Race on campus — Our response to GFU
September 28, 2008 | Contributed by Ryan Georgioff
By now most students are aware of what happened last Tuesday on George Fox University’s campus. If you are not, I will save time by simply linking you to this story.
To quote President Bill Robinson’s Friday evening email:
This stunt is not funny. It is abhorrent. It assaults GFU’s commitment to be a more diverse campus. It belittles Act Six students who are trying to engage a dominant culture, in most cases one that is not their culture. It invites angry and inaccurate speculations about people and motives responsible for this. It affronts every student who is different from the mainstream.
I agree with Robinson on all fronts.
Not only has this incident hurt the GFU community but it also affects the Whitworth community, reopening old wounds and acting as a reminder that we continue to be confronted by the ugly face of racism on the modern college campus. The Act Six students here remember some of the challenges and pain from early 2007, when race-relations were extremely tense and in part resulted in the Eighth of May demonstration.
Upon reading some of the comments to the above story on ABC.com, we are reminded that racism remains deeply embedded in our culture, and that education and understanding lie at the root of the solution. Here is one comment that caught my attention:
“Umm…It is abundantly clear that the Reverse Racism presented in the form of a “Minority Only Scholorship” was the cause for the retailitory racial display. If they had not discriminated against a white male or female from getting a scholorship, this probably would not have happened. It appears the Black minority group who was promoting a “Blacks Only” scholorship has thrown the first stone. I applaud the individual/s for stepping up against the overt reverse racial discrimination against the white students at that school, or any American school for that matter. The promoters of the “Minority ONLY” Scholorship has clearly violated Federal and State Anti-Discrimination Law and should be penalized. It’s a two way street, but the whites didn’t start it this time, those Black racist scholorship promoters have demonstrated a grave disregard for Federal and State law and should be punished accordingly.
I suggest a “Whites Only” class action lawsuit against those idiots who were promoting a “Blacks Only Scholorship.” Do those morons actually think Reverse Discrimination was not upheld by “Case Law” of the United States Supreme Court? I smell lawsuit against that school for even allowing the “Blacks Only Scholorship” on that campus!!!“
Posted by:
deuce_24 Sep-26
Sadly, “deuce_24″ is not alone in this opinion. I have heard this kind of argument countless times from disgruntled white students. They typically feel like college financial aid is unfairly portioned to minority students, and baseless drivel like that comment is spawned from ignorance and prejudice. As another commenter quickly explained to “deuce_24″ (and as is explained in the story), the Act Six program is not exclusive to minority students, though the majority of Act Six scholars are minorities.
Such displays of ignorance further fan the flames of division and prejudice, and it is key for us to nip these allegations at the proverbial “bud”, preventing them from blossoming into full-formed racism.
As a white student, I struggle to overcome the underlying racism that permeates American culture. It is so subtle as to be almost completely invisible, particularly at a place such as Whitworth, where minorities make up a mere 17% of the incoming freshman class. We must take this opportunity to reflect on and recognize our own flawed views, and adjust our worldview accordingly. This takes a measure of humility and requires a heavy dose of respect for the concerns — both valid and seemingly invalid — of our minority students.
I know some of you out there are probably thinking, “I don’t get what the big deal is! So what if a cardboard cutout of Obama was hung from a tree? It wasn’t racially driven, it’s just someone using their right of free speech to complain about Obama!”
Just ask any of our Act Six students what the big deal is, and I am sure they will be able to explain it to you. The big deal is that minorities (yes, even at Whitworth) often still feel uncomfortable being the only non-white student in a class of 40. It is the fact that some students resent the Act Six scholars and hold them to an unfairly higher standard. And now this underlying issue has reared its ugly head in a very public way.
So what are we going to do about this? Should we simply continue the trend or should we try to rise above it?
It is great that our President has spoken out against this act of racial violence, but what I would love to see is a collection Whitworth students, both white and otherwise, forming a collective statement in response to this incident. For the good of our campus such a statement seems both necessary and invaluable. Some kind of forum on racism would also serve to open up dialogue where in the past is has been closed.
