October 3, 2014
This past Saturday, September 27, over 90 students, faculty and staff came together in the Fillius Events Barn for “Ferguson: Listen Up, Teach-in & Speak Out.” The event was organized in response to the events in Ferguson, MO this summer and the growing number of acts of violence against young black people.
After a welcoming from the Director of Diversity and Inclusion Amit Taneja, President Joan Hinde Stewart spoke about the importance of an event such as this. “What happens in Ferguson matters,” she declared. “I’m very glad we are here together today to assure that we do what we can to make Hamilton the best college it can be.” Photos of victims of racial violence, including Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Emmit Till, hung all around the room.
The event was designed to provide attendees with context and background knowledge on the ever-prevalent issues pertaining to racial inequality and racial violence. It aimed to foster conversations as to why these issues occur and how to respond to them. To create a safe and open space, Assistant Director of Counseling David Walden facilitated an exercise in which attendees shared their feelings and expectations for the afternoon.
The event was split into three segments, each of which had a specific theme: history, structural racism and victims & allies. During the history portion of the afternoon, Visiting Professor of History Celeste Day Moore spoke about historical perspectives on racism and activism. Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Courtney Thompson gave a poignant speech on black women’s activism. Finally, Associate Professor of Africana Studies Nigel Westmaas spoke passionately about racial profiling and anti-black racism, where he cited statistics which show that a white officer kills a black man on average twice a week. Additionally, Westmaas pointed out that one in three black men are likely to go to prison in their lives.
The second segment was on structural racism and included a talk on the political economy of racism from James S. Sherman Professor of Government Phil Klinkner. Associate Professor of Sociology Yvonne Zylan talked on the new Jim Crow and Associate Professor of Psychology Jose Causadias spoke on the science of inter-ethnic relationships.
The third and final segment was on victims and allies. Professor of Classics & Africana Studies and Director of Africana Studies Shelley Haley spoke on the demonizing of victims and racial and cultural literacy. Finally, a panel of students shared their feelings on what Ferguson means to them.
After each segment, attendees had the chance to ask questions and then to discuss amongst themselves the topics on-hand. Students, faculty and staff engaged in conversations about these highly relevant issues and how they relate to Hamilton. Common topics of discussion included what can be done to combat all forms of racism at Hamilton. Some students expressed frustration with the lack of participation in events like this.
“I think this event was a step in the right direction. Sitting at a discussion table with Dean Thompson and President Stewart opened my eyes to the fact that the administration is indeed taking students’ concerns seriously,” Jonah Boucher ’17 said. If anything, the event was an acknowledgement of problems with societal and campus attitudes towards race. Boucher expressed his optimism too: “I hope that the attempt at collaboration between the often opposing perspectives here at Hamilton reflects a national trend of reconciling different interests in order to address cultural norms that cannot be tolerated.” While many would argue there is certainly much more to be done to combat all forms of racism on and off campus, attendees were hopeful that the event continued a healthy dialogue which will look to include more of the campus community in the future.
The discussions extended throughout the day as attendees made posters for the peace march down Martin’s Way, later that afternoon.
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