AFTER CLASS last Wednesday, I scurried over to Gilmer 130, where the first image I saw on the white screen was one of a black individual eating watermelon and enjoying it, and the first words I heard were "this is the underbelly of America that they try to tell us never existed." These were the words of Dr. Brenda Verner, in an event labeled "What African American Men Can Do to Save Our Culture," sponsored by the Office of African-American Affairs, BUCKS and the Black Student Alliance (BSA). The event, while interesting in its own right, indirectly underscored the ongoing communication, coordination and information gap between blacks and non-blacks in working towards a more equal America.
The communication and coordination gap exists not only in BSA meetings and events, but even in national politics.The BSA event, while having a respectable turnout, only had around four or five non-black individuals attending. Considering that the vast majority of the 12,000 plus matriculating undergraduates at the University are not black, four or five non black individuals is depressing. This problem, however, is not simply an University problem -- while, according to the U.S. Census, more than twelve percent of the population is black, last election brought the nation witness to our third black senator in U.S. history, and the only black senator in the Senate today.
The lack of black individuals in traditionally white institutions (the government) and white individuals in black institutions (local BSA clubs, the NAACP, etc) creates a communications and coordination gap, where even if the blacks and whites wanted to work together, they are not sufficiently in contact, especially in the organizations that are most capable of taking action like the Senate.
Furthermore, there is an information gap between blacks and non-blacks, particularly whites. Specifically, non-blacks have very little if any knowledge of black history (regardless of "Black History Month," which is now shared with "Abstinence Month") or the contemporary state of black America.
As far as black history goes, saying that they were "oppressed" and that they faced "prejudice" is a horrible injustice -- not having specific and vivid examples would be analogous to Shakespeare replacing "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with the words "I love you." Just as Shakespeare explained the nature of love through vivid examples and images, so too should the history of hate be explained. The BSA event did exactly this: The most memorable were pictures of small black children being used as bait to catch alligators (who would later be turned into purses and other goods). However, knowledge of such information was limited to the black community, the four or five participating non-blacks and myself.
This segregation in the content of our education pervades not only extracurricular activities, but our classrooms as well. A disproportionate lack of whites in black history or even classes such as "The Politics of Developing Areas" is clearly noticeable, while a disproportionate lack of blacks characterizes classes that give a so-called white account of history, such as the "Era of American Revolution." Thus, while blacks are learning about the history of their oppression, whites are learning about the glorious rise of our nation.
This information gap, while inadvertent, creates different reactions to our history, and these different reactions tend to further divide us. For example, one who takes classes about the history of black oppression will find himself outraged at the perceived apathy of another individual who doesn't take similar courses and is thus less aware (and not less caring) about oppression.
The solution to such problems lies within the ability of the University to have course requirements. While I was the first to complain about the "non-western perspectives" credit, I now realize its value, and strongly believe there should be other non-western perspective requirements. Students should have to take at least one course on black history and even a course on Latin American history. Such requirements would serve to give students at some real perspective on oppression, and, for many, would be much more valuable than foreign language requirements. Through such requirements, we can bridge the information gap; inevitably, in the process of closing that gap, blacks and non-blacks will participate in genuine discourse, thus ending the communication and coordination gap at least at the University level. While opponents will be quick to label such requirements as "coercive diversity training" or other such extreme terms, they are completely in line with the tradition of the University, a tradition of liberal arts that can be traced back to the dreams of Mr. Jefferson.
Sina Kian's column usually appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at skian@cavalierdaily.com.
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