ON FRIDAY, Feb. 18, The Cavalier Daily published a letter to the editor alleging that Dean of African-American Affairs M. Rick Turner called a group of black fraternity members "Uncle Toms" and "house niggers." The letter came from Jesica Wagstaff, a black student and former president of the Griot Society who graduated last year. Wagstaff was concerned with the harsh way in which Turner had criticized the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. for its pioneering move from the Black Fraternal Council to the non-racial Inter-Fraternity Council. Prior to publishing this report of Turner's remarks, The Cavalier Daily independently confirmed it with one of the members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Yet when Turner was contacted about the situation on Feb. 21, he vehemently denied the remarks that had been attributed to him. On Feb. 22, he made his denial public in a letter to the editor, stating, "Although I disagreed with the Alphas' action, I would never disrespect them by referring to them with racial epithets."
Unfortunately, however, the circumstances provide good reason to question the truth of Turner's denial. In the first place, Turner's use of at least one racial epithet has been documented and independently confirmed by two eyewitness members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. who were present when Turner allegedly made the same remarks. Second, Turner has a history of actions that suggest his opposition to social integration between black and white students. And finally, Turner has throughout his deanship established a disturbing pattern of making inappropriate and inflammatory remarks. Given these factors, we must seriously consider the possibility that Turner, who is paid to improve the quality of life for black students and help strengthen race relations here at the University, has used racial slurs to some of his students' faces and then publicly lied about it in an effort to cover it up. All ideological differences aside, our community should come together and demand to know the truth about this matter.
In an informative e-mail to the Cavalier Daily on the day before Wagstaff's letter was published, one Alpha brother provided an eyewitness account confirming Wagstaff's allegations that Turner applied the terms "Uncle Toms" and "sellouts" to a group of Alphas during a heated face-to-face meeting. According to this source, the term "house niggers," was not used in direct conversation with any Alpha members, but rather in conversation with a member's parent, who the Alphas consider to be a very reliable source.When Turner published his outright denial of this account, it became clear that someone in our community of trust was not being truthful.
Then, yesterday, I received another e-mail from a second Alpha brother who was present during the meeting in question. This e-mail confirmed yet again that Turner did indeed use the epithet "uncle toms" in the meeting with Alpha members, in addition to uttering the slur "house niggers" in conversation with the parents of an Alpha member.
This second report is even more credible because Turner has been so highly and harshly critical of the Alphas' decision to leave the Black Fraternal Council, publicly calling the decision a "disgrace." In a Feb. 8 news story in The Cavalier Daily, Turner is quoted as saying, "There is nothing to me that justifies this move," and "Martin Luther King, Jr. was an Alpha, and he would roll over in his grave if he knew that these young men made this move." Struck by the ferocity of such comments, I e-mailed Turner on Thursday, asking "Would it be possible for you to give me a brief explanation of why you think the Alphas' move was a bad one?" I never received a response.
But sadly, Turner's record makes it unsurprising that he would oppose the Alphas' move to join a fraternal council that includes members of diverse races. Last year, at an event titled "A Conversation with Black Men," Turner kicked out a non-black student who tried to attend the event. When Turner finally apologized, it wasn't for his practice of racial exclusion, but rather for his "error" of advertising the event to the general public.Even more disturbingly, it seems that Turner's opposition to the Alphas' leaving the BFC might be explicable in terms of the militant antagonism that he has repeatedly shown toward non-blacks in general and whites in particular. According to the Feb. 18 "News in Review" section of C-Ville weekly magazine, Turner recently told 140 black parents gathered at a Charlottesville church meeting that "White folks are not going to educate your children."
The same publication ran a letter to the editor that week from Robert J. Inlow, a parent who attended a Feb. 15 school board meeting along with Turner. According to Inlow, "For 20 minutes, white parents were subjected to some of the most hateful language I have ever heard." Turner reportedly accused these average white parents of being racist and even went so far as to call them Ku Klux Klan members.
We may never know for sure whether Turner publicly lied in order to cover up his use of racial slurs against a group of the very students he's supposed to be helping. But regardless, we still must ask ourselves one simple question: Are we really better off with our administration sponsoring Turner's hopelessly outmoded paradigm of militant racial separatism and black-versus-white antagonism? For those who see that the obvious answer is no, Turner's likely approaching retirement is truly a cause for celebration. It's also a happy reminder that even the ugliest parts of our past will one day fade away.
Anthony Dick's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at adick@cavalierdaily.com.
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