"What It's Like to Be Black on Campus Now"

During the first article, What It’s Like to be Black on Campus Now, Melissa Harris-Perry addresses the current racial issues on campuses all over the country. Every college encounters this problem; trade schools, private colleges, state schools, speciality schools, and Ivy Leagues. Specific examples from Ivy Leagues like Yale, Harvard, and Princeton show the racism that still exists. The fact that Lolade Siyanbola had to verify her right to be on the campus of Yale after napping in her dorms common room is astounding. The article says that staying woke is a calling for consciousness, awareness, skepticism, and action. Lolade Siyanbola literally could not stay awake, which is ironic to the quote used. Finals week is an extremely draining time of the semester for all students. Personally, I remember not being able to stay awake at night due to being exhausted. I know for a fact that if I were to sleep in my dorms common room, I would not get the police called on me. This is a huge problem that exists on every college campus, town, city, restaurant, store, and basically everywhere else. Everyone is given a controlled image. Along with that, the statistics show that black college graduates are not given equal opportunities as white college graduates. As Ta-Nehisi Coates told us in Between the World and Me, African-Americans must work twice as hard to receive half as much as a white person. The statistics in Harris-Perry’s article support Coates claim. Even if a black student graduates college, they are two times more likely than a white college graduate to be unemployed. Something the society must realize is that African-Americans are not given equal opportunities. These limited opportunities reduce the chances of African-Americans to succeed. As Ida B. Wells stated, “righting wrongs by shining light of truth upon them,” is important in this scenario. By students who have experienced inequality and injustice speak about their terrible experiences, eventually a movement may begin that can right the society’s wrongs.

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  1. Tamia MickensFebruary 25, 2019 at 6:39 PM

    Towards the end of “Talented Tenth” by W.E.B. Dubois, he focuses on the need for African American teachers to represent African American students. I found this to be extremely important and very relatable to my own personal experiences. After thinking back on my schooling before college, I only recall having 3 African American teachers, two of which were women. Relating to my college experience, I haven’t had one yet (I know there are African American professors on campus, I just haven’t had one yet). Accourding to this chapter of the book, many of the people who graduated with teaching degrees were men. It seems that the entire narrative has changed, in my experience having only three black teachers and two of those being women. I wonder if any social pressures stopped black men from being teacher and higher educators. Dubois also talks about the connections and “life lessons” that can only be taught by someone of the race in connection to the student, which I agree with. For as long as I can remember, I questioned the school system as to why there weren’t more teachers of color and there was never really a clear answer. Even now, being on a college campus who is working towards diversity, it amazes me that we don’t have more professors of color. Relating this to class, we have talked about Dr. Kieran’s experience as a white man and how many times he won’t be able to relate to some of the experiences in the book or that we, as students of color, have had. I would love to know how Dubois would have felt about non-black professor teaching about African American history.

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