Nearly a week after student groups and administrators hosted a forum in response to the Halloween blackface incident to open discussion on race issues at Northwestern, the campus continues to buzz about the event and its implications.
More than 600 members of the NU community gathered last Thursday for the event, which was sponsored by the Associated Student Government, the Coalition of Colors and Student Affairs. One of the few concrete issues thought to be resolved at the forum was the use of racial descriptions in security alert e-mails.
But in an e-mail sent early Tuesday morning by administrators, the NU community was warned of a sexual assault suspect described as “a black male, approximately 25 years of age, dark complexion, (5-foot-8) tall, thin to medium build with shoulder length hair braids,” who was clean-shaven and wearing an oversized white T-shirt.
A week ago, this message would have just been another e-mail in a line of alerts that have described suspects who are black males. But this time, some students had expected NU to handle the situation differently.
For Members Only Coordinator Marrion Johnson said his initial reaction was confusion. He said he thought there would be an end to the racial descriptions, and for good reason.
“It kind of puts people in hysteria,” the Communication junior said. “It makes people look at me different.”
But Johnson, along with other minority students, did acknowledge the validity of being as descriptive as possible when sending out an alert about a potential threat to the NU community. Alex Sims, president of Promote 360and a member of Coalition of Colors, said she was never under the impression that race wouldn’t be included, and found the level of detail of this alert “refreshing.”
“When I read the e-mail this morning, I was relieved,” the SESP senior said.
The dialogue over the e-mail has been reflective of the environment on campus immediately following the forum, as students continue to deal with unanswered questions and points they would like to see clarified.
Janissia Orgill, a Weinberg junior, said there are two camps of individuals talking about the forum: those who think NU has dealt with the issue and needs to move on, and those who are still dissatisfied with the response. She said she falls in between.
“My frustration out of all of this is that the forum was supposed to be an outlet to talk about something larger than blackface,” she said.
While Orgill added the forum showed NU at large cares about issues concerning the black community, Medill junior Noreen Nasir said students and faculty should take into account that there are other ethnicities on campus with similar problems that need to be addressed.
On the Friday before Halloween this year, Nasir was with friends in Lisa’s Cafe when she saw a girl wearing a pashmina scarf over her head and a note on her back that read “I hate freedom.”
“The issue with the blackface incident is that the students painted their faces black without knowing what that meant,” said Nasir, a practicing Muslim. “In this instance, I can’t help but think that she knew what she was doing.”
Sims said the organizers of the forum consider it a success because community members are still talking about it. In her political science class on public opinions Tuesday, the forum was the first thing her professor mentioned.
Orgill said it’s difficult to determine whether the forum accomplished anything. She added that a lot of people walked away from the auditorium frustrated because solutions, such as a clearly-drawn punishment for future offenses, weren’t achieved.
“I can’t think of any campus that is perfect,” Orgill said. “But that’s no reason why NU shouldn’t try.”
Sims said she’s meeting with several groups of students Thursday to start planning the next steps. She said ideas include curriculum changes requiring students to take cultural classes, general awareness campaigns to educate students on issues of cultural sensitivity and a decrease in segregation among the student body by implementing joint fireside chats and munchies between multiple dorms.
“The next step is dealing with issues of exclusion and inclusion on campus,” she said. “And that’s whether it’s feeling excluded as a theater major, feeling excluded as an athlete or feeling racially profiled.”[email protected]
