A few weeks ago I opened my mailbox to a navy blue postcard that read “Being Black at Connecticut College” in bold yellow print. It was an invitation to a discussion on matters such as what it means to identify as Black at Connecticut College, how African Americans experience the college, whether or not there is such a thing as a Black community on campus, and what are issues of interest to this community, if it exists.
I am a biracial student; my mom is Haitian and my dad is Italian, so I wasn’t surprised that I was invited to this discussion, but I was surprised that Unity House and Umoja, who sponsored the event, assumed that I was African American.
In society’s search for political correctness, we’ve been trained to equate “Black” with “African American,” when the two are not synonymous. Just as there is not, and never will be, a universal white identity, there is not, and never will be a universal black identity. It’s a simple fact; not all Black people come from Africa.
I think we’ve reached a point where nobody really knows what the definition of “Black” is. Is it simply a matter of skin color? Does darker skin make you “blacker”? Or is it a question of attitude; the ways that you walk, speak and behave?
I’ve noticed in my two months here that people on this campus tread very lightly around the subject of race, but maybe it’s time that race is discussed outside of minority groups.
Black kids know what it’s like to be Black at Connecticut College, so shouldn’t the goal be to educate the rest of the campus community? It’s sad that people need to be invited to initiate discussion behind closed doors at an event, but if that’s the only way that discussion can start, shouldn’t everyone be invited? In having segregated discussions about race, we aren’t giving minority students a voice. We’re doing just the opposite. Yes, it was important in the 1960’s to have Black Student Unions at liberal arts colleges when there were only a handful of Black students attending them, but now our goal should be to strengthen the voice of the Black Community in the greater college community, while honoring those pioneers who helped to get us here.
You don’t need to be Black to do that.
Haitians are, like American blacks, descendants of slaves brought over from Africa. So while you may be Haitian, you are ALSO African.
Tim you so missed the point. She never denied being a descendant of Africa, she made a point that she was not African American. African American does not = everyone who looks black.I am an American who happens to be black and I don’t refer to myself as African American. I know I am a descendant of Africans but I choose to be simply Black American. And that’s my choice.
Nobody is american unless you are a native american indian. Do “white people” call themselves, polish american, or russian american? No. I think that having groups in colleges that call upon people of different skin types to come together and talk about their feelings makes it okay to put people in different groups and categories that establishes a gap between races. Everyone is equal… not one person is better then the other. People should not be treated differently, or invited to different groups depending on their skin color.
end of story.
In the society that we live in now i would think that with a biracial president people would come to the logical conclusion that there is no such thing as a superior race.
bravo skyler i couldnt agree with you more.