We as a collective are interested in creating a social disturbance around the normalization of racial terror and white hegemony. We have begun our work around the manifestations of blackface, theatrical make-up with a long history of racism. Blackface is also the term we are using to reference a very recent occurrence of racial insensitivity that played out on our campus.
On October 29th, 2009, five men wore racialized dress to a Halloween costume party thrown by three University of Toronto colleges. Their reported portrayal of the Jamaican bobsled team included covering themselves in brown foundation, with one member wearing white makeup, as well as shirts displaying the slogan “100% Jamaican”. Their costume also appeared on a “best costumes of the night” list distributed by SMCSU (St. Mike’s College Student Union). The University of Toronto Black Student Association (BSA) organized a space (dubbed “Manifestations of Blackface: A Town Hall Meeting”) to discuss the problematic nature of the costume as well as its encouragement by those that threw the party. What followed was a very emotional, and at points hateful, discussion with solidarity remaining out of grasp. No students were reprimanded for their racism and the SMCSU moved their office away from the BSA’s office in an attempt to ostracize the organization for creating an outcry. A “blame the victim” mentality was adopted during the town hall meeting and black students were condemned for causing trouble. The University of Toronto has done nothing to fix the problem and the BSA and other student groups have been banned from discussing the matter further for fear of backlash.
We initially wanted to host an educational forum on campus but were warned there could be severe consequences. Subsequently we have chosen to remain anonymous by starting this blog thus protecting ourselves and our academic careers.
The University of Toronto does not understand that this is merely another example of an ongoing systemic problem. By looking at the seemingly unconscious acceptance of hegemony in a sphere expected to engage in critical thought, we hope to uncover why there is a lack of accountability on the part of the University of Toronto administration.
So much for freedom of speech. The idiots who dressed in black face should have known better and it's pretty appalling that the university is not only refusing to address the situation but telling students they will be punished if they don't ignore what happened. Seems like they're creating more problems by not resolving the matter. Completely illogical.
ReplyDeleteif the party happened off campus then the only thing U of T is accountable for is the promotion/popularity in the student press. However U of T's behaviour towards the BSA seems uncalled for, not to mention the banning of discussion.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what their intentions were, but it appears incredibly insensitive that they did that and just who was awarding a prize for this? Sounds like the Black on campus should have been writing the president of the school stating that it should not be tolerated. Whites pretending to be Black when they otherwise have White privledge is a mockery of the real life day-to-day experiences of Black people. It appears to me that the school dropped the ball in holding safety for its Black students. Next time, and excuse my french, kick their fucking white asses!!! However, I guess they would then turn that on you and say....hummm that proves they are savages. I guess in the end, pick your battles.
ReplyDeleteThe Blackface incident has been covered by the National (TV), and both the Globe and Mail and Star Newspapers. For those of us who attended the townhall, what was obvious was that this was symptomatic of a deep fault line, one that cannot be addressed by the continuing silence from senior administration at the University of Toronto, strange given their rush to respond to practically everything else about the University that makes its way into the media. As many of us, and probably you are also asking,why the silence here? Which constituencies matter?
ReplyDeleteThe person who commented above made a good point. As evidenced in later posts, similar incidents at an American university received a strong response from the administration. Queen's has experienced problems with racism and while their attempt to deal with it hasn't been exactly exemplary, they have done much more than U of T. Similarly, Ryerson released a report with recommendations on how to deal with racism in the university. Why is U of T so silent?
ReplyDeletewow...."savages"...really? we are gonna use stigmatizing phrases to support other oppressed groups? GOOD JOB!!!!! (sarcasm)....Lets think about the power in language ppl and the pain that is often embedded into common colloquialisms.
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing that the U of T administration is doing nothing, but the combative stance assumed by the BSA doesn't seem conducive to actually doing anything.
ReplyDeleteNo administrators were actually contacted. The BSA seems intent on antagonising the administration and then claiming that they aren't doing anything.
I call BS. Rather than some anonymous blog, I'd prefer it if you showed some tangible evidence that YOU are willing to collaborate with U of T in combating oppression.
The BSA did contact administration before organizing the meeting but were told to fend for themselves. The BSA didn't take a combative stance but tried to hold an educational forum where they were attacked with ignorance and racial slurs. UofT admin later took public credit for the meeting the BSA organized. Furthermore, there are a plethora of students (these guys included, i'm sure) and faculty who have been writing to admin demanding collaborative work in combating oppression but have been ignored thus far. These students seem to be trying to fight oppression while protecting themselves from morons like yourself.
ReplyDeleteDo your fucking homework.
Unfortunately we have adopted this anonymous approach because a faculty member advised us that if we didn't, we risked serious damage to our academic careers. We would love to be able to start a constructive dialogue with the administration but seeing as how all they have done in that regard is impose a ban on all student unions from discussing the issue, we don't have high hopes that they are open to discussion on the topic.
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