1990-the Present: Racial Tensions Linger
Photo Reveals Racism
Racial Climate Survey
Black Faculty Report Discrimination At High Rates
Photo Reveals Racism
This response-article, in the 1991 November issue of the Flat Hat News, directly confronts members of the William and Mary community who participated and perpetuated racism on campus. After a picture of a student, Vivek Narasimha, was printed dressed in black-face in the 1991 yearbook, four students submitted a letter to the editor putting forth their complaints and disgust for the members involved. In addition, the authors use this tangible example of racism to warn readers that white supremacist thought is very much alive and affects all minority students at the College. Their hope is not to promote censorship, but rather create a “campus publication that represents the college community” and “open people’s eyes to the realization that racism has not been adequately confronted on this campus.”
Racial Climate Survey
The second piece from a 1994 edition of the Flat Hat reveals a Racial Assessment Committee that administered a survey regarding racial climate at the College, particularly how black students view the racial climate. The article discussed the idea of “self-segregation” among black students seeing as the survey showed that all black respondents believed that black students self-segregate. The commission took the position that a solution to this issue would be to bring in more minority students. Interestingly enough, one of the major points at the end of the article involved “specifically” reaching out to the “Hispanic community.” Many of the major themes and points of discussion in this article are still relevant today, especially regarding the actual racial climate/integration at the College as well as efforts to bring in more and empower students of color. Additionally, bringing in more faculty of color, an issue still rearing its head today, is a part of this process.
Black Faculty Report Discrimination At High Rates
The third article, posted on November 14th, 2016 in William and Mary’s The Flat Hat prompts the idea of dissatisfaction with the treatment within the black faculty on campus using both statistics and personal testimonials to back up the idea. A survey conducted in 2015 found that sixty-four percent of black faculty believed to not be treated fairly, alongside a sixty percent dissatisfaction rate among the black faculty. Eleven of the nineteen black instructional faculty members at William and Mary were interviewed and the consensus was that there is a need for more diversity as it is currently “intellectually lonely” and “socially lonely” to serve as a faculty member of color. The faculty mentioned how even though allocating funding for diverse hiring for faculty is an important step for the college, creating an environment of inclusion on campus is also critical. This article goes to show that there is still much work to be done on campus pertaining to the diversity of faculty.