Black students’ experiences on a predominantly white campus
By Lauryn
Green
High Point University junior Corrina Joyner was in her
dorm bathroom
washing her face one day during her freshman year,
when on the other side of the
wall, she heard her two suitemates say the “n word.” She had never experienced
anything like this before coming to college, so it almost
felt like a dream to her. A
really bad one.
There was no way she could have heard this correctly.
After all,
college students should be able to live their lives without having to
worry about offensive language echoing through the
walls of what’s supposed to
be their home away from home.
Still taken
aback by what she had just heard, Joyner felt an immediate urge to
leave the room.
She left and later returned with three of her friends to confront her
suitemates.
“We
confronted them and told them why this was wrong,” she said. “Why you
shouldn’t say it, the history and background behind
it.”
Although her
suitemates apologized for using the slur, Joyner nevertheless
made a firm decision to cut off all contact with them
going forward. This incident
is unfortunately one of countless others where Black
students at HPU have
experienced some degree of racism.
From the
outside looking in, most students and parents would label HPU as
their dream school from the moment they first set foot
on campus. Greeted by the
sound of rushing water from fountains at nearly every
corner, dorms that resemble
upscale hotels and smaller class sizes, the HPU
community makes itself out to be a
friendly, inviting and inclusive place for students to
further their education.
Behind the
posh scene, however, Black students, who make up 6.55% of the
student population, have not all had the same friendly
experiences as their white
counterparts.
As a minority on campus, many Black students understand how it
feels to be the “only one” in the classroom.
This in
turn can influence the way they are perceived by their white classmates.
HPU senior and education major Christina Robinson is
the only black student in
her classes.
When topics of diversity or literature are discussed, her classmates and
professors often depend on her to provide the “Black
perspective.”
“I have to
be the forefront of those conversations, which is very annoying
sometimes,” she said.
On the
other hand, Robinson tries to use situations such as this to educate her
classmates on her culture and experiences in hopes
that they will be receptive. So
far, she has been successful, as her classmates have
been open to listening to her
and becoming more informed about diverse cultures and
backgrounds.
Intermingling with people of different races and ethnicities in the
classroom can
be conducive in helping students become more accepting
of one another. To an
extent, that is.
Despite certain measures to bridge racial divides, there are still
those who are obstinate when it comes to overcoming
racial bias.
For
instance, being the only Black student in the class comes with knowing that
some of their white peers may doubt their ability to
excel.
HPU senior Elijah
Coulter recalls an incident during the first semester of his
freshman year that he deemed as racially motivated. It was midterms week, and he
had earned the highest grade on a paper for his
history class. Usually, many
students would be supportive and happy for their
classmates for achieving an
honor such as this.
This, however, was not the case.
“When everybody
found out I got the highest grade, some person of the other
half uttered under their breath, ‘But how?’” Coulter
said.
Although he
did not care to confront the individual, Coulter still knew exactly
what his classmate was insinuating.
When Black students endure incidents of
racial bias, it is sometimes called into
question as to how they should respond. Should they call it out? Should they
educate the individual(s) about why their words or
actions are racist? Or should
they simply dissociate themselves from the
individual(s)?
Addressing racist
behavior head on can be a good strategy because when people
are confronted about why it is wrong, there is a
prospect that they’re less likely to
repeat it.
“The more
and more you let them slide, the more they’re going to think they’re
ok with doing things,” Joyner said. “So, you have to nip it in the bud very
quickly.”
Part of
nipping racist behavior in the bud can mean using the experience as a
teachable moment.
If some white students are not consciously aware that their
behavior is racist, taking the time to educate them
can allow them to grow and
overcome their biases.
On the
other hand, other Black students say it is not their job to educate their
White counterparts.
“It’s not
my responsibility to train, to educate, to spend my valuable time
helping the people who outwardly don’t care for my
life,” said Jaiden Sampson, an
HPU senior.
“Your ignorance is your problem, not mine.”
Whereas
ignorance can be overcome through education, white students have to
be willing to educate themselves instead of relying
solely on their Black
counterparts to teach them that racism is wrong.
“Your ancestors have perpetuated it, you benefited
from it,” said Coulter. “Go
learn your history.
