NWC president right to stand against systemic racism

Submitted by Morgan Tyree
Posted 9/10/20

Dear Editor:

Thank God Becky French isn’t a college president.

No, Becky, eliminating systemic racism (and racism in general) isn’t just the politically correct thing to do these …

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NWC president right to stand against systemic racism

Posted

Dear Editor:

Thank God Becky French isn’t a college president.

No, Becky, eliminating systemic racism (and racism in general) isn’t just the politically correct thing to do these days, it’s the right thing to do — period.

It’s laughable when a member of a majority (i.e., White folk) come out and say things like, “America is not home to a systemically racist society.” Didn’t the White folk of South Africa say the same about apartheid in South Africa? And according to French, because racism is so common and prevalent in the rest of the world, she seems to be tolerant of the paltry better job we are doing in comparison. I suppose the Constitution and all that it says about equality for all is just starry-eyed language to her.

Hey Becky, you should have run your letter-to-the-editor past all of your Black friends before you released such a passive-aggressive letter directed toward them. I suspect they would have suggested plenty of edits. Whatever racism you have ever experienced in your privileged life, I guarantee you it pales — pales, I say — compared to what the average minority has experienced in the same country that you’re so red-white-and-blue proud of.

French claims that the term “‘racism’ has been thrown around so much it has become meaningless.” Again, ask all of your Black friends about that one. I suppose when everyone around you is either a racist to begin with or is simply complicit when it comes to anything racist, people actually pointing out and talking about racism probably does seem overused. Like many of us “Crackers,” French is just late to the party.

Finally, French is concerned about NWC President Stefani Hicswa taking a stand that higher education should take care to prevent the exclusion or lessening when it comes to the histories and futures of people of color. She ends her letter with what seems to be an ominous warning, “The president of NWC should be more careful with what kind of agenda she may be unintentionally inviting into our community.”

Why is that, Becky? Will the local Oath Keepers, Three-Percenters, or some other White supremacist hate group run her out of town and take over instruction at the college? God forbid, the antiseptic and White-tainted history we all learned growing up is re-examined and corrected.

I’ll tell you what’s alarming and sad, Becky, you call out a college president for pointing out the revitalized health of systematic racism in America here in 2020 — and condemning it. I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of vision and leadership I would expect from any college president — unless of course you happened to be the college president at Liberty University.

Morgan Tyree

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