The Black Student Union: Empowering Minorities

1. The Black Student Union: Empowering Minorities Linly Somanje Eng 1102 Hinnant

2. BSU Mission Statement • The Black Student Union at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is designed to increase the understanding of black culture amongst the University community. In addition to this the Black Student Union intends to educate, uplift, and empower minority students by providing programs and services that are relevant to community and global issues.

3. Goal of Ethnography • The Black Student Union’s mission statement is to empower not only African Americans but also other minorities. Are they staying true to the second half of this mission? If so, how are they doing it? Would the members agree that minority empowerment is an important part of the BSU? My goal in this ethnography was not to focus solely on African American empowerment but on how the Black Student Union is empowering minorities as a whole. In order to answer these questions I began by attending meeting, conducting interviews with the president and a few members of the Black Student Union.

4. Meetings • The BSU meets biweekly • Meetings are typically short with about 50 members • Majority of attendees were African American, very few minority students, no White students • Gather as group to discuss upcoming events/how to plan for them • Meeting is lead either by president or vice president • Friendly environment, all members appear to be very comfortable with each other • Minority students tended to stick together but did not seem to feel out of place in the meeting • Upcoming events only consisted of events targeting African Americans, not minorities • Minority students did not input much of their opinions into the discussions (rarely spoke up in the group) • After finishing my meetings observations, I then went on to observe and research the events that the Black Student Union gets involved in

5. Interview with President (Janelle) • Main Points: • The BSU has many events that are cosponsored with other organizations on campus (You’re Black When, You’re White When, Woman Crush Wednesday, The March on Washington, etc.) • Although the BSU creates some programs that reach out to different races, typically they end up with only African American students attending • Janelle believes it is important for other races to join the BSU so that they can interact with each other and learn that prejudices exist in all backgrounds and ethnicities, it’s not only an African American issue. • Most of the members of the Black Student Union are African American • Janelle claimed that the BSU has been doing more to reach out to different races but what do the members think?

6. Interview with BSU Members • Main Points: • I asked if the BSU is equally geared towards Blacks as well as minorities. The consensus of the group was that because the BSU was originally centered around African Americans and even the title only includes Blacks; the programs and focuses of the group are naturally going to be geared more towards Blacks. • “I think that since this organization was originally founded to educate Black people and the title itself only refers to Blacks, it naturally is geared more towards African Americans. A lot of the programs that I have attended always involve Blacks in some sort of way but they do not always involve minorities.” • Although a few members said the Black Student Union was putting in effort to incorporate minorities; most agreed that the group as a whole could make more events that were not focused on just Blacks.

7. Interview with BSU Members Continued • The members whom I interviewed agreed that it would be nice to have more racial diversity in the organization so that they can learn of African American history and how Blacks have impacted the world we live in day. • “I think in a society where there is so much prejudice going on, especially towards the gay and lesbian community, we need to look back on how Blacks were discriminated against and realize that we cannot have so much hate for a group of people based on things they cannot change. There is something for everyone to learn from Black history.” • One article that I found showed me just how important Black history is even today, specifically looking at powerful Black female leaders/ • To see how diverse the organization is currently, I sat in on a few of the meetings

8. African American Women, Civil Rights, and Black Power • In this article, Patton focuses on powerful Black women and their outstanding achievements which did not only affect African American history but the history of the United States as well. Describing well known women such as Rosa Parks, to lesser known historians like Anna Julia Cooper; Patton describes the advancements they have made and how they still impact us today. • Patton, June O. "African American Women, Civil Rights, and Black Power." Journal Of African American History 89.3 (2004): 241-265. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. • With so many achievements from the African American community, I began to look into the events sponsored by the Black Student Union to see if they would incorporate any of them into their events agenda.

9. Events

10. You’re Black When, You’re White When • Open discussion about racial stereotypes not only between blacks and whites but also all other races • Calm, relaxed setting so everyone would feel free to speak without debates • Not many White people attended, mostly Black • Very few minority students compared to Black Students • Minority students spoke up occasionally but only for a short amount of time • Focus was mainly on how African Americans have been discriminated against and how it still happens today

11. “The Black Christian Students: Diary of a Social Movement” • The event: You’re Black When, You’re White When had great potential to be an event that was full of diversity and therefor could help students on campus better understand racial struggles between different ethnicities. Unfortunately, because a majority of the students were only African American this did not happen. • In the article: “The Black Christian Students: Diary of a Social Movement,” the authors outline the difficulties that Caucasians experienced when trying to relate to local African Americans. Because they had not experienced the same hardships as members of the Black community did, they found themselves unable to understand their want for change. • An event such as this one could have been very beneficial during this time where whites could not relate to their fellow black students. If our BSU had taken the time to really showcase this event and reached out to various students, this event could have had a great positive impact on our student body. • Letman III, Sloan T., and Janell Bryant. "The Black Christian Students: Diary Of A Social Movement." Journal Of Global Intelligence & Policy 6.11 (2013): 81- 100. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

12. Reenactment of the “March on Washington” • http://youtu.be/smEqnnklfYs • This video clip shows Martin Luther King’s revolutionary “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington. • This BSU event was geared toward an African American audience, it explained the importance of the March and how it impacted America forever • Many students attended, however they were mostly African American (very few minorities, even fewer Whites) • At this point I began seeing a pattern in the attendees of the events sponsored by the Black Student Union. Thus far, there was very little minority participation and no events that were centered on minorities. I continued to look into other events to see if they would have more of a diverse attendance.

