“UWEC is RACIST”: a story of saving face
*this is the ending piece for a 2 part
series*
After my post, “‘Dicks out for Harambe’ is
free speech, ‘UWEC is RACIST’ is not: a story of saving face,” I’ve received a
lot of questions, a lot of backlash, a lot of conversations, and a lot of
information. Rather than go into detail about my beautiful post, which can be
accessed at http://theburdenofactivism.blogspot.com/2016/09/dicks-out-for-harambe-is-free-speech.html,
I want to address some things that have been mentioned.
[Addition: I am assuming that the chancellor and the administrstion of UWEC is supporting me in my blog post. He is always talking about having the difficult conversations; this is a difficult conversation.
I'm not doing anything violent. I'm not impeding on anyone's safety.
On some level, the reason why I'm talking about this is because I fucking care about this campus and I'm trying to make it a better place.]
As I write this, I still do not know nor
can I confirm when the ‘Free Speech’ event was supposed to end/be taken down.
So while my previous article may highlight that it was taken down BECAUSE OF
the ‘UWEC IS RACIST’ sign, I cannot confirm it. BUT regardless of that, what I
can confirm is the inability for the university to take responsibility for
addressing what was written on the Free Speech billboards and their response to
the event.
Because the university knew that it would
receive backlash because of it, they sent out a public statement on their
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire page, saying that the event was over and the
boards were to be taken down, and it had nothing to do with what was written on
it. I will quote to refrain from bias.
“The large ‘Free Speech’ signs that were on
the campus mall on Friday and over the weekend were placed there by a student
organization. The signs were scheduled to be removed after Friday’s events on
the mall. The signs were taken away as they were scheduled to be removed, and
the messages on the signs had no bearing on their removal.”
Okay cool
BUT WAIT
WHAT WAS WRITTEN ON IT? But most
importantly, WHY didn’t UWEC address what was written on the board and therefore
have a conversation about institutional racism in higher education?
(*Hint, UWEC, it’s not too late for this). And that is what makes it so
suspicious. While intended or not, the university (by addressing the board but
covering their ass in the same statement by not saying what was written on the
board) failed to educate its students that universities and higher education
institutions have thrived off of white supremacy and colonization (and continue
to). The university had a learning opportunity and did not take it. Instead, it
feels like erasure and silencing of the voices who have been fighting for the
university to take accountability.
It feels like they're trying to erase the conversation about race, actually. Because they knew what was said on the sign, they therefore reacted by posting a status saying that it had nothing to do with what was written...therefore perpetuating the racism of institutional erasure.....therefore proving the sign true? #GASP
So here’s my education for the university;
I give the university full permission to use what is in quotes to educate the
institution.
“While the writing of “UWEC IS RACIST” on
the Free Speech signs had no play in their removal, we understand that racism is
something that is prevalent and an everyday occurrance in the lives of students
on this campus. In doing so, we must also understand that, like all
universities across the nation, students on this campus are still subject to
the past of white supremacy and discrimination on a daily basis for their
identities, whether it be race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, place of origin,
or a combination of all and more marginalized identities.
We may be the first university across the
entire nation to admit that we uphold institutional oppression. In this
learning process, we have learned that we must also work to minimize it by
listening to the voices and the concerns of the students. We have very far to
go, but we are dedicating time and resources to the means to make this place a safer
environment for those of marginalized identities.
There have been countless students who have
come and gone over the years through this university and their lessons are very
real and they have been echoed by the knowledge that they pass down to their
counterparts. Thank you for going beyond just being a student, because we know
that it is not your job to teach us—the administration and faculty—how to
validate the experiences of those of marginalized identities, whether students
or faculty on this campus. We want to extend a thank you because without you,
we would not be here. We have exploited your generosity of sharing your
experience for the education of your counterparts, at the expense of your
dignity.
As a university, let us establish a university-wide
understanding of what racism is: a system of advantage based on race that
privileges white people and oppresses people of colour in upholding white
supremacy. White supremacy is a societally conditioned consciousness wherein
white identity/whiteness is normalized and superior to the identities of people
of colour (this can be seen in the ways that we teach history, or how we
“study” and “research” different groups). Any type of ism encompasses power and
privilege.
For example, a white person in the United
States can be subject to prejudice, but not racism, because a white people have
historically had systematic and institutional power. (Granted, there are other
facets of one’s identity that can oppress a white person; such as: identifying
as LGBTQ, a woman, or being of lower socioeconomic status…etc, in which case it
would be heterosexism, sexism, or classism, but NOT racism.)
