Wednesday, October 11, 2017 // The Statement
4B
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 // The Statement
5B
On Edge
Students of color combat campus apathy
b y M i C E d i t o r s : Adam Brodnax, Tanya Madhani, Halimat Olaniyan,
Christian Paneda, Jason Rowland, Ashley Tjhung and Sivanthy Vasanthan
L
SA sophomore Tyrice Grice
Jr. was eager to kick off foot-
ball season at the Big House,
ready to get started on his
classes and to meet up with his friends
after a summer spent apart. Like any
other student at the University of Mich-
igan, Grice was looking forward to his
fall semester. What he didn’t expect was
to wake up on the second Sunday of the
school year with a racial slur written on
his and his roommates’ dorm room door.
Grice’s experience was one in a series
of hateful acts committed against Black
students on campus this year. A few
weeks after Tyrice’s dorm room nam-
etag was vandalized, flyers advocating
to “Make America White Again” were
found near Stockwell Residence Hall
and videos circulated of individuals
defiling the #BlackLivesMatter slogans
chalked on the Diag — all a part of the
emerging large-scale backlash against
students protesting for racial equality.
Additionally, discontent rose from the
University’s lack of official response to
these incidents — from not finding the
perpetrators to the consistently low lev-
els of minority enrollment.
The editors of Michigan in Color
responded to the palpable racial ten-
sion created by the racist incidents over
the past month through reporting the
unique stories of Grice, LSA freshman
Cydney Gardner-Brown and LSA fresh-
man Amen Al-Moamen. While three
voices cannot fully capture the feelings
of all students of color on this campus
and across the University system, their
testimonies are nonetheless important.
These three wanted to be heard — not
only to show support for those strug-
gling, but also to provide insight for stu-
dents unaffected by these heinous acts.
***
“As a former student, I can see that
students are confused, uncertain, hos-
tile and … overwhelmed and tired,”
Fiana said.
To her, the racial tension on campus
is unmistakable, and she was far from
alone in her assessment.
“I was surprised that this would hap-
pen in the first three weeks,” Gard-
ner-Brown said. “We didn’t even get a
chance to (un)pack our bags, and we are
already being attacked. But at the same
time, why would I be surprised?”
Gardner-Brown had barely settled
into college life when she was forced to
confront the unpleasant reality of life on
this campus as a Black student. For her,
the tense racial climate that dominated
her first month at school allowed her to
connect with her Black peers. But this
came at the expense of feeling isolated
from the greater campus community.
All those interviewed emphasized the
uneasy atmosphere in the classroom,
in residence halls and even the library.
What was surprising, however, were
reports of a campus climate that ebbed
and flowed between heightened tension
and relative calm. To many students,
these seemingly random spikes are per-
haps more damaging to their day-to-day
lives than a campus that’s constantly on
edge.
In the past, moments of tension on
campus have led to increased activism
and awareness. But when things calm
down, these movements struggle to be
heard — a fact most damaging to stu-
dents of color.
“I feel comfortable, but then sud-
denly the campus reminds us that we
shouldn’t ever be complacent or com-
fortable,” Gardner-Brown said.
Grice echoed this sentiment, empha-
sizing his concern for movements of
racial equality.
“We don’t want (these movements) to
back down. We don’t want #BBUM to go
down.”
In times of heightened racial ten-
sion, these issues are often addressed
head-on. When these topics leave the
forefront of our minds, they tend to be
ignored. His solution: “Fight until we
know we are secure on this campus.”
Students of color feel the administra-
tion is not providing them with adequate
support during this turbulent time. Last
year, Students4Justice sent out a list of
demands directed at the University’s
administration, including harsher pen-
alties for oppressive hate speech, a pro-
cess for changing the names of buildings
named after controversial figures and
an increase in Black enrollment. These
demands largely have not come to frui-
tion. Recently, students protested the
University’s continued lack of progress
in an effort to rename a building named
after C.C. Little, a known eugenicist and
former president of the University. In
addition, undergraduate Black enroll-
ment is currently under five percent.
Though Gardner-Brown acknowledg-
es non-Black students are supportive,
she does not feel content, citing she feels
a prevalent sense of complacency among
non-Black students.
