being racially ridiculed with a blackface image of a boy with Nutella smeared over his face, for twice failing her degree. She had tweeted after
graduating from the University of Hertfordshire at the third attempt in September, 2015.
In an open letter she wrote: “I sat behind my screen at work and burst into tears. For a few seconds I felt worthless, meaningless and not very human. Using a photo of someone else in blackface doesn’t eradicate the fact that you used a photo with blackface to mimic me, a black woman.”
Tobi said she had endured 5 difficult years at university before completing her degree, due to problems in her personal life. The man who shared the tweet has since taken it down and apologized, after facing a barrage of criticism.
She said she accepted his apology, writing: “As weak as your apology was, I accept it. Why? Because I have a life to live and harbouring unforgivness does nothing for my own sanity. There is no way I’m letting the actions of an ignorant Twitter warrior stay rent free in my head.”
