In response to the Wespeak: “Productive debate, not drunken
debate,” about the incidents at Intown last Saturday night, I would like to say that I was misrepresented and my quote was taken out of context in a racist manner. The debate was about the Hawaiian party that was thrown that night by some Beta brothers. Many other students and I were offended by this event because it served to ignorantly appropriate another culture and was racist. In order to make a point about how offensive the party’s theme was, I said “Have an African party, wear Kente cloth, get drunk, and go to X House. Then see if it’s ok to be racist, and make fun of someone else’s culture.” This is completely different than what Matt wrote. His representation of me portrayed me as a violent black woman, whose “threats” of graphic violence were backed up by an overly aggressive, intimidating, uncontrollable black mob.
An African party like this would never happen because people know it is wrong and it is racist. Moreover, there are visible student groups and a venue that anyone who would throw an “African” party would have to answer to: Ujamaa, West Indian Student Association, African Student Association, Black Women’s Collective, Black and Latino Brotherhood and the venue of Malcolm X House.
Unfortunately, there is no Hawaiian student group and no Hawaiian house. The presence of identity houses on campus is one way in which this institution legitimizes and supports the identities of people on campus. In addition to these student groups and program houses, Wesleyan has institutionalized the study of racism directed at Black people with the African American Studies Program. This creates an environment where people know what is ok to say about Black people. People know that it is not ok to make overtly racist jokes, use derogatory names or throw racist parties about Black people because they would be seen as racist. People know that these acts or events themed in this nature would evoke strong responses. What those who
threw this “Hawaiian” party have not come to realize is that throwing this party was racist the same way an “African” party would be racist.
The strong reactions produced as a result of my comment, as well as Matt’s misinterpretation of them, further show the blatant racism of the Hawaiian-themed party, as well as in the discussion we had on Saturday night. Matt attempted to misconstrue what I said in order to make me appear emotional and violent. This misrepresentation further perpetuates the racism that occurred through this series of events, and on Wesleyan’s campus in general. Specific to this discussion, that perpetuation is: the racism of the Hawaiian-themed party, the reactionary wespeaks to the naming of the racism of that party, the yells and threats of the Beta brothers who were present, directed at the only black person at Intown, and then the most recent wespeak, misrepresenting my quote and X House.
Leave a Reply