Students have called for Sewanee residents to stop being apathetic and to act, to do something about this “unofficial segregation” of McClurg. Surprisingly, as a black man, I’m not one that’s going to hop on this bandwagon.
I personally have a problem with guilt tripping someone into being a part of your campaign. I’m also against making one’s skin color a factor which obligates a person to support a cause. Both of these things have been utilized to “spread diversity” on the Sewanee campus. Names are irrelevant but the issues are very relevant.
It started last semester with the Diversity Panel. The Purple covered the event and the tensions surrounding it, and when I read what was happening I knew I needed to say something. But, being the lazy bum I am… I didn’t. I thought the issue would die down after classes got started, you know just fade into the background as so much does on The Mountain. And thankfully it did, until the Posse Plus retreat. Participants have come back from the retreat invigorated to make a change, or at least to advocate for one. They’ve begun to roll many of the issues on campus into one large race war and are calling those with the same skin complexion to rally under their banner. The problem is that by doing this they are only perpetuating the situation, in addition to making enemies of those who were once friends. It’s either that or hypocrisy.
Let’s take the “informal segregation” in McClurg. For one, if there was a type of segregation in McClurg, I never realized it until it was pointed out to me by an African American friend. The reason is because I, unlike most of my darker counterparts, don’t gravitate to those who look like me. I seek out the ones who think like me. If more students thought this way, they wouldn’t find a problem with diversity.
If we have to find fault for this segregation, let’s examine this situation. Minority students who do sit with non Minority students aren’t shunned, they aren’t told that it’s an “all white table.” As a matter of fact, they aren’t even given a second look. So, if there’s no problem with non-minorities, then what change are we striving for? Are the signs directed to the minority students who coop themselves up in the comfort of the MCC, AAA, HOLA, the Asian Sensation, Posse, and various other minority-run organizations and refuse to branch out? If not, that’s where they should be directed.
The entire situation with Professor Terza Lima-Neves is a bit sticky. Professor Lima-Neves is a double minority and as this campaign fumbles for a poster child, she was a perfect face. This double minority professor is being let go. The response has been “We must fight to keep her at this school!” Why? “She’s black, and we need diverse faculty!” And yet the entire time they yell race shouldn’t be an issue. I love Professor Lima-Neves, for the relationship we have as teacher to student as well as adult to adult. The thing is, the reasons that are being spouted for her remaining here in Sewanee are not ones I support. She should stay because she’s a woman? Because she’s black? It has nothing to do with her qualifications and nothing to do with what she can bring intellectually to this campus, but rather is based solely on her phenotype! This is what we, well, what I thought we were trying to fight.
Professor Neves should stay because she brings a different mindset to this campus. Coming from Clark Atlanta University she has been taught to think from the mindset of the underdog. This doesn’t just pertain to America, but internationally. When reading books in class she accompanies them with various documentaries to show “the other side,” and she stresses to her students that there are always two sides to every story. Furthermore, Professor Neves should stay because she is an active professor. She has brought various films and issues to light on campus. To let her go would be a disservice to students because we will go back to viewing things only as media would like us to view them. This is why Professor Neves should stay; because of what’s in her head, not because of the color of her skin.
The entire diversity movement won’t get much traction if those behind it don’t realize that unless they make an attempt to diversify themselves no one is really going to listen to them. The ideas that I’m writing aren’t mine alone, but because I’m black I can say things that my lighter skinned friends can’t… again, this is a problem. But before I go off again, let’s suffice it to say that until people step outside of their little boxes (minorities and non-minorities included) they aren’t going to be able to see the world, and more specifically Sewanee, completely. The truth is, race isn’t much of a problem on this campus. And this comes from the kid who was called a nigger while here.
4 comments
"Look, good for us, we hired the most qualified, highly educated professors possible, and we don't care what color they are"