TO THE EDITOR:
It has become clear that we, members of The Real Silent Sam Coalition, need to clarify some aspects of our recent actions regarding the Wainstein report. Firstly, we are not disputing the findings of this report. Rather, we are focusing our gaze on the implications of the sensationalized media that focused on the Department of African and Afro-American Studies instead of the institutional level politics that allowed this academic tragedy to occur. The total absence of any institutional oversight of the AFAM department demonstrates the inability of our institution (and institutions nationally) to value black studies, and, by extension, black people.
The main purpose of the rally was to provide space for students to speak, to express their feelings about the Wainstein report and their experiences as students at this university. It is no one’s place to tell students with historically marginalized identities how to feel about what it means for them to be a student at this institution.
As active members of the Carolina community, we want these students to be empowered to reclaim space at this predominantly white institution. The incidents that occurred on this campus cannot be viewed solely as an isolated incident of academic irregularity, but rather as a culminating site of the capitalist, racist and classist sentiments that undergird our collective experiences as Americans.
Omololu Babatunde
Senior
Geography
Blanche Brown
Senior