Privilege is the lack of disadvantages that
marginalized identities faced; privilege is not about what you are GIVEN, but
it is what you do not have to worry about in your daily life that a person of
colour may consciously or subconsciously have to do: whether or not they will
be watched as they are in a store, or called on in class to speak about their
cultural experience as an “ethnic” person, have their racial group be
generalized in a speech in front of the class for a project, or fear that
walking down the street as a woman of colour will make them more subject to
being sexually assaulted.
Explicit racism is the racism we think of
when we talk about the civil rights era and are blatant acts of discrimination
against people of colour; implicit racism is unconscious biases or judgments
against people of colour; they may be automatic reactions to a certain group
that may not be intended as racist, but is still a result of the histories of
racism. There are many types of racism that uphold white supremacy, whether
microaggressions, interpersonal, explicit/implicit. But one of the most
damaging facets of racism that universities must be accountable for is
institutional racism. Institutions uphold white supremacy in their institutions
when the policies and the behaviors of law, education, mass media privilege
white people over people of color in that the result is the inequitable
distribution of resources, services and opportunities across race. (If you are
so inclined to talk about ‘Affirmative Action as unequal opportunities, please
refer to this article: http://professorshih.blogspot.com/2015/02/six-myths-about-affirmative-action.html)
The repercussions of racism is that it has
permeated our lives not just socially, but mentally, physically and
emotionally. Internalization
of racism is the result of institutional racism; it is where people of
color believe and accept the dominant stereotypes about their group and see it
as normal and therefore compels people of colour to support white supremacy and
racism in its ideologies, laws, and practices. This may come in the form of
self-hate or shame for oneself and/or one’s ethnic group; these beliefs may
come in explicit or implicit ways. For example: refusing to associate with
one’s ethnic group to refrain from being stereotyped, accepting standards of “normal” in equating it to white people’s
standards; feeling the need to comfort white people by not talking about
racism.
Frustration and anger are valid responses
when talking about the experiences of injustices that have occurred. Because it
is very clear that we do not know how to properly rid of these oppressing
ideologies that we have been conditioned to think, act, and feel. The history
of oppression is not a new phenomenon and it has impacted generations of
families and students and the history that they know and have lived through. Anger is valid.
Being defensive is a mechanism we use to
protect ourselves from having to think about how our society has conditioned us
to think. Society is far from perfect,
as are we. The first step to progress is acknowledging what privileges come
with our identities in society in that they do not grant us permission to speak
for the experiences of others, nor define what someone is experiencing in this
society.
Our first step is to hire and train ALL
faculty, staff, and administration who are well-versed in the validation of all
student identities while doing justice to those of marginalized identities and
voices who have gone unheard; hiring faculty, staff, and administration who
will not put students on the spot to speak on behalf of their entire
marginalized identity (because we know there is no pattern of professors who
ask “What is it like to be a white male? Tell me about your culture and your
customs and your traditions.”), nor will we condone the behavior of studying
racial groups and presenting on them to the class for a grade. We must
understand that the researching, studying, and then presenting on racial groups
for a class does more damage in reinforcing stereotypes about a group than it
does facilitate understanding and respect.
We want our university in its entirety (of
students, of faculty, of staff, and administration) to understand that remnants
of past oppressions still exist and that we are not only actively working to
dismantle them, but acknowledging our roles in that there are actions, rules,
policies, words, that still uphold these workings of oppression and that we are
cracking down and holding ourselves accountable to what upholds these
discriminatory and oppressive actions and behaviors.
We owe it to our students to be accountable
for the education they receive.
We owe it to the students who have held us
accountable to do justice by their experiences.”
Long story short and/or reiteration:
- - Racism still exists. Sexism still exists. Colonization still exists. Remnants of our past still fucking exists in what we do today.
- - Any type of –ism needs to have an understanding of power +privilege.
- - UWEC exploits its students of colour and marginalized identities to do the “teaching” for the rest of the students, staff, faculty, and administration on this campus.
- - UWEC is racist because through its response post in regards to the taking down of the Free Speech signs, they were, in fact, covering up the exposure of racism on this campus and shutting down any conversation that could have been had with the signs.
