Inclusion must extend beyond representation

Back in November, Aja Black, a Black woman, was subjected to racial attacks by Zoom bombers who articulated racial slurs to her. As a result, the administration rightfully sent out an email condemning this behavior and stated that an investigation would be carried out.

However, to our dismay, there has not been an update sent out yet to the student body about the progress of the investigation. It appears that no one will be apprehended or held accountable by our administration for this attack.

Events like these and others have revealed a harsh truth: CSB/SJU has neglected the needs of Black students and other members of the BIPOC community. Actions speak louder than words, and these actions reveal the lack of genuine commitment from our administration to combat racial oppression.

Though CSB/SJU, like many other colleges across the country, have drafted Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) strategy plans to address the needs of their BIPOC communities, I am still skeptical.

For instance, CSB/SJU has set a goal to hire more professors and faculty of color. However, plans to acquire them and keep them here at this institution can be summarized as being murky.

Though many talented and amazing BIPOC students have managed to survive the hostile environment of academia, they are the exception, not the norm. These students are celebrated as unique achievements and embodiments of the promise of racial equality overcoming systemic oppression and injustice.

Instead of making spectacles of those of us who survive these institutions, we should observe why we make monuments of those students who managed to thrive here in the first place.

Rather than being examples of racial tolerance and equity, our campus is affected with the virus of white hostility and skepticism towards BIPOC students.

This should not be a surprise given that the very history of CSB/SJU is rooted in the violent abuse and forced assimilation of Indigenous people into boarding schools on our campuses. Hence, rather than genuinely partaking in the process of restorative justice, it appears to me that CSB/SJU understands diversity as a method of tokenism.

How do we fix this as a community? “Diversity” problems are not immediately solved once marginalized people enter environments that they have historically been excluded from. The administration must continue to make an effort to revamp institutional structures that recognize the identity of BIPOC students while allowing them to fully thrive on campus.

I have only spent two years navigating the “diversity” question. Growing up as a Black Bahamian and attending majority Black schools, I grew up in a society vastly different from many of my African American peers. I never had to question what it meant to be Black until arriving here in the U.S.

However, despite this deficit in knowledge, my presence was still repeatedly turned into a source for my white peers and colleagues to learn about culture and “unlearn” racism. This is a role that I do undertake, but still feel limited in my knowledge and input due to possessing a different perspective and upbringing from my African American colleagues.

Make no mistake, efforts to diversify the student and faculty population are good and must be applauded. But the ways that these efforts are carried out can cause unintentional harm.

I love this school and community deeply and hope to send my children here someday. However, I cannot stay silent toward an institution that seems to only offer lip service and not tangible action steps forward.

Deriving influence from our Benedictine values, let us make the effort to cultivate a community firmly rooted in the values of respect for persons, humility and justice. Our call for “diversity” and “inclusion” at CSB/SJU must keep reaching beyond representation and visibility on the college campus and fully align with the needs of BIPOC communities.