Race Relations on Campus and Why I'm Not Satisfied

     Race relations on campus aren't ideal, but last Monday's Town Hall discussion did have me feeling more assured about the issue. Students and audience members chimed in when a guest speaker said something problematic (Such as Prosecutor Andy Wilson's comment about fatherless black children); moderator Julius Bailey also did a great job of educating white audience members about perspectives and experiences from his own point of view as a black man. One quote really stuck out to me: "Can't you understand that it's not as easy to take, especially young black men, to have them ride along in police cars, as if this is a safe and protective space. It's not that easy." As a white, middle-class woman, I can say I have never experienced what Bailey talked about and I most likely never will, which is why I too need to be educated.

                   (Photo courtesy of Darrin Pope)

     What troubles me though is that many people that need to hear about these issues and need to understand the state of law enforcement and how it is prejudiced against people of color were not present in the audience. Although Bailey Auditorium was nearly full, with guests sitting along the flanks, I would have loved for this event to have taken place in the HPER Center with a mandatory attendance policy for students. I learned and grew so much from this event and I wish others could also have been enlightened about racial issues in our country.
     During my time at Wittenberg, I have heard many stories of prejudice on campus and I have seen it with my own eyes. A friend of mine is an international student from Africa and she told me she has heard students making comments about both her skin and athletic abilities due to her race and her nationality, with her close enough to hear them.
     One early afternoon, I got a frantic text from Kate Causbie, my then-photo editor for The Torch; she asked me if I could take a photo of the fountain now. Someone had written the n-word on the fountain and we were covering it for the paper. I grabbed my camera and ran to the fountain. As I was there, taking photos of the word, written in haunting black ink, a student walked quickly by me and once he saw what I was doing, began to interrogate me.
     "What are you doing? How did you get here so fast?" He asked. "We're printing this in The Torch. We have sources." Even though I was a bit scared, I stood my ground. I had every right to be there. "Who told you?" He hissed. "We have sources," I repeated. He began to walk away, going even faster now, and I knew this was important. Members of the paper decided we had to print this; students needed to know and someone needed to be held accountable.
     Even with efforts from students and groups on campus to raise awareness, I wish they were more widely received. I'm glad that there has been improvement with awareness on campus, but I guess I'm just not okay with settling for fewer racial remarks, or less comments about how many black students are only at Witt because of Affirmative Action. I don't want to hear those comments at all and if educational discussions like this can change that, then I think our entire campus should be on board.