- - UWEC is racist because it is like the rest of educational institutions. UWEC upholds white supremacist patriarchy, elitism and colonization. I am here to critique the institution and the people who uphold these ideologies and hold them accountable to what is not being taught in the classrooms in accordance to the R1 + R3 outcomes in every single class syllabus I’ve ever seen. DESPITE UWEC BEING PART OF A BIGGER INSTITUTIONALLY OPPRESSING EDUCATION SYSTEM, UWEC does not have to be a product of society; UWEC can be an example for the nation to follow.
- - Administration is ill equipped in that they don’t know how to respond to those cases in which students start speaking up for themselves. Silencing the way that students tell their experiences on this campus is a way of erasing student voices. (Hint: Amplify the voices and students will probably have more faith in that the university actually wants to hear what we’re saying)
- - I acknowledge that the shit that I face on this fucking campus is not a universal experience that all students of marginalized identities face (I want to bring to light the importance and the absolute NECESSITY for acknowledging of intersecting identities). BUT ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT the shit that I have faced may not be not unique for a woman on this campus. For a person of colour on this campus. For someone who identifies as queer.
- - Those who are asking for evidence for racism on this campus: look at the Campus Climate Survey if “evidence” is what you want. But what this survey fails to recognize is the experiences of students of colour on this campus. It is a quantitative survey; not a qualitative survey. The experiences that students have faced when it comes to explicit or implicit –isms on this campus is fucked up, they can be macro or micro scale, and the quantification of the experiences on this campus over just the course of my 4 years here….I could write a book about it.
- - I mention internalized racism because it is something that I am constantly working to rid of. The hardest, most heartbreaking conversations I have had with people are those who have internalized white supremacy and racism in that they regurgitate what white supremacy has taught them. Wherein they ask “but Asian lives matter….ALL lives matter!” “I’m not like THOSE people of colour” I must constantly remind myself that it is not their words that they are speaking and that they are not to blame. No one is to blame for upholding white supremacy; but it is our responsibility to dismantle it; it is NECESSARY that we work on OURSELVES in activism as well. I am still working on decolonizing my internalization of racism, of misogyny, of homophobia, of transphobia, of classism… For me, the most difficult thing I am trying to decolonize is raising my voice; I internalized raising my voice for the longest time because I was conscious of the fact that it made the people around me (white people) uncomfortable. I am learning not to tailor my words to the comfort of the people around me.
- - Anger is seen as uncivilized and unprofessional. I’m here to say fuck that shit. To tell someone’s experiences is a painful fucking experience, filled with institutional and systematic stripping of one’s identity. It is filled with internalization, decolonizing oneself, and so much fucking pain. So if I want to be angry, you’re more than likely…..not stopping me.
- - I’m probably going to get shit for this post. Anyone who has anything to say about these sensitive topics (people’s experiences? GASP) have been, and can be punished in this day and age for calling out institutional failures. It is dangerous because people have such strong views about what they deem as racism and sexism. People have been killed for having the views that I have.
- - My blog post on sexual harassment and sexual assault did not get as many views as the one about the racism on this university did. The intersectionality of my identity as a WOMAN of COLOUR is difficult to address in this one article. But that’s something to think about; the prioritization of ‘hot topics’ when we saw this summer the injustices and the fucked-upness of our justice system for rapists. I am disheartened at the attention that this post received calling out the university, rather than the response and the attention that my sexual harassment case received. This case is still open and it has been months.
- - Your experiences are not mine and they will never be. My experiences are not yours. Though they may be similar or starkly different, they are not without influence of oppression that still exist in this world. My words, my posts, and my explanations are not simply “her fucking opinion” because they are my lived fucking experiences. Validate. Validate. Validate.
- - no, I will not stop swearing and adhere to white professionalism; here’s your fucking academic paper.
- - and for fucks sake, let’s get this clear: reverse racism (or any type of ism) does not fucking exist.
And as for the sign, I have a few
things to add:
- Thank you, to those who put up the series of bed sheets from last semester.
- And thank you, to whoever did this.
- Thank you to all of the fucking
activists on this campus who hold themselves accountable, who work tireless
fucking hours ON TOP OF being a student.
- Thank you to the people who
have made me into the person I am today.
- Thank you, to anyone who is
responsible in any way, shape, or form, for the type of activism that I have
seen on this campus, whether it be support, suggestions, accountability of
actions, art, or words.
- We are the medium that is/was/will be necessary to hold the university accountable.
