Discrimination wears many hats, and its victims are not specific. I work closely with discrimination against those with disabilities, but there are many different kinds and forms of discrimination in our cruel world. Today classes at WWU have been cancelled due to discrimination against students of color. As an advocate for acceptance, inclusion, and equality, I do not support these hateful acts. I am an advocate for people... all people. Today has been a devastating and scary day for our university, students, community, and for those students of color. Following is my reaction:
I woke up this morning to a text on my phone. It was an alert from Western Washington University stating, “all classes are cancelled for today, Tuesday Nov. 24. For more information, please see the email message from President Shepard”. I bolted out of bed and ran to my window thinking it was a snow day… why else wouldn’t we have class? When I looked outside there was no snow. I was very confused so I checked my email. The email explained that there had been hate speech over social media that targeted Western students of color. My heart broke. I felt scared, sad, and angry. I have a hard time understanding how someone could be so cruel to people they don’t even know and make overgeneralizations about certain races and demographics. I have friends and classmates of all different capabilities, identities, and ethnicities, and to me this is a gift. To me the world is not black and white, it is a world full of colors that enhance our everyday lives and experiences; this is what students of color and those not of color bring to Western’s campus. We are all important, we all have valuable opinions and ideas, and we all deserve love, respect, acceptance, education, and most of all to feel safe. It is so disheartening that racism still exists but it always has. As a country and as a university we have acted as though we have risen above racism, and this is easy to do when we are not personally affected.
Today, this morning, I have been affected, and many in
this community have been affected. I am not a person of color nor can I
understand the discrimination those students face or speak for them, but I do
know that I am a student of Western Washington University and any ignorant,
violent, hate speech to any student at Western is a threat to me. I stand for
Western, which means I stand for my fellow students, colleagues, innovators,
friends, and faculty. I do know one thing, I do not condone this behavior and
it should not be tolerated. It is never okay, and there is no excuse. Although
I am filled with hurt that people do not see the beauty of being able to see in
color, as the different hues represent different cultures, experiences, and
opinions that have made our university and lives dynamic and enriching, I am
hopeful however that we will stand together and rise above this. The most
important thing is that we support one another, and stay safe because we all
matter. We are students at Western to better our lives and we should not be
deprived of that just because of stereotypic generalizations and
discrimination. I am hopeful that the person(s) who engaged in this hate speech
towards my fellow classmates of color will receive the proper punishment, but
more than that I hope they have a change of heart. I don’t think punishment
will teach them a lesson, I think enlightenment will. The moment they
transition from tolerating diversity to accepting and appreciating it is when
we have really won as a university and come closer to eradicating racism. The
solution is both the hardest and simplest, to just be nicer, more understanding
and accepting, to support one another. Today was an unfortunate wake-up call,
and I hope we will all reflect upon our actions, how we treat others, and the
things we say because these choices we make everyday could make all the
difference.
I stand for Western,
Brittney Brown
