Student Attitudes Towards Diversity

Student Attitudes Towards Diversity

Caption: Scan of “Dis Sho’ Ain’t No Jive, Bro” article

Campus attitudes are not only the result of the administration, but also of the students. Despite being considered a liberal institution, racist microaggressions are prevalent at Dartmouth. These opinions manifest in a multitude of op-eds around a controversial issue—affirmative action. Affirmative action began in the U.S. in 1961, when President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925, which prohibited work discrimination and encouraged affirmative action to ensure employees were treated fairly. The Dartmouth Review took on this issue in 1982 when it published an article written entirely in Ebonics, the equivalent of blackface but in terms of Black speech. The author, Keeney Jones, used the article to discuss affirmative action as if he were a Black student. Jones replicates violent narratives of how black students are unappreciative, don’t deserve to be at Dartmouth and other negative stereotypes when he says things like:

“[‘Firmative action] be hepin us git equal opp-tunity. Some of us be getting’ into Ivy schools from the inner city, even do we not be bustin’ our gizzards doin’ work.”

“…we still be not graduatin’ Phi Beta Kappa. Maybe dere should be anudda ‘firmative action program ‘bout dat. Sheet! Citations for blacks wit Cs would be bucoo nice.”

Moreover, Jones trivializes racial issues when he equates discrimination of vanilla cakes over chocolate cakes to the institution racism, saying:

“What’s mo, my birfday is comin’ up, an’ I be wantin’ chocolate cake. But dey not be stockin’ any at da Thayer, only vanilla. Mo ‘scrimination! Sheet!”

Although this overt discrimination is no longer found in recent articles, the scrutiny of affirmative action as “reverse racism” persists in op-eds produced by Dartmouth students. Students perpetuate Jones’ opinion that black students are only in college due to their minority status. By claiming “reverse racism” there is an implication that minority students take the seats of other more deserving (read: white) students. The proposed alternative is socioeconomic affirmative action, building off a false assumption that we live in a post-racial, colorblind society, and glossing over other covert forms of affirmative action that have existed for centuries and are rarely disputed, such as the “legacy” distinction. All of these op-eds culminate in the creation of a hostile campus climate in which minority students are not welcome.

For further reading:

Affirmative Action Perpetuates Racism by Kenji Hosakawa

Affirmative Action Combats Racism with Racism by Douglas Bachman

Debunking the ‘Reality’ Myth of Affirmative Action by Benjamin Matthew

The End of White Male Superiority by Echo Brown

Sharma: Supporting Affirmative Action by Hansa Sharma

 

Disclaimer: all photos from this post are from the Dartmouth College Rauner Special Collections Library