On Sunday, the Black Student Union (BSU) hosted an event during which students, faculty and staff discussed the racial climate at Hopkins.
Titled “Our Side of the Story,” the special meeting was organized as an open discussion in response to a controversial thread that appeared on the JHU Confessions Facebook page last semester. An anonymous post from a student related to an incident of microaggressions — an interaction that can be interpreted as a small act of aggression — sparked a debate on whether racist attitudes were involved.
After a debrief and short discussion, the dialogue moved beyond the JHU Confessions post at issue to address the broader topic of the atmosphere at Hopkins for black students.
Attendees were encouraged to share their personal experiences with microaggressions and how they have dealt with them. Students touched upon topics ranging from the role of cross-cultural sensitivity in campus life to perceptions about affirmative action in their stories.
“The attitude toward affirmative action on this campus. . .it’s misconceived,” junior Eduardo Alvarado said. “I hope that Hopkins works on the attitude towards affirmative action so that students of color could feel that they belong on this campus — because we earned our way here just as much as other students because of our merits and because of our SAT scores.”
The BSU used input from attendees to brainstorm ways to take action against microaggressions and engage the wider student body with the issue.
Associate Professor of Sociology Katrina Bell McDonald, faculty advisor for the BSU, advocated introducing students to such concepts early in their collegiate careers.
“I think the suggestion that a program be put together for early in the semester for incoming students is your best bet — to get these ideas out early because then I think it helps students understand what we expect from them, from day one,” Bell said.
Many agreed with the idea of including mandatory cross-cultural sensitivity programming in freshman orientation activities.
Senior Chantel Fletcher, the president of the BSU, was pleased with the turnout on Sunday.
“A lot of people are coming out because of the ‘Confessions’ thing. People saw that, and everybody wanted to do something about it,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher also highlighted the predominance of people of color at the meeting explaining that outreach beyond the black community is an essential part of the conversation.
“Most of the people here are of color, they are aware of things. It becomes hard to attract other people that don’t necessarily want to come or anything,” Fletcher said. “I know Hopkins Feminists and Hopkins for Social Justice were also involved in the ‘Confessions’ thing, so just like having them promote for BSU events or cultural conversations too [would be beneficial]. Then other people who aren’t black will know about the events too, because sometimes, most of the times, they don’t know about the events.”
Fletcher added that some conversation topics at BSU meetings draw more attention than others.
“I know one week, we talked about mental health in the black community and not that many people came,” Fletcher said. “Most of the students come to the BSU when incidents happen. And so we have E-Board [Executive Board] meetings, and we meet and decide whether we should have a meeting dedicated solely to the incident.”
Other BSU members also emphasized the importance of generating discussion beyond the black community.
“Microaggressions not only affect students of color, but they also affect a ton of other people,” Alvarado said.
