OCR Text |
Show FEATURE 10 4 t ? wiiBuium'iii I s A . 4 4 -w JM&? I - i ' COZY HUGGINS am angry. That I have to write this in the first place. That it took me this long to be angry. That every time I meet someone I fall into the habit of prematurely wagering if Ill have to hide to avoid a preconceived notion ofjudgment. I have not yet landed on a metaphor fitting of how to describe what it is to be in the closet to straight people, the closest Ive come is imaging sitting still while the world burns. Its not so draining at first, far off maybe, and after awhile one simply runs out of water. Its terrifying, and becomes scarily easy to bury. Secrecy has been my closest friend for too long a time. And I am V w V V V, Why - I'm hesitant to let it go and embrace the vulnerability that may accompany freedom. I was afraid to love anyone and fell in love with masking this relatively menial aspect about myself as a forbidden secret. You know this wall be it. No more half out of the closet. Ryan counseled me after I told them my plan. I pictured what freedom would be like. I had reached the point of realization that no one could hate me for being queer as much as I couldhad. Worth it. Ironically, that thought was not a comfort as I glanced around at my peers in that GriffinQuest meeting. In their faces I saw every slur thrown my direction. Forced to face a notion that Id long eschewed in favor of waiting for my attraction to females be- - ' . i Angry. ing a phase. I was afraid. It was an innocent comment, said the meeting before, the kind brewed from humorous intent. Yet, I listened as all my peers laughed, a joke at my expense. I stormed out of the meeting and vowed never to return. Then I stopped in my tracks, no more. That day I sought to free myself of the burden that comes with carrying around the intent of others and trying to justify said intention as self hatred. To lay that vulnerability on the table and give everyone the opportunity to reject the worthiness of my personhood and company based off my sexuality was to set myself free. None did, admittedly, part of me wanted them to so that I could use the rejection as fodder to stay hidden a lit- ' X r V tie bit longer. Shortly after my declaration I turned to the group leader of the day someone whom I had previously been terrified of letting my secret slip to, I will never forget him thanking me for sharing my truth. I found myself fighting back tears. Freedom. At the end of the day, being myself is not yet a luxury I fully posses. It will take time to leverage all that Ive managed to internalize through the years, this I know. Surrounding myself with people and friends that accept me and go out of their way to let me know its okay to just be have made it easier. Im thankful for those whove brought this kind of light into my life. Im just so very tired of feeling ashamed for who I am. I i N. S C $ Where are the Allies? AVENEL ROLFSEN taught me not to voice my opinion, not to create controversy. As a female, I was taught my place is not to speak up or to be loud. I have been quiet. I have kept my opinociety ions to myself. Nevertheless, by keeping my opinions to myself, by being quiet about things that I believe are wrong I have been complicit in oppression. As a white straight female, I have quietly allowed myself to gain from racism, homophobia, ableism and other oppressions all the while thinking in my head that I did not stand for them. In the system we live in every white person benefits from racism. Every straight person benefits from homophobia. Every person benefits from ableism. A new phrase called check your privilege has cropped up on the internet and other media. Checking your privilege is hard. It is hard for me. As I worry about college loans and how to pay my rent or buy food it is hard to see the privileges that I have. However, the simple fact that my skin is white makes me privileged. The simple fact that I am makes me privileged. The simple fact that I am makes me privileged. My parents went to college. My grandparents were white. No one in my family was ever a slave. No one able-bodi- ed able-bodi- ed cis-gen- able-bodi- ed in my family ever experienced oppression under Jim Crow. No one in my family was ever forced off their land. None of my male ancestors were ever prohibited from going to school. No one in my family has faced violence because of their skin color. I do not face a fear of being unfairly incarcerated. I am more likely to get a job because my name does not sound black. I undoubtedly attended a better public school then students who grew up in a predominantly minority community. I have benefited from centuries of privilege. I benefit from privilege today. In the wake of the publication of The Forums article entitled Westminster Community Confronts Diversity and Inclusion on Campus, minority students at Westminster were rightly angered and hurt. The article failed to address the oppression and lack of inclusion that many students of color, disabled, Queer, Trans ect. feel at Westminster. The article compared the discomfort of some white Christian students to the systematic oppression that faces historical minorities. Someone said to me where are the allies? It was a valid question. Plenty of students changed their profile pictures to rainbows when gay marriage was made legal. Many students proudly claim that Black Lives Matter. Yet none of these students were standing up and saying that they thought there was something wrong with the version of diversity expressed in Tie Forum. I have been guilty of every one of these things. I have changed my profile picture to a rainbow. I have proudly claimed Black Lives Matter. I have claimed that I stand for Planned Parenthood. Yet what have I done? The answer is nothing. My privilege to walk away from these issues. I am not negatively affected. When students decided to protest at the faculty meeting on campus, I shrunk away claiming work and other responsibilities. I was wrong. Today I am doing something, and I hope that other students at Westminster allows me College who are not members of minority groups will also stand up and do something. Silence means you agree. Silence means you do not think there is a problem with diversity at this school just including white Christian religions or students from out of state. Silence means you are complicit with systems of oppression, racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism ect. Racism does not end until white people stop being racist. Sexism does not end until men stop being sexist. Homophobia does not end until straight people stop being homophobic. Ableism does not end until people stop be the only Minorities ableist. cannot being ones speaking up and doing something. Inaction is not good enough. Silence is not able-bodi- ed good enough. It is not enough to say simply that diversity is one of our core values at Westminster. President Morgan claims that Westminster has many programs that connect our students with heterogeneous populations .in our community. While that is all well and good, that does not change the fact that the population of Westminster continues to be almost exclusively white and middle to upper class. Helping in our community does not make us diverse and does not make the diverse populations on our campus feel wel come. It is unacceptable that our school is without a Diversity Center and director. It is unacceptable that there has been no one listed on the diversity webpage ,as a staff contact for over a semester. It is unacceptable that certain areas of campus are not accessible to students with physical disabilities. It is unacceptable that the administration is not actively tracking diversity among students. It is unacceptable that more scholarships are not offered to students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. It is unacceptable that the administration is actively recruiting LDS students and not students from historically oppressed backgrounds. It is unacceptable that as a Westminster seems more concerned with money then with the welfare of its students. It unacceptable that some in the administration simply view students from out of state as diverse. It is unacceptable that the administration and President Morgan have not responded to students unhappiness last December with concrete plans of action. President Morgan seems to think this will be swept under the rug and forgotten. Those who still do not feel welcome at Westminster have not forgotten. All students at Westminster should not forget. I do not wish to speak for anyone. Only to ask Westminster students to stop and listen to the concerns of their peers. To stop, raise your voice and demand change. non-pro- fit A I |