13. #WomanCrushWednesday • Geared toward African American audience • Victims of domestic violence spoke to students and answered questions • Students asked many questions, but did not have stories of their own to share • Open discussion with leader who explained the issue of domestic violence in the Black community • Advice and tips given to students on what to do in these situations and how to get out

14. Reflection on Events/Programs • The main issue with the events that I attended and the events that I gathered information on was that there was not a single event focused on minorities. The intended audience always seemed to be African Americans. If the Black Student Union truly wants to reach out to minorities they must have events that make them (minorities) the focus instead of keeping the focus on Black students. Perhaps events with topics like: minorities in the U.S. and the struggles of fitting in, or prejudices/stereotypes that minorities face would attract a broader and more diverse audience. Or another approach could be to alter the mission statement so the focus is only on African American empowerment.

15. "Black Power, Black Students, And The Institutionalizing Of Change: Loyola Marymount University” • For example, The Black Student Union at Loyola Marymount University has only included African Americans in their mission statement since the organizations’ founding in 1968. • Their mission statement reads as follows: “To serve as a network and support base for African American students and provide them with opportunities to grow politically, socially, culturally, professionally, and academically through the adoption of the principles of the African American value system”. (Claybrook 15).

16. "Black Power, Black Students, And The Institutionalizing Of Change: Loyola Marymount University” • This group has since then made monumental changes to the school campus. Not only were they the first Black organization at the University but they have received back to back awards for promoting peace and unity within the University. • If the BSU here at UNC Charlotte keeps their focus on empowering and uniting the Black community, perhaps they could follow in the footsteps of LMU’s Black Student Union and make great changes on our own campus. • Claybrook Jr., M. Keith. "Black Power, Black Students, And The Institutionalizing Of Change: Loyola Marymount University, 1968-1978." Journal Of Pan African Studies 5.10 (2013): 1-19. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

17. "Reflections On The History Of Black Studies." • Alan Colón, the author of: "Reflections On The History Of Black Studies." also agrees that organizations devoted to uplifting African Americans are very necessary on campuses, especially ones where Black students are sparse and underrepresented in school events. In fact, Colón conducted a study in which he found that the founding of Black organizations at Delaware State University increased African American student involvement by nearly 20%. Center for Black Studies at Delaware State University, approximately 1968.

18. "Reflections On The History Of Black Studies." • Before Black Studies were initiated, African American students on campuses nationwide felt underrepresented and in need of a group solely focused on their culture and the empowerment of their race. Colón explains the struggles of creating such organizations and how their establishment has drastically improved African American involvement on campus as well as cultural understanding. • Colón, Alan. "Reflections On The History Of Black Studies." Journal Of African American History 93.2 (2008): 262-283. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

19. Conclusion • My research led me to conclude that although the Black Student union tries to empower minorities, there is much more of a focus on the Black Community. This was not surprising because just as one of the members said, even the title of the organization only includes Blacks. And even many of my friends did not know that this group also included minorities into their mission statement. They assume because of the title that all of the events and activities would be centered around Black culture. This, in turn may be hindering the Black Student Union from gaining more racially diverse members. Perhaps if the title of the organization was changed to “The Black and Minority Student Union” they could appeal to a more diverse crowd. In fact, the term “minorities” would not have to only encompass different races but could also include: various cultures, sexual orientations, religions etc. (because these groups could be considered minorities as well.)

20. “Diversity Must Start Somewhere: The Experience of One College Of Nursing” • The School of Nursing at East Carolina had been struggling to increase their diversity as well; not just among students but also faculty. Initially the focus was on racial diversity, but after debating on what “diversity” really is; their focus changed. The Dean did not only want to see racial diversity but all aspects of diversity (gays, transgenders, people of different cultures, religions, and more.) Peery, who conducted research on how the concept of diversity changed throughout this process, noted that within 2 years the majority of the student body reported seeing a dramatic increase in the level of diversity on campus.

21. “Diversity Must Start Somewhere: The Experience of One College Of Nursing” • Peery concluded that although the school was not truly diverse yet, the Diversity Advisory Council was making great strides by creating international courses, LGBT groups, partnering with cultural/ethnic groups, and conducting activities to promote diversity and acceptance on campus.  • Our Black Student Union should follow suit and integrate activities that will attract all aspects of diversity, and see if the variation in students changes.   • Peery, Annette I. "Diversity Must Start Somewhere: The Experience of One College Of Nursing." Journal Of Cultural Diversity 20.3 (2013): 116-124. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

22. Conclusion • In conclusion, the Black Student Union does indeed empower minorities however it could make small moderations to make minorities feel more welcome to the group. The organization could also create more programs and events that are not only focused on African Americans but on minorities as a whole group. In order to have an equal level of empowerment, the Black Student Union should incorporate ideas that other ethnicities are interested in into its agenda. This would lead to a more diverse membership and could in turn fulfil the mission of minority empowerment.

23. Work Cited • http://www.erstestiftung.org/social-research/blog/ • http://seattletimes.com/special/mlk/ • http://www.reformingwoman.com/are-you-interested-in-writing-for-us/ • http://instagram.com/BSUUNCC# • http://socialmediabuff.com/this-and-that/walking-thin-line-racism-double-standards/ • http://www.desu.edu/administration/about-dsu • http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/author/ted_purlain/page/2/ • http://studentorgs.uncc.edu/handbook • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyola_Marymount_University • Smith, Janelle. Personal Interview. Feb 15, 2014. • Rodriguez, Monica. Walker, Jake. Slater, Alex. Barnes, Kristen. Group Interview. Feb 23, 2014.