Administration denied to talk to two of our writers about racism on our campus. One of the writers being African-American.
ESU needs to stop acting like racism on campus isn’t an issue because it only makes things worse. When Emporia State ignores the differences of just a few social groups, it can only ask for disrespect, and even worse, it leaves room for people to discriminate and perpetuate systematic racism.
Racism does exist on college campuses, and it hits the Midwest a lot more than everyone might think. Back in 2015, there was the situation at University of Missouri where the student government president, Payton Head, had racial slurs directed at him which led to protests and a hunger strike to be performed on campus. More recently, at K-State, students posted a picture of social media with black face saying, “Feels good to finally be a n—-.”
On our campus, we have members of the administration who will not acknowledge racism, and who try to portray the university as some kind of perfect place. Sure, there’s inclusion of other races on campus, but the diversity and inclusion initiatives on campus become counterproductive when ESU has a better representation for foreign exchange students as opposed to non-white American students.
With the National Museum of African-American History and Culture finally being opened in Washington D.C, this means that America has finally taken a step forward acknowledging and respecting African-Americans and people of color in general.
It has taken people 48 years, mind you, to finally have something this amazing for the African-American community, but with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, there seems to be more of a dialogue occurring in America when it comes to facing the facts of racism.
With that being said, America still has much work to do concerning race relations, and since college campuses are fostering our future leaders, ESU should openly discuss race issues with students, and break down the door of racism on campus instead of turning a blind eye.
