In Diverse’s new blog, The Academy Speaks, academicians sound off on issues in the academy and issues affecting people of color in general. Excerpts from the blog:
“I was shocked to see the headline ‘White Valedictorian Makes Morehouse History’ on the front page of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I have to admit that my initial reaction was ‘geesh, can’t African- Americans have anything of their own?’ Thinking about a White valedictorian at a Black college gives us an opportunity to contemplate what can be learned from this situation. … Black colleges nurture and support students regardless of their race.”
— Dr. Marybeth Gasman is an associate professor of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007) and lead editor of Understanding Minority Serving Institutions (SUNY Press, 2008).
““Admittedly, [Barack] Obama’s rise suggests progress on the issue of race; however, it does not suggest the end of racism in America. For those of us who experience racism in the academy, in retail stores, on trains, on planes and other public places, we cannot simply now respond to those perpetuators of racism with ‘Hey, we have a Black presidential nominee; didn’t you get the memo?’”
— Dr. Christopher J. Metzler is associate dean at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies and the author of The Construction and Rearticulation of Race in a Post Racial America (Aberdeen University Press, 2008).
Join the discussion and read more at DiverseEducation.com. If you’re interested in blogging for Diverse, contact associate editor Toni Coleman at [email protected].
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