Students concerned about the welfare of minorities in America had the chance to present their own version of an American political tradition—the State of the Union Address. Last Sunday, African-American students gathered in the Public Affairs Canter to give prepared speeches in an informal competition dubbed the State of the Minority Union.
Allan Dockeray ’08, an Alpha Phi Alpha brother who, along with Brandon Smith ’08, first conceived of and organized the event, described it as an attempt to present an alternative to a national address that he said presented a biased, mainstream position.
“I was particularly interested in the idea of a ‘nation within a nation,’” Dockeray said, referring to the perception that minority citizens in America lead lives so different from white Americans that it is almost as though the two groups are residing in different countries. “The State of the Union Address, we felt, represents the larger nation, reflecting a more mainstream perspective. We wanted to present an alternative, one that reflects minority viewpoints.”
The event, cosponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha and Invisible Man, consisted of seven competitors—Ian Pearson ’10, Maya Odim ’10, Marcus Warmington ’09, Michael Bolds ’08, Jane Charles Voltaire ’07, Chelsea Smith ’07, and Randy Vespey ’07—delivering their speeches to a panel of judges sitting amidst a small audience.
Each speech summarized the speaker’s opinion regarding the state of America’s minority population before delving into possibilities for reform. These possibilities included concrete plans of action, such as increasing funding to inner-city schools and supporting the growth of Women’s, Afro-American, and Native American Studies in national universities.
Odim ’10 described such academic endeavors as integral to changing a biased view of history that she felt was still pervasive in college classrooms everywhere. She illustrated her argument with an anecdote from her history class.
“We were talking about colonial America, and my professor told us that ‘even then, everyone was a citizen,’” she said. “Was he right? Was everyone—men and women of color, Latinos, and Native Americans included—really granted that right?”
Odim then went on, arguing that pervasive racism remains in present-day America.
“The United States is an imperial power, and minorities within the US have been colonized,” she said.“ We must, cliché or not, take care of generations to come.”
In his speech, Bolds argued that economic success amongst members of minority groups must be coupled with friendship and fellowship, thereby granting other members similar opportunities. He cited Oprah Winfrey as the definitive example of the problem, claiming that her lavish personal spending is both excessive and insulting to those African Americans in desperate need of clothing, education, and shelter.
In his own speech, Warmington ’09 raised similar points on the responsibilities of members of minority groups across the generations. He stressed that individuals need to be honest with their children and themselves if they hope to affect a serious change in this country’s education system. One of the specific issues he cited was a stagnant graduation rate among minority students, regardless of increased funding.
“Between 1992 and 2000, the graduation rate for inner-city schools dropped by one percent,” he said. “Between 2000 and 2006, it increased by one percent. That means that we’re back to where we were fourteen years ago. Nothing has changed.”
In the end the judges awarded Odim the prize for best presentation, citing her poise, eloquence and innovative ideas as indicative of her “truly exemplary” abilities.
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