TO THE EDITOR:
I recently stumbled across your feature “Campus Commentary: Does UNC adequately support students of color?” from Feb. 5. I really respect what The Daily Tar Heel is doing by fostering these conversations. I would like to say that I was surprised by the online comments this story received, but I am not.http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2015/02/campus-commentary-does-unc-adequately-support-students-of-color
I am a white Ph.D. student at UNC, and I think the biggest threat to students of color on campus is that people (namely white people) are unwilling to validate the feelings, emotions and experiences of students of color.
When people speak their own truth, especially when people of color speak their own truth, it should not threaten the white student community. That seems to be a huge alienating force on our campus and one that prevents anyone from supporting students of color — we do not allow space for their voices, we silence or invalidate anything they say, and we question their desire to have spaces and communities of their own.
We especially question campus organizations and spaces for and by students of color, ones that we cannot be a part of, despite the fact that the majority of spaces and communities on campus are built and maintained by and for white people. We cannot imagine that any group would want a space of their own, because we cannot imagine a space that is not our own — one in which we are not represented.
The word “privilege” is shunned, but until people admit they have privileges, they cannot want the same privileges for others. We as white people need to experience being uncomfortable, and when this discomfort occurs, we need to acknowledge those feelings, look deep within ourselves and talk to members of our own white community rather than lash out at Black students, force them to explain themselves, or ask for their forgiveness (thereby placing the burden on them).
Privilege does not require our intent or desire as white people. We have it whether we like it or not, whether we are poor or a member of another marginalized group.
We have a privilege, and we need to sit with that. Just as we want our experiences and emotions to be validated at all times as white people, we need to admit that we need to allow others to be validated, too.
It is imperative that we as white people do not go through life ignorant of our own identities and the privilege wrapped up in those identities — I don’t want to be ashamed of being white, but the actions and expressions of many members of the white community on issues related to students of color on campus are putting me to shame.
