Race relations have played a huge role in Madison this year. First, there was the Center for Equal Opportunity report about admissions at the University of Wisconsin and the subsequent rally, as reported by WKOW. Then there was the loss of the Madison charter school and the related upcoming school board elections that include several factions previously invested in Madison Prep’s success, as reported by the Isthumus.
Multicultural Student Coalition and Student Services Finance Committee have been in a deadlock since MCSC’s
funding was denied in October. Recently, the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Shaima Al Awadi and, in Wisconsin, Bo Morrison as reported by ABC news, NY Daily News and The Huffington Post, respectively, have filled media outlets. And the incident at Delta Upsilon hit our university like a bomb.
What’s going on here? Madison, a small college town and forward-thinking city should be at the heart of tolerance and acceptance. What are we doing wrong? Unfortunately, race is an issue because we’re making it an issue. It’s time to stop decrying the lack of compassion and just be compassionate. Even though right now it seems we have so far to go, we have the power to make race a non-issue in our city.
One of the main problems facing us as we try to come to racial tolerance is blaming the victim. I’ll admit that the politics and history between groups are complicated. But why would anyone make up feeling discriminated against? No one would, for fits and giggles, testify in front of Madison Metropolitan School District Superintendent Dan Nerad, as Madison Commons reported Karina Harrejon, a junior at Madison West, did, and say “I look around and think, ‘do I really belong here?'”
If MCSC feels excluded by the system, or students of color feel they are not receiving the same quality of education as their peers, there is complete legitimacy in that. No matter how complicated the politics behind these events have become, at the heart is a real concern by those who feel marginalized.
To move forward, we need to care about the well-being of other ethnic groups for no real reason other than wanting to see them represented equally. The several recent race-related incidents have devolved into finger-pointing and name-calling, and we’re doing ourselves a disservice on this campus and in this city by breaking up into factions and turning race into a bigger issue than it needs to be. I’m sure most other people feel the same way as I do – outraged by acts of intolerance happening at our university and sincere desire to see everyone on an equal playing field.
So what can we do to further the goals of diversity? Creating a collaborative, cooperative environment on our campus and in Madison is the best first step toward moving past this. Recent events were by isolated individuals who do not represent the attitudes of the majority of us. Let’s let everyone know we will not tolerate racism on our campus or in our city. Let’s go the extra mile to find out why some groups of people feel they aren’t getting a fair deal. Let’s not let politics get in the way of coming up with solutions when so much is at stake. But most importantly, let’s relish the diversity we already have and celebrate cultures different from our own. The less we complain about lack of understanding and actually try to understand, the further we’ll come to addressing these startling issues that have plagued Madison this year.
Taylor Nye ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in human evolutionary biology, Latin American studies and archaeology.
