University of Portsmouth Students' Union Elected Officers wearing red

We're standing up to racism by showing it the red card

14 October 2024

3 min read

‘Wear Red Day – Show Racism the Red Card’, an annual anti-racism awareness day, will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Friday 18 October.

The annual event aims to showcase the importance of building an inclusive culture whilst also seeking to change hearts, change minds and change lives. 

Last year over 615,000 people nationally symbolically wore red to showcase their support. This year we hope that our community in the university will follow suit, echoing our inclusive culture and respect for one another, whilst helping the charity reach their target of 1 million supporters.

Chris Chang, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and strategic lead for EDI said: “Wear Red Day enables both staff and students to come together in a show of solidarity against a serious issue”.

Wear Red Day enables both staff and students to come together in a show of solidarity against a serious issue.

Chris Chang, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and strategic lead for EDI

“This extremely important awareness day demonstrates our commitment as a university to foster a diverse environment and echoes our values which include building a positive, inclusive culture that inspires staff and students and ensures that ‘we are different voices, one community’. I am extremely proud to be part of an institution where everyone is valued and respected.”

The event coincides with Black History Month (BHM), which is taking place from Tuesday 1 October to Thursday 31 October. The University aims to mark BHM by providing a number of events, including Soulful Celebration – an event organised by the Students' Union. The full list of events can be found on our Black History Month blog page.

How to get involved

You can join us by wearing red on Friday 18 October and taking a group photo, posting it on social media using the hashtag #WRD24UoP as well as the national hashtag #WRD24.

Make sure you use the hashtag #WRD24UoP so we can easily find your photos for a follow up news article on our websites to show our support. 

You could also print off your own Show Racism the Red Card flyers to use in your group photos too!

If you’re not on social media but would still like to share your photo, please send this over to us studentnews@port.ac.uk.