Check out today’s feature News article in the Observer. Want to bet that the writers of the offensive Christmas carol, “O Come All Ye Black Folk,” never took a comprehensive course on race in America? I almost guarantee it. Nor will the vast majority of Primary Source members have sat through a course on, say, the immigrant experience or Asian-American culture.
Therein lies the problem. A lack of education. A lack of understanding. While some of my classmates push for immediate expulsion of the Source writers or a speedy de-funding of the magazine, others—like Professor Lisa Coleman and TCU Senator Mitch Robinson—realize that straight-out punishment is not an appropriate response. Rather than persecute the Source writers, educate them.
Clearly the writers, who admit anti-racist intentions, did not understand the profound effect their words had on members of the Tufts community (particularly on the 52 black freshmen) until it was too late. They also do not seem to understand why exactly their words were so hurtful, and in what way.
And honestly now, why should they? Why should any of us? Unless you’re a hard core social science aficionado, it is unlikely that the students at this or any university would have the broad and contextual understanding needed to discern all the particular little ways in which “O Come All Ye Black Folk” was offensive.
With so many stereotypes about people who are different than us floating around in our heads—probably since a young age—it is difficult without proper training to unearth all those little distortions and misrepresentations. In fact, those individuals who think that they need “diversity” education the least are almost certainly the individuals who need it the most. If you think you’ve purged yourself of prejudice and mental conditioning in general, you need to look a lot closer.
But that’s why courses like “Race in America” exist. To help us with that difficult process of purging. Same goes for “Urban Borderlands" and “Constructions of Whiteness,” taught by Professor Coleman herself. These courses do not exist to indoctrinate or spread political ideologies. They’re all about understanding what makes other people tick. And *gasp* they welcome disagreement and discussion.
If the administration wishes to prevent a repeat of this Primary Source fiasco, it needs to do more than put on diversity conferences, at where you won’t find a single Primary Source member. The administration needs to make a course like “Race in America” a prerequisite to graduate. Or make it a class akin to the first year writing seminar. We already have some 19 required credits between the foundation and distribution requirements. What’s one more? Nobody will be the wiser.
Except they will. People will be a lot wiser when it comes to climate issues, both at Tufts and on a grander scale. One more credit is a small price to pay for one fewer damage control emails from President Bacow—not to mention a Tufts degree free from the shadow of ignorance.
Comments (108)
Do you want to radically change your perceptions of race in America? Check out the following series( movies 1 and 2) :Race, an illusion. They are in the library.
Posted by: Samantha Alcudwa at February 16, 2007 5:28 PM
I think you are a coward not to publish articles like this in The Observer where more students will read them. Think about that and don't be such a woosy.
Emily N.
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Problem as bad education
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