I can imagine a day where Whitworth will be a place where people of every ethnicity, gender, religion and sexual orientation will feel comfortable coexisting and learning together. It is up to all of us to step closer toward this vision of equality in order to make this school an even better and more welcoming place.
Comments
5 Responses to “Race on campus — Our response to GFU”
The Forum strives to maintain academic integrity and as such we expect proper grammar and punctuation at all times. Please avoid colloquial internet memes and emoticons. Additionally, we strongly value accountability for written words and wish to avoid an anonymous environment.
Please use your real first and last name, or your comment will be deleted.
Due to the nature of the comment formatting, please be sure there is a space between paragraphs, or your comment may not display properly.
[...] 28, 2008 *This is a post I wrote originally for the Whitworth Forum about an incident that occurred last week at George Fox University. Feel free to comment on the [...]
Like I posted on the Whitworthian, we’ve got to be very careful to avoid making assumptions about this situation.
I appreciated how Robinson said, “It invites angry and inaccurate speculations about people and motives responsible for this.”
Was this offensive? Absolutely. Was it racist? We don’t know. I tend to believe that racism is tied to intent and the internal mindset and motivation of an action. We do not yet know the intent of whoever did this. And making accusations is never healthy. There are a number of different possibilities, a number of different scenarios for what happens.
Remember, this is probably just one or two people who have done this. It’s not an entire school, and not an entire race. I don’t care how many seminars you hold, posters you put up, or PSAs you announce: There will always be jerks. Always.
Duece_24, whoever he is, is guilty of ignorance and a lack of reading comprehension, not necessarily Racism. Opposing Affirmative Action or minority-only scholarships can be done for very good reasons — even a genuine belief in pursuing equality — not just racism.
Act Six has a PR problem, that not a lot of people understand what, exactly, what it is. I had a good conversation with Tim Heron about my concerns (many which have been addressed) and found him to be a very good man, who has some very good goals.
If there is a bright side to this incident, it
What we can do at Whitworth is support our Act Six students, but we need to make sure that we are supporting them as PEOPLE, and not just Act Six Students(TM).
The danger with situations like this is that it’s really easy to start looking at everybody entirely based on their race, to think that a few micrometers of melanin sums up the sum-total of their existence.
We need to look at people as individuals, looking at their actions and current personality, instead of just their background. There is much more that we have in common than we have apart. Let’s focus on our different ideas now, instead of our different looks and cultural backgrounds.
There’s another danger with focusing too much on this situation.
Here’s a quote from another forum I read:
“If this blows up into a huge deal some kid drinking shitty beer in his apartment is going to be the happiest person in the world.”
There is a very real possibility that the person who did this is just looking for a reaction. And he’s got one. The more we freak out, the more we try to sound our trumpets against racism (which every rationale person is against, in this day and age) the more we give the jerk what he’s looking for.
I did like Robinson’s response (I thought about sending him an E-mail thanking him for it.)
And I appreciate your response too, Ryan. It’s clear that your heart is in the right place. But from my research and observation, a forum will not solve racism. Focusing on racism will not solve racism — it can often make it worse, it can often make it so that’s all we ever see when we see a minority (their race.)
Does that mean that ignoring racism will magically solve it. Oh, not at all. But what can solve it is looking at people as individuals, caring about individuals. The more we care about person, the more we get to know their quirks and strengths and flaws and idiosyncrasies. The deeper we get to know a person the less important the surface becomes.
Ryan,
Good post. I’m glad you posted this, especially after my little rant to you during lunch.
My thoughts (and I’m sorry about my delayed response)-
I would also agree that while racism is a component of the issue, a larger part of it is pure ignorance. HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean that focusing on racism is always harmful. I think recognizing and denouncing racism is a step. But it needs to be followed by others. We need to be able to have a special kind of awareness that allows for us to recognize when we or others are being ignorant. And we also need to be able to have those “hard conversations” (as cliche as that sounds.)
