This narrative was not the opinion I prepared to write for the readers of Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. I had all but edited a piece discussing the need to innovatively shift student services amidst the current and unexpected pandemic. Nevertheless, an old, familiar plague has reemerged and has relaunched itself in a more vicious form. This virus has, once again, reminded us that the journey to freedom and racial reconciliation is not a sprint but a marathon. Therefore, if we associate progress or freedom with material assets, then we completely negate the dream Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and so many others died to achieve. Yes, we have made improvements, but let us not be deceived. We are still a nation fighting for civil and equal rights, a nation still on fire. It is a fire which has burned as fervently as an Olympic flame and has taken our breath away. This blaze cannot be extinguished by task forces, corporate dollars, breaking news alerts, protests, court trials, town hall meetings, conferences or conversations.
By now, I am sure you are also abreast of this news. It was not only widespread on TV, it consumed our social media timelines. Despite this barrage of information, many choose to ignore the current issues. The breaking news of George Floyd’s death presented a problem in the land of the free, home of the brave, and it has not yet been resolved. This news exposed a long-standing problem, dating back to the 1600s; a problem which when processed is treated similarly to other unresolved issues. These issues include the mass shootings of Sandy Hook, El Paso, Parkland, Sutherland, Pulse, and many other violent gun massacres which occurred on U.S. soil. As a result, gun reform receives mass amounts of temporary attention in the network headlines, until the next shooting surfaces. Further, after the deaths of Freddie Gray, Sam Dubose, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and so many more, we find ourselves here again, discussing the problem.
For days following the death of George Floyd, I fell silent. I wanted to speak using my social media platforms, but I was speechless. I was asked to post, respond, write a note to students, apply hashtags to my name, and join in a moment of silence, among other initiatives. However, I knew the death of George Floyd could not encompass the same temporary and emotional responses as so many other Black males who lost their lives at the hands of a system designed to honor and protect citizens of this nation.
When my students met with me to discuss their desire to lead and organize a protest, I felt uneasy. I was not concerned about looting, violence, or other actions often aligned with the destruction which occurred during some protests. To add, many of the ruination were initiated by counter groups. Instead, I needed my students to understand that, long after the news of racism in America is no longer breaking, the need to engage and lead social change should be ongoing.
As we prepare to welcome our students back during a pandemic fall term, which has now been integrated with a renewed conversation regarding racism, administrators are asking the same question Dr. King asked, where do we go from here? As I considered this famous question, the following three themes emerged:
Call It Out
The news, that either currently is or recently was breaking, should acknowledge the existence of critical race theory rather than primarily focus on diversity & inclusion strategies. It is important to understand the difference between the two. Originally, these two were perfectly embedded in trainings guided by “One America in the 21st Century,” President’s Clinton Initiative on Race. However, as we modernized diversity and inclusion related initiatives, we diminished one of its critical dimensions, which is that racism still exists in America. Therefore, until we are permitted to refer to racism in its most current form, we will remain a community in chaos, discussing the same issues decades from now, with limited progress and unchanged institutional polices.
