The recent social and racial climate at Mizzou prompted thousands of students at colleges around the country to stand in solidarity with the students of color affected by the threatening malice of their classmates and to ignite a wave of protest and activism in pursuit of social justice.
Demonstrations, candlelight vigils and #StudentBlackOut protests have dotted the university scene in the past few months, highlighting an urgent call for change. Student activists at Princeton, Tufts and our own Connecticut College opened a dialogue on institutional racism and spoke out on the ways implicit marginalization infiltrates their personal experiences.
As with the manifestations of any social movement, these instances of student activism elicited a broad spectrum of emotional responses. Some students were immediately moved by the protests. Others felt initially overwhelmed by the information before them. And since our campus is home to a largely liberal population who strives to uphold principles of social equality, many students acknowledged institutional racism but had difficulty situating the existence of such oppression so close to home.
So, if activism precipitates such variance in reaction, how do we reconcile these responses? And what must we fundamentally take away from its place in society?
First and foremost, variance in response is okay. Issues of racism and diversity are hard to talk about. Addressing these aspects of society requires courageous conversation on cultural competence. Though crucial, these dialogues are undeniably difficult to bring to the forefront of discussion. We should not shy away from ideas or feelings that do not align with our own; we should instead elevate our capacity to challenge discomfort. Put poignantly by President Barack Obama in a recent speech regarding political conversation on liberal arts campuses, “I don’t agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of view.”
When we consider the effects of activism, we must acknowledge that invalidation of emotional reactions to activism might be as harmful as invalidating the cause itself. Activism aims to educate, so it should never deny a student who is first confronting the realities of societal injustices the ability to engage these issues at a comfortable pace. There is danger in assuming a lack of active participation indicates a lack of emotional connection or the absence of information internalization.
“One flaw in some activism,” a student suggested, “is when it generalizes an audience based on assumption. Not actively engaging does not mean you support the opposite cause.”
Conversely, there is danger in invalidating the assertive emotional expression of protesters. “I’ve been a spectator when an organization is fighting for what they believe in and I remember feeling receptive, and wanting to know more about the topic they were discussing,” Shelly Rodriguez ’16 shared. “I felt like I needed to give them a chance, to give them a voice that made them feel heard.”
Thus, we should not get caught up in the content of these disparities, for it detracts from the larger issue at hand a response to a protest is the start of an important conversation, and the fact that it got people talking is, in itself, a small victory. We must focus instead on the intrinsic and overarching message student activism sends.
Student activism is about spreading awareness. It implies such embedded systematic shortcomings that only a jolt from our daily routines and expectations might alert us to the feelings of our peers. When protesters enter a space, their goal is to emphasize the existence of an issue so pervasive it warrants interruption. Productive student activism aims to create opportunities for those who are underrepresented, not to minimize the character of their spectators. Ultimately, effective student activism targets a form of injustice, not the members of an audience. It has everything to do with the voices of the activists and the injustices they publicize, and less to do with the stillness of the spectators.
The mere existence of protest should signal to us that, most simply, we have a grave and long-unacknowledged problem. The content of any demonstration is important, but its underlying implications are crucial. Rodriguez, also a participant in the recent series of protests at Conn, summarized the importance of activism with: “Activism, to me, is strength: strength in numbers, strength in community and strength in organization. With that strength we bring awareness, unity, support, and change. Activism is fighting for your passions, fighting for what’s right. To spectators, activism should be an eye opener, an open door to walk through and explore a new world filled with answers, but also a world that leaves you wanting more, more answers.” •