You all shove it down our throat.”
While
racism has continued to permeate HPU’s campus, it became especially
intense during the fall of 2020.
In the
months following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and
Ahmaud Arbery, racial tension had risen drastically
around the country. Whereas
there were many white people around the country who
joined Black people in
supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, some white
people opposed the
purpose of the movement.
In October 2020, HPU’s Black Cultural
Awareness club (BCA), Black Student
Union (BSU) and College Democrats club organized a
Black Lives Matter march
and sit-in around the campus in hopes of raising
awareness of racial injustice
around the nation, which had since trickled down to
HPU’s campus.
Black and
white students marched around campus for a half hour chanting,
“Black lives matter!” “No justice, no peace!” and “I
can’t breathe!” before
making their way back to the Wanek intersection for a
final speech.
Some
students stood up to share personal experiences, while others outwardly
condemned police brutality and reiterated that black
lives mattered today,
tomorrow and always.
Most students, especially black students, left the march
and sit-in feeling empowered and hopeful that they had
made a difference. After
all, once would hope that racism on campus would have
diminished once other
students and faculty saw how determined Black students
were to advocate for
themselves.
Ironically,
just the opposite took place. Less than
a week after the Black Lives
Matter march and sit-in, a group of people entered the
Wanek Cinema only to find
the “n word” written on the wall.
No matter
how hard black students had tried to make their voices heard, some
of their counterparts were still not getting the
message.
For an incident like this to take place on a college
campus where all students
should feel valued, most people would expect a quick
and firm response from the
administration.
This was not the case though.
Black students who remember this
incident have said that administration withheld it
from the student body until
several weeks later.
Many Black students have also found that the administration
often delays addressing racially biased incidents.
“You don’t
hear about actions taken or new procedures put in place to rectify
these wrongs,” Sampson said. “You get a lot of procedural talk, and then
once that
talk is over, they’re completely silent and hope that
you forget about what has
transpired.”
Feeling unsupported by the administration,
many Black students feel they have
to depend on one another. In addition to marches and sit-ins, some of
the black
organizations on campus have hosted town hall meetings
to address the racist
climate on campus.
Their efforts, however, were met with pushback by some of
their counterparts.
In November
2021, the black student union hosted a town hall meeting in
Cottrell Hall to discuss another organization on
campus, who had advertised
through social media that they had invited a speaker
to foster a conversation of
how to unlearn antiracism. The organization, however, later released a
public
statement denying that this was their intent and that
the purpose of the conversation
was to discuss critical race theory.
During the town hall meeting, Mikayla Smith,
who is the former president of
BSU did not hold back in denouncing the racism that
ignited throughout the whole
day. Prior to
the town hall meeting, some students took to an anonymous social
messaging app, Yik Yak, and told other students to
come to Cottrell for monkey
lynchings and a slave auction.
Given how
many students feel emboldened to openly express their bigotry on
campus due to the lack of accountability, it is
questionable as to whether Black
students have any advocates on campus. As it turns out, they do.
Dr.
Sherrell Fuller, who was newly appointed as the senior director of
diversity and multicultural affairs, embraces her role
as a mentor for minority
students.
Inspired by other Black faculty and staff during her undergraduate
experience, Fuller is honored to be a role model and
confidante for minority
students at HPU.
Many Black
students especially feel comfortable confiding in her about an array
of topics, such as hair, representation on campus, racial
profiling with security and
so much more.
“If I feel
like you’re right, I’m going to advocate for you,” Fuller said.
She also
encourages black students and other minority groups to come together
because getting to know one another can help them
navigate their experience at a
predominantly white institution.
Organizations
on campus such as BCA, BSU and others are typically safe
outlets for Black students to connect with one another
and air out their grievances
about racial matters on campus. Understanding what one another is going
through
can help strengthen the bond between the Black
community on campus by
knowing they can depend on one another.
Going
forward, Black students at HPU encourage one another not to give up
because change is still possible.
“If you use
your voice and work as hard as you can, then that’s all that matters,”
said Robinson.
Although
there is still much change to be made, Black students continue to
strive for equality where everybody feels respected,
represented and valued.
