This column is not intended as a space to defend the particular program, "Soul Awakenings: Journeys of Race and Identity," that was degraded in Eric Wang's Nov. 17 column, "A racial awakening." Any program that has been sponsored or co-sponsored by the Office of African-American Affairs is implemented with thoughtful planning, collaboration, professional and intellectual integrity and with the utmost excellence. Before any of our programs, are implemented they have gone through the rigor of assessing their validity, relevance and benefit to the University and Charlottesville communities. So again, this space will not be used to defend this program or any program that has been sponsored or co-sponsored by the OAAA. This space will be used to go on an impersonal journey of Eric Wang's publicly shared journey of race and identity because his column had little to do with the particular program, but more so with his own aversions to racial identity. Unfortunately, there are many students at this university that feel the same way.
Wang and others who believe as he does love to espouse the following doctrine: 1) race does not matter, 2) linking oneself culturally to an ethnic or racial group is defeating to a truly free and inclusive society, 3) being aware of one's racial identity is comparable to forced groupthink and 4) that socializing and participating in activities that center around and celebrate one's ethnic or racial identity is analogous to being part of "street gang" activities or, God forbid, self-segregation. This line of reasoning is not only dangerous but sad.
In an individual's quest to learn who they are, it is important for them to discover how they first became aware of their place and standing in society. Who is that abstract "self" that Wang refers to? How did they become who they are? What factors shaped their identity and view of themselves? What shaped the path in life that they would take? What makes them happy or sad? What molded their self-esteem and boosted or crushed their confidence? Wang would love for us to sit around and talk abstractly about "identity from a metaphysical perspective," but what does that really mean? What does that mean in real life? From Wang's column, it appears that he wants us all to be/become "raceless," but that is impossible in a world where people see race.
The fact of the matter is that the concept of "racelessness" doesn't mean a hill of beans outside of the classroom because once you step out, you are encountering real life. When you walk out of this "raceless" imaginary world (that does not really exist) you will be seen as an Asian, or as a Hispanic or as an African American, etc. You will not be seen as "that guy who loves to read" or that woman "who likes to skateboard" or as "that music enthusiast who loves John Mayer" (such as myself). You will encounter real issues in very real social and physical spaces that you cannot manipulate with abstract elitist jargon. Whether or not you want race to matter is not the issue; in the real world it does. How you handle the real issues of race is what truly matters.
Are we going to use personal race avoidance as a crutch to evade discovering our complete identity? Must we miss opportunities to celebrate the richness of our individual cultures? I hope not. We should stand with pride and courage and link ourselves to centuries of ancestry that is ripe with authentic heritage that should not be denied. Erase the falsehood that to be proud of your ancestry and thereby pro-your heritage does not mean that you are anti-everyone else's heritage. Only when we know all that makes us who we are (including our ethnic and racial heritage) can we truly and positively embrace others. That is how I envision race to matter. It is a springboard for mutual understanding that spurs us on to building true community.
Brandi D. Collins is an interim assistant dean in the Office of African-American Affairs. She graduated from the Architecture School in 2003.
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