Seth Wessler

Hampshire College Students Demand Racial Justice. Lets Do the Same.

Students of color, international students and allies at Hampshire College, my alma mater, staged a campus-wide walkout today. The walkout came as part of a protracted fight to build a racially just campus; one that proactively addresses institutional racism.

On the phone this afternoon student organizer Morgan Bommer-Guinn told me that the President’s office had replied to students’ demands. She said, “the administration’s action plan is inadequate and includes nothing to ensure stability and accountability.” The administration’s insufficient response led to the walkout. A friend who was there called to tell me about it, but I could not hear her over the sounds of the crowd—almost 350 people ( a third of the student body).

In most ways, the campaign and the institutional racism it targets are not new. In my time at college and for all the years that preceded these, issues of racial inequity and discrimination persisted and students organized for change. Throughout, the administration remained largely inactive despite its periodic statements about the importance of diversity and an occasional bureaucratic adjustment that functioned as a substitute for real action or allocation. At particular moments though, things did change; moments like this one when students had had enough, stepped it up and walked out.

And just as much as it is not new, it is also not unique to Hampshire. The fight at the college reflects larger concerns about current discussions of race and racial justice. Yes, Barack Obama made his race speech, but to achieve a racially just society we will need affirmative moves and a commitment of resources. Being “actively anti-racist” as Hampshire student organizers are demanding of their school, will mean structural change, not statements of intent or tacit agreements.

Change will not come without the many dedicated efforts of people working, organizing, writing, agitating and advocating together toward these ends. Lets hope that this one institution’s administration makes the changes demanded of it and, in so doing, sets an example for the country. And let’s, the rest of us, follow these students.

Posted at 2:45 PM, Mar 31, 2008 in Education | Permalink | View Comments