Topic > Protest and Racial Issues on Campus

BSA Student Protest at American UniversityThe Black Student Alliance (BSA), along with other student groups, collaborated and held a protest on the steps of the campus main building, Mary Graydon Center. Consisting of 200 people, the protest was organized to draw attention to racism against minorities on campus. Several students, like me, were among the crowd that participated in the protest. The crowd also consisted of several students from nearby schools, such as George Washington University, who successfully brought together individuals from various parts of Washington to evoke the message of anti-racism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay German Fig, an activist within the protest, explained how the student group was motivated to protest after the school principal failed to address racial issues for months. “Last semester [spring 2015] there was a girl who was called [racial slurs], and they didn't do anything about it. They still haven't suspended the boy who called her that or addressed her," she said. After two African-American female students were discriminated against by white male students who threw bananas in their dorm room, the Black Student Alliance decided to take important precautions against the university and denounce the discriminatory climate. It is believed that the banana was intended to imply the common stereotype linking African Americans to monkeys (known to consume mainly bananas). This stereotype imposes the negative idea that African Americans share qualities in appearance and behavior with monkeys, such as large facial features, wild and unruly behavior, and aggressive and violent mannerisms. Following the stereotypical gesture involving bananas, one student drew pictures of male genitalia on the dormitory board another African American student German Fig pointed out: “They threw bananas at one girl and put them outside another girl's room. We only heard the other one." Among the two girls who were discriminated against, freshman Neah Gray voiced her opinions during the protest. Gray determined that, as American college students, African Americans should not face racial discrimination. She explained that she was fed up with harmful experiences, underlining this through cries of anguish. During the protest she explained that during her time at AU, she experienced "a lot of microaggressions and constantly tried every single day to try to tell these [white people] that I belong here as much as you do." The students participating in the protest demanded that the delinquent students who threw bananas at the girls be suspended. In addition to these specific racial incidents that occurred in September, members of the Black Student Alliance protest called for more attention to be paid to recurring microaggressions. They similarly requested that the school employ more faculty members of color to ensure that African American students had role models on campus. Over the past few semesters at AU, African American students have faced several forms of racial discrimination. Last semester, on the app called Yik Yak, students consistently wrote messages promoting hatred against Black students. In other circumstances, black students have also had the n-word written on their doors, as well as being told to “go back to Africa.” [German Fig] explained how "there are other incidents that led to this, and I don't think the situation will improve." Please note: this is just one.