“They can walk away and feel like
nothing is happening,” she said. “The
community is left to fend for themselves.
No one else feels attacked. No one else
feels like it’s their community too.”
Grice also sees a similar trend of
detachment and responsibility when it
comes to allyship.
“The campus doesn’t invoke action on
their own, and they need to be proactive
in reaching out to me. There is nothing
here to get done,” he said. “I don’t see any
white student leaders standing up with
us. We need leaders to provoke other stu-
dents to build that community.”
To bring sustainable change in the face
of racism on campus, students want a
multipronged approach: one that calls for
a willing administration to listen to the
pain of students and faculty of color, not
one that puts this work on the shoulders
of an individual, marginalized group.
***
Each of the students who spoke
stressed the need for the administra-
tion to take concrete, tangible actions to
openly denounce acts of hate and racism
and support students of color.
“[There is] a big mistrust between
these communities and the administra-
tion,” Al-Moamen said, explaining that
this issue is a direct consequence of
administration inaction.
Grice highlighted the lack of people of
color, particularly Black people, within
the administration and Ann Arbor’s local
government.
“Since it’s primarily white advisers
who are the ones in power, we need to
find a way to convince them to help us
and to speak out on issues.”
There is an urgent need for change at
both local and community levels. Gard-
ner-Brown pointed out three urgent
advancements: the need for more safe
spaces, the need for increased Black stu-
dent enrollment and the
need for consequences for
acts of hate and racism.
She believes these devel-
opments are necessary for
sustainable and long term
change on campus.
“It’s about increasing
diversity in the campus.
Not something that can
change within a school
year. It’s something to
be incorporated for the
future.”
From us to you:
College campuses and
communities across the
country are grappling with
debates
over
diversity,
equity, inclusion and safe-
ty. While the past month’s
incidents have created a
very specific climate on
the University’s campus,
it’s important to remem-
ber that we do not exist in
a bubble. If an issue affects
students at the University,
chances are it also affects
students
at
universities
across the nation.
All three students noted
that though racism is not
strictly a problem in Ann
Arbor, it is still the job of
the University to address it
on campus.
“There’s no sense of comfort,” Al-Moa-
men said. “To enjoy and excel in college,
you need a sense of comfort without para-
noia. You need to feel comfortable here.
This is a nationwide problem. Whether
in college or not, you have to be able to
feel free to walk down the street and feel
comfortable.”
While the Univer-
sity may not be able
to solve structural
racism by itself, the
three believe it is the
University’s job to
protect and support
students of color on
campus.
Life at the Uni-
versity has always
been a balancing act.
Students juggle the
pressures of school-
work, jobs and their
social lives. For stu-
dents of color, tense
climates on campus
add yet another level
of stress to their
daily lives.
Yet, despite the
hate crimes Black
students experience,
they are expected
to
push
through.
They are expected
to
do
better
and
rise above. They are
expected to believe
that somehow these
incidents will work
themselves out and that tomorrow every-
thing will be better. For many Black stu-
dents, that’s simply not the case.
Black students are left wondering if they
will ever feel at home. Along with their
allies, they’re left challenging the Univer-
sity’s administration to enact change.
As for what’s next, only time will tell.
These blatant acts of racism and threats
to the emotional and physical well-being
of students of color at the University must
stop. As “the Leaders and the Best” we
should be better than this. We are better
than this.
Michigan in Color stands in solidarity
with the Black students, and all students
of color, affected. We are here for you, and
we will be your mic.
***
Mission Statement: Michigan in Color
is a designated space for and by people of
color at the University of Michigan, where
they are encouraged to voice their opinions
and reconcile their perspectives and lived
experiences that may be overshadowed by
dominant narratives on campus.
Michigan in Color is a writing initiative
meant to foster a more elevated discussion
on campus about the role that race and eth-
nicity (intersecting with our other identities
including socioeconomic status, sexual ori-
entation, religious identification, nation of
origin, ability status, etc.) shape our social
interactions and lived experiences at the
University and beyond.
ALEXIS RANKIN/DAILY
Amen Al-Moamen
ALEXIS RANKIN/DAILY
Tyrice Grice Jr.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Cydney Gardner-Brown