​Addressing racism on campus: where do we go from here?

For University of Missouri’s student association president, Payton Head, or USC’s student body president, Rini Sampath, being heads of prestigious associations did not stop them from facing racism. A few weeks ago, both their stories went viral. Head shared his harassment by the n-word and racial slurs. For Sampath, ‘liberal’ SoCal’s image proved itself wrong when a fellow student leaned out of a fraternity house window and shouted an expletive remark about her and her Indian race before hurling a drink at her.

These are only two incidents noticed nationally, but for thousands of students of color across the United States and on our own campus, not much is different as evidenced by Elizabeth Kim’s post in the All Duke Facebook group earlier this week. This month marks half a year since the noose incident on campus, yet as evidenced by stories from black and other students on campus, aggressions continue to exist at macro and micro levels. Racism is still a reality and a truth that goes beyond flashpoint debates on police brutality and immigration. It is a part of the lived experiences of many here, and the Duke community’s reluctance to do a deep clean risks a complacency that fails to identify, let alone achieve, long-term solutions for campus culture. Indeed, marginalized groups are often saddled with the initial burden of explaining why these issues are in fact issues that require addressing.

We see diversity in every corner of campus, from the employees of campus eateries to the percentage of minorities in our student body, but somehow the events about race on campus are founded on the discomfort of white or privileged groups. International students at Duke, often unfamiliar with American history and socio-cultural context, find themselves making questionable remarks too. Even at the academic level, professors of colour find themselves more censored, whilst white professors find representation among their peers and meet fewer microaggressions. Living amidst racialized environments is institutionalized, and often escapes our notice. As Monday’s Phi Beta Sigma panel event demonstrated, not even students are exempt from profiling by teaching assistants or professors, beyond their peers.

It is crucial that the administrative bodies, organizations and Duke’s smaller communities work together to hold ourselves accountable. Steps should be taken to make these conversations happen meaningfully instead of simply creating ‘spaces’ wherein only those concerned attend, often leaving out those who need it most. It is time we ask ourselves how to make these discussions relevant to students and how to bring it out in the larger community and even our casual small talk. Crisis brings the University together, but something more has to drive the point home.

Real, tangible moves must be taken from the highest levels of administration down to the individual student in their everyday interactions with others. For many, even acknowledging the reality of there being no “post-racial America” is a big step. We need to go beyond this. For first-years encountering many of these issues for the first time through college and being part of a diverse student body, discussions of race, culture and ethnicity should be orientation week programs. In another niche, Greek and Selective Living Groups, and other organizations not necessarily associated with racial or ethno-cultural identities need to take direct, actionable steps that go beyond taking in the token student of colour members or sending email reminders about sensitivity. The important conversations can be difficult, but ways must be found to engage and facilitate understanding. No student at Duke deserves to feel dehumanized, and everyone in Duke’s community has a role to play in making conscientious progress.