// editor's note //
Spring 2006
Colorblind or Just Blind?
The idea that racism is alive and well at Columbia has practically become a cliché. Anyone who reads The Columbia Spectator can recount the familiar litany of racist incidents from the past several years: the cartoon in The Fed that described black people as having been invented for cheap labor; the Affirmative Action Bake Sale launched by the College Conservatives; the drunken defacement of a dormitory with racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic graffiti. Time and time again, students and faculty have come together as a community to denounce these seemingly isolated occurrences. Time and time again student organizations have attempted to use each incident as a springboard for a more general discussion of racism on campus. Every time, it fails.
It fails because for most students, it is easy to be against racism when it manifests itself in a conveniently indigestible format like a wall covered in swastikas. In other words, "racism" may be rampant on campus, but only among the blatantly bigoted, who are never, ever, anyone we know. But, if the only thing minority students had to fear were cookies sold at condescendingly low prices, "racism" could hardly be called a campus-wide problem. In our zeal to follow pre-packaged scandals, we lose sight of the much more subtle and insidious everyday manifestations of racism in our community.
A recent and underreported matter at Barnard is a case in point. At the end of last semester, two Barnard students applied for recognition from the Barnard Student Government Association (SGA) for a club called Minority Students Business Network (MSBN). These two students, both black, envisioned a student group that would work in coordination with the Office of Career Development to bring recruiters on campus specifically targeting women of color. This objective seemed reasonable enough—after all, student councils at Columbia usually spend their time recognizing a capella groups, Jewish journals, or [re]recognizing CTV—and yet the debate that unfolded at the SGA Representative Council meeting was heated.
The women of SGA attacked the idea of MSBN with an uncommon ferociousness—even by Barnard standards. What began as mere skepticism over MSBN's viability (it only had two real members) soon turned into probing comments on whether the Women's International Business Council (WIBC) should really be addressing MSBN's needs. Half an hour later, MSBN's fate was decided: sixteen students voted against recognition, while only two voted in favor.
SGA's decision was not motivated by racism, and I can personally attest to the integrity of every one of SGA's Representative Council's members. Much of their discussion centered on the need to combat systemic racism. Some suggested bringing the MSBN constituency's concerns directly to the WIBC, in the hopes of guaranteeing that they would serve the interests of women of color. Whether or not the members were consciously aware, they were really debating a distinctly contemporary problem: do minority rights groups still have a crucial role to play, or are they just deepening society's divisions and further fragmenting the country?
SGA's initial decision was a vote against the further fragmentation of campus life. In its view, MSBN's existence would create a redundancy in Barnard's campus life and intensify balkanization.
While this position has its merits, my hunch is that this campus ought to worry about racism before it tries to address campus disunity—and furthermore, that these issues need not be mutually exclusive. There are plenty of effective ways this campus and each of its schools can help foster a sense of cohesiveness. Big campus-wide events, like last month's Glass House Rocks, are just one way to bring together all parts of the student body. The class councils and student governing boards should also continue to encourage co-sponsorship events between different student groups. Co-sponsored events have a two-fold positive impact on campus life: they allow the students to celebrate their cultural distinctiveness while also finding common bonds that unite everyone.
In the meantime, however, Columbia is in need of introspection—especially as its administration embarks on a major expansive push into Harlem. If the Administration wants to send a message to its neighbors to the north about its commitment to enhance the Harlem community with its presence, then it should start by convincing students that it is serious about enhancing our own community. First and foremost, this would entail paying more attention to problems of race and diversity on campus. This attention needs to be more continuous and not just prompted by unfortunate one-time incidents, which, as we've learned, have a tendency to occur more than one time. For our part, Columbia students also need to do a better job of being vigilant when it comes to issues of race and diversity.
To their credit, The Blue and White and The Columbia Spectator have tried to bring issues of racism to the forefront of Columbia's public debate. Both staffs have recently devoted series of articles to the issue of racism at Columbia without a major campus incident to provoke it. It's too early to tell if these efforts will succeed in prompting any serious conversation. But until it does, we must assume that, as usual, racism's pleas for attention will fall on deaf ears.
One day, hopefully in the near future, organizations like the MSBN will be an anachronism—a reminder from a time when it wasn't obvious that all people should have an equal chance to succeed in society. That day is not yet here, and we must all take heed of the troubling signs that keep resurfacing at Columbia if we want to hasten its arrival. SGA realized this fact, albeit two weeks later, when it brought MSBN recognition back to the table and this time, voted overwhelmingly in its favor.
