Unsurprisingly, in a time of roiling racial controversy, the culture of America’s college campuses have entered the cross hairs of those seeking to eliminate racism. Since the “integration era” began, there has been an ongoing discussion about racial tensions and representational issues in what many refer to as “predominately white institutions” (PWI). Most of them revolve around a consistent set of concerns. The most obvious of these are: the egregious displays of racist beliefs disguised as “theme” parties; lack of representation in student government and faculty; lack of representation in the student body; and the role of affirmative action.
The opposition to anti-racist activism has essentially followed the same path—in the name of “academic freedom” promoting the expression of all sorts of racist behaviors and practices and ridiculing students who oppose them as some combination of weaklings and “Stalinist thugs.”
In the current moment, these concerns have taken on a greater resonance because of their general connection with what many are now calling the “Movement for Black Lives” (M4BL). The uprisings in Ferguson and Baltimore and the explosion of protest activity around disparities in the criminal justice system has bled into a more general set of concerns about racism, with a larger number of Black people less willing to accept the day-in-day-out racism that continues to stalk our everyday lives.
While the more visibly integrated nature of our society makes it appear as if racism has drastically decreased, that clearly is not the case. Perhaps tolerance has increased as various marginalized groups become less tolerant of their own marginalization, but deep-seated racist ideas continue to run incredibly deep.
For instance, roughly 30 percent of white millennials believe Blacks are lazier than whites, and 23 percent believe Blacks are less successful because they don’t work hard. Add to that the well-documented job discrimination that well-qualified individuals often face due to having a “Black name” and it becomes quite clear that racist views are alive and well and affect every sector of society. Note, for instance, Donald Trump skyrocketing to the top of the Republican field based off extraordinarily racist assertions about Latino people.
Black students told, ‘just deal with it’
Black students are told to just “deal with it” when it comes to “ghetto parties” at fraternities or buildings named after slave traders. At Yale, where serious confrontations have taken place between students and faculty, there is somehow a “debate” about whether to change the name of Calhoun Hall, named after the “Fire Eater” John C. Calhoun, one of these most prominent supporters of the brutal slave trade. It is difficult to imagine this debate happening if the building was named after Joseph Goebbels, a propagandist of similar convictions.
It’s also not difficult for Black students to understand the imbalance. The reality is that the Ivy League schools (and many others) owe their existence to the fantastic profits reaped by the trade in human flesh. Yet the experience of slavery, which was extremely brutal and brought death to tens of millions, has been treated as an unfortunate accident of U.S. history. Thus, symbols of slavery are up for “discussion” and any suggestion that this discussion clearly should be closed is treated as an assault on academic freedom.
At Missouri, students have been attacked and ridiculed for desiring to not have to be subjected to racist behavior and activity and further for desiring not to have the media constantly poking around protest camps for stories. That this has resulted in them being called “babies” or “weak” is absurd. None of the right-wing social commentators ripping them ever complain, ever, about the immense secrecy that surrounds many gatherings of the rich and powerful. It is okay to meet in secret and make deals that destroy millions of lives but illegitimate to want to keep counsel with your fellow students without ESPN or The New York Times, or some right-wing videographer fishing around, it seems.
In many ways, the on-campus experience is adding insult to future injury. The job prospects for Black college graduates are relatively poor. Somewhat shockingly whites with only a high school diploma have more wealth on average than Black college graduates. More than 55 percent of Black college graduates are working in jobs that don’t require a four-year college degree.
Essentially, the message being sent to Black college students is: “Go to college, face racial abuse that administrators will constantly excuse, then graduate and work at Starbucks. You are lucky to have been here anyways so take it.”
The on-campus uprising is a result of this narrative. Students are demanding administrations actually do things to reduce racial disparities on campus and help Black students both get into college and succeed when they get out. While some consider this special treatment, it is worth noting almost all colleges do this exact thing for military veterans. So again, the double standard—the general category of “veterans” deserve all sorts of special treatment but the consistently most oppressed and marginalized section of our population deserves none. No wonder they are mad at Mizzou.
It is entirely correct for students around the country to demand to be treated with dignity and respect and that university administrations take racial disparities before, during and after a college education seriously. The fact that racial disparities aren’t taken seriously is a sign of how far to the right the political consensus in the country has drifted.