It’s tough, however, when, at Whitworth (for example), we have a constantly changing student body/community. We battle some and win but in comes a new wave of ignorance and miscommunication. People plain just don’t know how to communicate interculturally. Not that it’s their fault, per se, but I think there is some responsibility to be proactive in recognizing our own ignorance, apathy or fear that gets in the way of us seeing each other three-dimensionally. Sometimes people are able to mature and see others different from them in a three-dimensional manner, but when incidents like these happen and the campus sees minorities in particular crying “racism!”, the whining-minority stereotype is further fueled and it’s easy to feed guilt or anger and turn more people away from the issues. It’s easier not to care. Now rather than paying attention to the fact that something was clearly wrong with the incident, and rather than CARE about the fact that ignorance and racism is still prevalent, individuals turn a blind eye and do what is convenient. I do it too, sometimes. We’re all guilty of it.
Another problem with our campus is that we all have different views on what racism is. I think the prevailing view is that which is associated with lynchings, the KKK, etc. For me, however, racism is not always that blatant. It is more like a system of advantage. It is both overt and subtle. It’s housing discrimination. It’s having to defend my place here at Whitworth. It’s as simple as the fact that many people don’t ever have to even think about what color they are when they go to the store. But I, and many others, can’t avoid being aware of our race. So when we bring up the word racism, many feel accused and guilty of their white privilege, or their maybe-innocent ignorance, or they feel like they’re already doing enough because they don’t “discriminate” or “say racist things.”
So, really, I don’t know if there’s a clear-cut solution. I don’t have a definitive conclusion about race and racism and privilege and ignorance. I just know that it’s going to take a lot more than individuals to battle it. It’s going to take systematic changes, empowerment, and a lot of [healthy or unhealthy] conflict. I like that you recognize that there is power in numbers and I’m glad you wrote this post.
Were you able to make it to the chapel that was dedicated to the incident?
Many of the students signed a large banner, agreeing to be proactive, to battle racism and to not be afraid to ask tough questions. It was sent to GFU as a sign of our support.
It may not be as collective of a response as you might’ve liked to see but it made me proud.
Vi, thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights. This is clearly something you’ve thought a lot about and know a lot about.
I appreciate this statement of yours in particular: “People plain just don’t know how to communicate interculturally.” (It reminds me of a line from the poet Wislawa Szymborska: “our humans don’t know how to talk to one another.”) I think that’s a great way of framing the root of some of the problems regarding racially-motivated or race-related conflicts. I also like that you distinguish somewhat between ignorance and racism.
I think we can run into trouble when using the word “ignorance” as a blanket term when talking about racism. What I don’t like about it is that that way of speaking gives a kind of excuse to the racially discriminatory. It’s like saying, “they don’t know any better”—but we’re living in the information age, when people have access to so much information that I think in very few cases is ignorance at the root of something as blatant as the George Fox incident. It’s not as though, if the perpetrator(s) of the act at George Fox only knew a little more, he/she/they wouldn’t have done what they did. The fact is that what they did is not *stupid*, but *morally wrong*. It’s not as though someone could go up to the perpetrator(s) and inform them of the equal value of all persons, and they would exclaim “Oh! Now I know better. Now I won’t make racist statements.” The perpetrator was acting not out of lack of knowledge but a lack of love and respect which is immoral and inexcusable.
That’s why I appreciate the specificity of your statement. It addresses the area where education *can* help. What a lot of people don’t know—and what I think is more often the case in racial indiscretions at Whitworth—is the practical logistics of how to relate to people. Racial issues make people uncomfortable. As you said, we don’t know how to interact. And that is something that education can definitely help with. There are always going to be people who behave hatefully, and education can only do so much. But education is a great means of helping with the problem of ignorance that can lead to the more pervasive, unintentional (though still perhaps morally wrong) racial indiscretions, which I don’t think includes incidents like the one at George Fox.
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the CORE programs of this school year have been changed up since last school year? Wasn’t there some talk about including some sort of diversity training that would be required for incoming students?