Lake Forest College has recently had to confront various forms of racism and microaggressions that plague this campus. Most of us are aware of the racist and defensive statements made on social media (especially YikYak). Is this a surprise? No. This campus is an extension of the world at large, a world which is prejudiced at its core, making incidents of racism inevitable. The fact that our campus is racist seems paradoxical, considering our college’s fervent claim that it “embraces diversity.” I see these words plastered in purple among the Forester Five rainbow all over campus, yet it does not match up in the lived experience of students. My focus will be to help outline what our administration can do to bring substantial change, or at the least appropriately acknowledge the realities of racism.
First, we need to recognize that racism is a global endemic, and it is not going anywhere. We live in a white-dominated society, both demographically and institutionally. With this comes the historical baggage of genocide, slavery, colonialism, and marginalization, both systemic and subtle, that people of color have to deal with. You cannot solve a problem without first identifying it.
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Secondly, we need to escape this delusion that “diversity,” “tolerance,” and “inclusion” are going to bring solvency to the grimy reality of racism. Though these are positive agendas, it’s naive to think reaching a quota of colored faces or celebrating different identities truly addresses the underlying problems of white supremacy. Brutally honest conversations about race and culture in class, residence halls, public forums, and committee/organization meetings can help identify the problems to address, rather than being evasive with feel-good initiatives.
Thirdly, we need to be proactive about the changes that can happen. For example, Title IX was an excellent federal push to recognize the problems of gender discrimination. Now our campus has a Title IX Coordinator. Additionally, all students have to take Haven, the interactive module on sexual assault, and programming at New Student Orientation at the start of the year. With information and resources about sexual assault everywhere, at least I have to acknowledge its existence, even if that recognition does not eliminate the problem. I believe racism is just as much a reality of our social fabric as sexism, and therefore we should have mandated programming for all students. But the question is will we be proactive, or reactive and wait for a federal push to address this issue? Admittedly, addressing racism will not be easy, and more confrontational initiatives will be faced with bigoted backlash and proposals of conservative alternatives.
I do recognize that the administration is responding to student concerns about racism by putting initiatives in place to change policy. What I have described above are three elements to strongly consider to move toward a more honest and proactive campus. My intention is, therefore, to continue pushing the administration at large to think carefully as they build on what they have started this semester to fully realize substantive initiatives related to race.
