Campus racism problems have easy fix
Issue date: 11/21/03 Section: Editorial
Among the most shocking revelations at this week's Student Senate meeting was the announcement that at least five African-American men have been called the n-word to their faces. Reports like these are not the things most Hendrix students expect to hear.
In fact, the Hendrix community should be outraged that such acts of overt and malicious racism have taken place here.
Such behavior is unacceptable and without excuse.
But we should also be outraged at the subtle acts of racism that help create a hostile environment. Just walking through the residence halls, one might hear racial epithets being tossed around casually. Few people can claim to have never laughed at a racist joke, or cracked one. At some point, everyone has played to racial or ethnic stereotypes in an insensitive way.
Most people who use such words in this way do not intend to make hurtful statements. They have just forgotten the meaning that words carry. Many people also forget that in certain contexts, otherwise benign comments can take an entirely new and malicious tone that was unitended, but nevertheless hurtful.
Members of this community need to be reminded that words do have consequences and carry a history.
No matter how far we come from the Jim Crow South, the n-word will always suggest those more shameful days in our nation's history; and the memory of the segregated South is always a reminder of the human brutality of the slave system that drove the economy of the early nation.
No matter how often racial slurs appear in pop songs or movies, they cannot be divorced from their meanings, and people need to be more aware of and sensitive to this fact.
These recent reports have shocked many on campus that have not experienced or witnessed discrimination, even though this inappropriate behavior has been going on for months. It is good that this information is finally coming to light on a campus-wide scale; the necessity to help preserve the tolerant and welcoming environment that Hendrix as a community cherishes is clear.
Now that this information is in the open, students need to do their part when it comes to recognizing and discouraging discrimination.
This can be done not only by directly addressing discrimination when they witness or experience it, but also by helping the administration to try to better the situation. Filling out and turning in the Diversity Concerns Committee survey can greatly help assess the severity of the discrimination on campus, both inside and outside of the classroom.
Students like junior Jonathan Wilkins, the organizer of Wednesday's sit-in against discrimination in the Burrow, should be commended for their work. But students should also be protesting, perhaps in less organized fashion, the more insidious acts of subtle racism.
The persistence of even off-handedly racist or prejudicial comments should not be allowed.
In fact, the Hendrix community should be outraged that such acts of overt and malicious racism have taken place here.
Such behavior is unacceptable and without excuse.
But we should also be outraged at the subtle acts of racism that help create a hostile environment. Just walking through the residence halls, one might hear racial epithets being tossed around casually. Few people can claim to have never laughed at a racist joke, or cracked one. At some point, everyone has played to racial or ethnic stereotypes in an insensitive way.
Most people who use such words in this way do not intend to make hurtful statements. They have just forgotten the meaning that words carry. Many people also forget that in certain contexts, otherwise benign comments can take an entirely new and malicious tone that was unitended, but nevertheless hurtful.
Members of this community need to be reminded that words do have consequences and carry a history.
No matter how far we come from the Jim Crow South, the n-word will always suggest those more shameful days in our nation's history; and the memory of the segregated South is always a reminder of the human brutality of the slave system that drove the economy of the early nation.
No matter how often racial slurs appear in pop songs or movies, they cannot be divorced from their meanings, and people need to be more aware of and sensitive to this fact.
These recent reports have shocked many on campus that have not experienced or witnessed discrimination, even though this inappropriate behavior has been going on for months. It is good that this information is finally coming to light on a campus-wide scale; the necessity to help preserve the tolerant and welcoming environment that Hendrix as a community cherishes is clear.
Now that this information is in the open, students need to do their part when it comes to recognizing and discouraging discrimination.
This can be done not only by directly addressing discrimination when they witness or experience it, but also by helping the administration to try to better the situation. Filling out and turning in the Diversity Concerns Committee survey can greatly help assess the severity of the discrimination on campus, both inside and outside of the classroom.
Students like junior Jonathan Wilkins, the organizer of Wednesday's sit-in against discrimination in the Burrow, should be commended for their work. But students should also be protesting, perhaps in less organized fashion, the more insidious acts of subtle racism.
The persistence of even off-handedly racist or prejudicial comments should not be allowed.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Russian Wives
posted 3/20/10 @ 6:07 AM CST
Great article. I agree totally.
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