Dear Students:
If you are like me, you have been curious about, frustrated by, empathetic toward and even angered by the degree of social tension on this campus. Given that racism is a painful national issue that impacts the lives of all of our fellow classmates, the tension shouldn’t be surprising. Racism doesn’t only impact the groups of people that American society has historically marginalized and dehumanized. Those classified as what is commonly seen as the oppressor may be experiencing a deep sense of self-loathing or shame for negative characteristics they are assumed to possess based on the color of their skin.
Despite being told over and over again that the anger and hate are not personal, it’s hard not to feel guilt and vexation. Rather than initiating change, these emotions are often counterproductive, as they are directed more at the self than at the system. It’s hard not to feel isolated and uncomfortable when many of your classmates have uttered thinly veiled disparagements about your race, or encouraged social movements that strive to bring racial equality in theory but encourage alienation rather than inclusion in practice. While I can appreciate the irony of this imposed dislike of one’s own skin color, I still see the divisions that breed it as deeply problematic. A social prejudice, no matter its origin, justification or validation for anger, is still a shackle. If we want to end racism in this country, it’s going to take all of us.
I have found that protests and the suppression of free speech — no matter how inflammatory — create antipathy where there was apathy or simply plain ignorance before. It takes time, a lot of effort and vulnerability to truly begin to empathize with the experiences of someone who does not look like you and who has dealt with psychological pain that is completely foreign to you. I came to Dartmouth mostly unaware of the prevalence of racism in this country. Learning of my peers’ experiences was traumatic in and of itself. It took me deep, often difficult conversations, disbelief, despair, reading and reflection to get to a point where I could even imagine what it might be like to be a person of color in this country. My learning was possible because I was willing to really listen, and I met someone who was willing to share something deeply painful and personal with me — someone who would give me a chance to understand, without passing judgement on me based on the color of my skin alone.
It is not easy to be patient and show compassion when all you feel is frustration, sadness and anger, and it takes lots of time, honest effort and vulnerability to become a true ally. Indeed, it is a privilege to be able to choose to not listen. But racial absolutism only makes productive exchanges more and more difficult.
The greatest challenges of our time require all of our best efforts. We face the threats of a changing climate caused largely by manmade systems. We have a growing global population, and we are not prepared to meet the food, water and energy needs of the masses. Corporate oligarchies and corrupt politicians are fueling widespread violence and instability. Directly related to these issues, alarming socioeconomic divisions exist both in our country and throughout the world. We can only face these problems together, and we can only succeed if we put aside socially constructed divisions like race.
I recognize the historical importance of racial pride movements as a tool to counter white supremacy, cultural subjugation, intellectual erasure and physical violence. But if we keep using race as a definitive aspect of our identity, we will never be rid of the ugly power plays that come with it. As Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote in his book, “Between the World and Me,” “Difference in hue and hair is old. But the belief in the preeminence of hue and hair, the notion that these factors can correctly organize a society and that they signify deeper attributes, which are indelible — this is the new idea at the heart of [people] who have been brought up hopelessly, tragically, deceitfully, to believe that they are white...[These people] were something else before they were white — Catholic, Corsican, Welsh, Mennonite, Jewish — and if all our national hopes have any fulfillment, then they will have to be something else again. Perhaps they will truly become American and create a nobler basis for their myths.”
Like Coates, I believe that to effectively fight for an egalitarian, sustainable country, we all have to become American. Even beyond American, I’d love to see us all become first and foremost human, and to celebrate cultural and ethnic diversity, the depth and breadth of human experience. But first, we have to eliminate all systemic cultural biases that hurt any person’s or group’s ability to become productive, respected and valuable members of our society. We have to give up the absurd notion that identity politics has anything to do with intelligence, ability, disposition or beliefs. We also have to give up the dichotomous nature of identity. Skin color is a spectrum, just like gender or sexuality.
Identify as a member of the human race with me. Take the time and put in the effort to fight your own ignorance, share your experiences and stand in solidarity with a larger, more interconnected and intersectional social and economic justice movement for equality of opportunity and a sustainable way of life for us all.
Yours truly,
A ’16 who was never categorized by the color of her skin until she moved to the United States, and didn’t learn to despise it until she experienced a few years at Dartmouth.