Colorblindness is a noble ideal, but on this campus, as everywhere else, it remains the privilege of those students who are never seen in terms of their color. That alone should be reason to take groups like the MSBN seriously.
It fails because for most students, it is easy to be against racism when it manifests itself in a conveniently indigestible format like a wall covered in swastikas. In other words, "racism" may be rampant on campus, but only among the blatantly bigoted, who are never, ever, anyone we know. But, if the only thing minority students had to fear were cookies sold at condescendingly low prices, "racism" could hardly be called a campus-wide problem. In our zeal to follow pre-packaged scandals, we lose sight of the much more subtle and insidious everyday manifestations of racism in our community.
A recent and underreported matter at Barnard is a case in point. At the end of last semester, two Barnard students applied for recognition from the Barnard Student Government Association (SGA) for a club called Minority Students Business Network (MSBN). These two students, both black, envisioned a student group that would work in coordination with the Office of Career Development to bring recruiters on campus specifically targeting women of color. This objective seemed reasonable enough—after all, student councils at Columbia usually spend their time recognizing a capella groups, Jewish journals, or [re]recognizing CTV—and yet the debate that unfolded at the SGA Representative Council meeting was heated.
The women of SGA attacked the idea of MSBN with an uncommon ferociousness—even by Barnard standards. What began as mere skepticism over MSBN's viability (it only had two real members) soon turned into probing comments on whether the Women's International Business Council (WIBC) should really be addressing MSBN's needs. Half an hour later, MSBN's fate was decided: sixteen students voted against recognition, while only two voted in favor.
SGA's decision was not motivated by racism, and I can personally attest to the integrity of every one of SGA's Representative Council's members. Much of their discussion centered on the need to combat systemic racism. Some suggested bringing the MSBN constituency's concerns directly to the WIBC, in the hopes of guaranteeing that they would serve the interests of women of color. Whether or not the members were consciously aware, they were really debating a distinctly contemporary problem: do minority rights groups still have a crucial role to play, or are they just deepening society's divisions and further fragmenting the country?
SGA's initial decision was a vote against the further fragmentation of campus life. In its view, MSBN's existence would create a redundancy in Barnard's campus life and intensify balkanization.
While this position has its merits, my hunch is that this campus ought to worry about racism before it tries to address campus disunity—and furthermore, that these issues need not be mutually exclusive. There are plenty of effective ways this campus and each of its schools can help foster a sense of cohesiveness. Big campus-wide events, like last month's Glass House Rocks, are just one way to bring together all parts of the student body. The class councils and student governing boards should also continue to encourage co-sponsorship events between different student groups. Co-sponsored events have a two-fold positive impact on campus life: they allow the students to celebrate their cultural distinctiveness while also finding common bonds that unite everyone.
In the meantime, however, Columbia is in need of introspection—especially as its administration embarks on a major expansive push into Harlem. If the Administration wants to send a message to its neighbors to the north about its commitment to enhance the Harlem community with its presence, then it should start by convincing students that it is serious about enhancing our own community. First and foremost, this would entail paying more attention to problems of race and diversity on campus. This attention needs to be more continuous and not just prompted by unfortunate one-time incidents, which, as we've learned, have a tendency to occur more than one time. For our part, Columbia students also need to do a better job of being vigilant when it comes to issues of race and diversity.
To their credit, The Blue and White and The Columbia Spectator have tried to bring issues of racism to the forefront of Columbia's public debate. Both staffs have recently devoted series of articles to the issue of racism at Columbia without a major campus incident to provoke it. It's too early to tell if these efforts will succeed in prompting any serious conversation. But until it does, we must assume that, as usual, racism's pleas for attention will fall on deaf ears.
One day, hopefully in the near future, organizations like the MSBN will be an anachronism—a reminder from a time when it wasn't obvious that all people should have an equal chance to succeed in society. That day is not yet here, and we must all take heed of the troubling signs that keep resurfacing at Columbia if we want to hasten its arrival. SGA realized this fact, albeit two weeks later, when it brought MSBN recognition back to the table and this time, voted overwhelmingly in its favor.
Colorblindness is a noble ideal, but on this campus, as everywhere else, it remains the privilege of those students who are never seen in terms of their color. That alone should be reason to take groups like the MSBN seriously.