Every time I step outside my dorm room, I feel like I’m in the movie Get Out. The scenes in Get Out are allegories for recurring scenes I see and hear on the campus of Carthage College every day. It’s disappointing that I and other students of color have to deal with non-black students using the word nigga casually. Also, it’s disappointing to see all the cultural appropriation, yet none of these students even care about Black lives but long to live a Black life with white privilege. These two occurrences are two of the many that have occurred this semester alone at this racist school. Because of these events that have occurred at the PWI I attend, there clearly needs to be a discussion about the ignorance of these students and solutions to make them more aware of what they are doing.It is important that students of color and students a part of the LGBTQ community feel at home on their own campus instead of visitors. Every student of color that I have talked to has at least once had the thought of transferring to a different school because of one reason: Comfort. Students of color do not feel comfortable on this white-washed campus because they do not feel included. The demographics of Carthage College are 70% White, 2% Asian, 5% Black or African American, and 6% Hispanic/Latino. The retention rate is 81%, which I believe is false. As many people that I know have transferred, I think the retention rate is more like 65%. If there was a percentage for the retention rate for students of color, I’m 100% it would be very low. Therefore, I have five solutions that PWIs need to implement to make students of color and students a part of the LGBTQ community feel at home on their own campus instead of like visitors.
Educate the Ignorant
The very first thing that needs to be done is educating the student population on how to address someone from a different background of their own and the type of language they absolutely cannot use. There needs to be several history lessons given and a PowerPoint presentation on why non-black people cannot use the word nigga. If you are not Black, do not use the word, and do not ask any questions. I don’t care if you grew up in the “ghetto.” I don’t care if you have a Black boyfriend. I don’t care if you heard it in a song. I don’t care if you have Black friends. Don’t question why Black people use it; just know that we use it as an expression of endearment, and we changed the meaning of the word because that’s just something we can do.Not only this, but also addressing people in the LGBTQ community. If you are unsure what gender a person identifies with, do not ask, “what are you?” Instead ask, “What pronouns do you use?” It’s the little things. But, I believe there needs to be a mandatory event that every student has to attend that gives the history lesson behind the word nigga and other ethnic slurs that should not be used in casual conversation.In addition, people to need to learn that it is rude to touch someone’s hair without asking. I understand people are intrigued by all the different forms Black hair comes in, but please keep your hands to yourself. I personally do not care if you touch my hair if you are a friend of mind or if you ask me. But, if you just put your hands in my hair because it’s so fascinating and you couldn’t resist, then that is a problem.
2. Anti-Racism Training
Second, there needs to be some type of Anti-Racism training to teach students and faculty how to not be racist. This program needs to be developed meticulously and then offered at colleges, universities, and organizations where students and faculty go through several workshops and hypothetical situations to bring awareness to the different forms of racism. For example, one of the many situations that can be practiced at this training is listening to a song with the word nigga in it and practicing not saying the word because clearly that is the hardest task ever.Furthermore, this training should be centered around helping people recognize all forms of racism from subtle racism to racism on a systemic level. Also, white privilege and colorism need to be topics of discussion because once white people start recognizing their white privilege, then Amerikkka can start making progress. I have said many times before that this society was built on White supremacy; therefore, everything is white-washed. This training is one of the many things the Amerikkkan educational system is lacking.
3. Multicultural Center
Third, there needs to be a Multicultural Center on every college and university campus. There needs to be a place where students of color and LGBTQ folks can go to feel safe. If I feel like I’m in the movie Get Out every time I step outside of my dorm room, then I clearly do not feel safe on my own campus. These multicultural centers need to be visible like any other building on a college campus. They are not to be small centers hidden in the bottom of a basement. Also, in these multicultural centers, there needs to be counselors that people of color and LGBTQ folks can confide to when issues of racism or injustice occur.Moreover, the multicultural centers need to have a large library section of books, music, and DVDs on African-American, Latin-American, Asian, Native American, LGBTQ studies, and etc. The library on my college campus is ok, but it is lacking some diversity. I should not just see books on Martin Luther King Jr. but also books from the radical Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey. There needs to be books on historical figures from several multicultural backgrounds.Also, this center would be the place where several multicultural events are held. Schools should hold events for Martin Luther King Jr Day, Indigenous People Day, Hispanic-Heritage month, Black History month, Asian-Pacific American month, Dia de los Muertos, and etc. Multicultural Centers would be another educational tool and a way to promote inclusivity and diversity.
4.More Representation Inside the Classrooms
Fourth, there needs to be more representation inside the classrooms. There needs to be more professors from different ethnic backgrounds; all of my professors should not be white. There should not be only two Black professors on the entire campus. When having all white teachers, students learn everything from the white perspective. There needs to be more diversity in faculty members so that students can learn from several perspectives and not just one.
5.Changing the Curriculum
Last, the curriculum needs to be changed. Many colleges and universities require students to take certain general education courses to graduate. For example, at Carthage College two semesters of any language course is required as a GenEd. I believe colleges and universities should require at least 2 semesters of multicultural courses. For example, a student could take one semester on African-American history and another semester on Latin-American film and literature to fulfill his or her requirement. Also, in general, there needs to be more diverse books included in the curriculum because as I have said before, representation matters. In other literature courses, there should be at least one book that includes an author from a multicultural background.Overall, educating others in several different ways is the most important task. I understand a lot of money and time will have to go towards making these changes for PWIs, but racism has become a normality, and it is getting out of hand. Even though it’s disappointing that many students feel like they are in the movie Get Out, at least we know how the movie ends; therefore, we have nothing to worry about. 😂
This article was originally published on December 11th, 2017 on Tumblr.