As the end of February draws nigh so too does the celebration of Black History Month. One can expect statements about the "perennial celebration of Black History" and "Black History is American History." While true, after Viacom-controlled BET goes back to its exploitation of regular Black people, the warm feeling one gets from references to Kwanzaa in February quickly subside.
Closer to home, Black students on campus are facing the reality that their concept of "diversity" differs greatly from that of their majority counterparts. After all of the sparsely attended conversations on race forums, many continue to question the university's commitment to seeing its African-American students succeed.
At one such "begin the healing" forum, I asked the crowd, the majority of which was white students, what they thought of diversity on campus. Not surprisingly, I got an overwhelmingly positive response. Other than the "they're in America now and need to speak English" comments, (ignoring the fact that "these people" are bilingual) most think faculty and students of color make their classroom and campus interactions valuable. When asked about what they considered "diverse" other than race, several enlightened students mentioned religious affiliation, gender and sexual orientation.
The general consensus, much to the frustration of the Black students in attendance, is that the university has done its job in providing opportunities for cross-cultural exchange and "celebration of difference." One can safely assume by the ensuing comments that anything more would begin to resemble "handouts" or even dreaded "reparations."
There also seems to be a perception that Black students' woes are attributed more to their resistance to cultural assimilation and anti-social behavior rather than covert racist attitudes held by the ominous "administration." While both are equally absurd, perceptions such as these widen the chasm between majority and minority views on diversity.
Black students must focus more on what they want, rather than hide under the guises of multiculturalism or diversity. While well short of a Frantz Fanonian revolution or Nat Turner-like insurrection, Black college students across the nation have gotten what they needed by making a concerted effort to articulate to the administration what they wanted.
Considerable strides have been made during the last 30 years. For most students, however, their only frame of reference is the time they've spent here. During the last five years, outside of the Department of Anthropology and Excellence in Leadership programming, the university has failed miserably in making its curriculum, staff and programming inclusive of African-American influence.
Unfortunately, the hardest question has yet to be answered: What do the people want? Noted historian John Henrik Clarke said, "The African-American's role in the social, economic and political development of the American states is an important foundation upon which to build racial understanding, especially in areas in which false generalization and stereotypes have been developed to separate peoples rather than to unite them." Until Black students can fully embrace this concept and articulate its importance to the "Man" (i.e. the male-dominated administration), Black anything, as it relates to diversity, will not be seen as a necessary life-skills competency.
Unfortunately, as a result of "privilege," many students don't see learning about their classmates as a necessary competence either. For this, I blame not years of insultingly incremental strides in social justice or the fact that they grew up in rural towns, but the university instead.
If the university is as committed (i.e. willing to commit resources) to making sure all students were having an experience worth writing home about (as opposed to going home because of), perhaps students of all colors and creeds (and needs?) would join hands at the bell tower and sing, "Free at last, free at last, thank God/Allah/Buddha/Dollar Bill Almighty we're free at last (from ethnocentric subjugation and social ostracization)."
Write to Anthony at neonegro@Blackplanet.com
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