If you have spent about 3 minutes in my presence, you would probably label me “passionate.” Some people might go as far to say “crazy,” but for now, we can agree with “passionate.” Normally, before I get too far deep into a social justice rant, I apologize and take a detour from the path of conflict. Quite frankly, I am done with holding back my feelings for the sake of others.
I will no longer feel badly for voicing my opinion and, to follow suit with my new breach of comfort, I will voice my opinion on an issue that extends to people of color on my university’s campus. It is equally unfair to myself and those who I am standing up for to refrain from inserting a bit of justice into conversations. Whether we want to admit it or not, justice and love can and should be seen a more frequently in our conversations.
There is a joke on campus that there are more speed bumps than there are black people. The fact that our diversity is so minimal that we can joke about the nearly non-existent amount of people of color disappoints me. The lack of diversity, which the university has made a cognizant effort in changing, has helped institute racism into dorm-room conversations, poorly-crafted “jokes,” and our every day lives.
We mask the idea that maybe there is the slight possibility that there could be a hint racism on our campus with a statue of Jesus for the world to see. Jesus, in this case, has been a blanket over an extremely raw and real problem.
I, too, used to think that racism was a thing of the past until I saw it for my own eyes. I have to hear the question, “What are you?” a few times a week by people who do not expect that the answer is, well, “human.” My family’s heritage is completely diminished by the fact that I am well-spoken, lighter-skinned, and hold myself “like a white person.” And I spent far too long having people insinuate that being “white-washed” is a good thing.
I will continue to stand up for the people whose cultures have been deleted from their identity. Quite frankly, I won’t be sorry about it. Just I plan to be fully confident in what I am passionate about, I hope that people take their words and actions seriously. Your words matter, and can hurt a person.
In case you were unaware of the power of words, here are actual comments heard on my campus in the past year by (current and previous) students.
“I hate Asians.” “Yeah, they are intimidating.”
“Black people came from the mark of the beast”
“It’s okay to [the N-word] if I use a ‘soft' A.”
“You’re not even brown, though.”
“She probably only got into this school to boost diversity.”
“What color was he?”
“You’re really pretty for a black girl.”
“Wow, you listen to country music? I am more black than you are.”
