by Dominique M., Assistant Editor-in-Chief
In the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of interacting with students who I normally would be unable to. The conversations that we have had stemmed around racism, reverse racism, white privilege, and black student associations. However, one experience in particular stood out to me. I was discussing my role in the Black Student Alliance on campus with a fellow student, how we advocate for black students on campus, and give them a safe space to be themselves. The student stopped me in mid-speech, and discussed how we need a white student union too. Historically, PWIs, like UTC, were meant to disenfranchise minorities because they were geared towards only incorporating white students. Although we have had much progress, there is always room for improvement when it comes to being inclusive towards minorities. Therefore, I disagreed with him that we need a white student union on campus. Rather than having a civil conversation about our differences in opinion, he proceeded to call me racist and he delineated how I was furthering segregation with BSAs. So, what really is the purpose of a Black Student Alliance? Simply put, the purpose of such an organization is not to exclude anyone or to further the idea of racism by separating ourselves from the general population. Rather, we seek to empower black students by seeing others who look like them succeed in a safe and comfortable environment. It is not always comfortable looking around a classroom and not seeing anyone who looks like you in the room. Moreover, it is not always comfortable to constantly be in settings where people may not understand you. Thus, the Black Student Alliance comes in to play. Another important reason why we have these organizations is because black students need advocators on this campus. Community is a vital part of any student’s college experience and the Black Student Alliance seeks to make that a reality for them. When someone feels apart of something bigger than themselves it is harder to walk away from that community. Moreover, when you build bonds, you rarely want to lose them. Sometimes it can be hard to build these bonds with fellow students when you are just listening to a lecture, so organizations that are advocators for students seek to actively create these bonds. In doing so, community is continued throughout the black student population and there is more incentive to stay in school. So, next time, when you are questioning why a certain group seems to be getting more “privileges” than others, try to take a step back and think about what that really means. Everyone wants and needs a sense of belonging and comfortability and BSAs are just one example of giving students this.
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December 2018
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