AN ONGOING struggle that just doesn't seem to end, in which we point fingers, but everyone is to be blamed for our unruly judgments and ignorance continues to grow within our academic grounds. Students, faculty and anyone else who loves the University of Virginia for its rich history must find a way to leave our comfort zone, not only to accommodate the current University community but also to ensure that, for everyone around us, our collegiate community remains a desirable one.
Over the past couple of years, the University community has experienced? a handful of misdemeanors -- the sort which one can hardly imagine occurring at a prestigious institution of higher education during this day and age. Sometimes, we might be tempted to think that situations like these are not really happening; the truth of the matter is that they are, and we must accept them as reality.
These problems extend beyond the most notable incidents we all can recall. These are issues that extend beyond "Ethiopian food fights," lynchings engraved on desks, minority RAs who have been the targets of drunken racial slurs? and the countless times when Charlottesville residents want to drive down Alderman Road and yell the "N-word" to every black person they see. We need to focus on why we allow this ignorance to continue and what we can do to put an end to it. It's not just a black issue or a white issue: it's something that the entire University community needs to address. If we see that the problem extends beyond the University community, then it's a problem for the Charlottesville community as well. We need to support one another in these times of crises instead of just making it a "one-group" battle. Oftentimes, we can find a scapegoat to blame when a difficult situation arises, but is the problem contained to that individual alone? In these cases, we all play as the victims of our crimes, but we also help create the issues and tension.
Working with the Black Student Alliance, The Cavalier Daily will be home to a biweekly column for an ethnic audience, where not only African-American students can be informed of issues on Grounds or in the local, national, or international news, but where everyone else can also lend a caring ear. We should all be aware of what's going on around us because it impacts the entire campus. The black community has rarely seen so little interest in The Cavalier Daily, and a publication that originally reached out to the community to allow voices to be heard has become a barrier and blockade. Blacks are now afraid of voicing their opinions, fearing that what they have to say will be shut down or ignored. Any inclination toward activism vanishes as people feel like their concerns can't do anything or, more importantly, that no one will listen.
With tension dragging down any potential relationship between the black community and The Cavalier Daily?, African-American students hardly pick up the paper anymore. Many think that nothing in the paper pertains to them, or if it is pertinent, it only degrades everything that they stand for. We must change that.
A school newspaper is meant to serve the entire student body and faculty, not just one particular group. If we do not offer our voices, how can others know how we think and feel? With such a low number of black staff writers, members of the black community cannot blame anyone but themselves for not trying to change what they believe to be the status quo at The Cavalier Daily. We need to end this self-segregation at such a nationally acclaimed university. If we want a change, arguing, complaining and whining obviously will not help the situation because no one takes that seriously. The University of Virginia should at least try to stand together as the family that we are, whether we want to acknowledge that fact or not. We must figure out how to not let anyone pressure us into feeling isolated with shackles on our feet. We are no longer in a period of oppression, and we should all be aware of that fact.
This column will beused as a gateway for the University community to be aware of all issues, as any newspaper should. It should promote a common interest for the love of the University that we all share; it is still our home and alma mater, and we will all return to reminisce over what we hope will be fond memories. If we really take pride in this place -- a school where we all spend four years and exert ourselves both in and out of the classroom -- we want it to be the best it can be in every respect.
Of course, this is only a beginning. We're not trying to fight hatred or completely change people's views, but we would like for people to respect the University, in hope that it can prevent many of the problems that entire community has seen time and time again.
Brooke Howard is a Cavalier Daily contributor. She is Political Action Co-chair of the Black Student Alliance.
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