#BlackIntheIvory exposes racism on campus

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By Delece Smith-Barrow

Sometimes racism can be subtle, so covert that if you blink too fast you don’t see it. Or, you can pretend you didn’t see it. Sami Schalk, who is black, said several of her colleagues in the English department at the State University of New York at Albany didn’t appear to see how constantly confusing her with another black colleague was problematic, even though her colleague had started working in the department years before her and did not resemble her.

One incident was especially egregious.

Schalk’s black colleague’s fiancé suddenly died, and everyone, including Schalk, signed a card to share their condolences. “A week later it showed up at my house with my name and address on the outside envelope,” said Schalk, whom I spoke with earlier this week.

Schalk, now an assistant professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, tweeted a version of this story with the hashtag #BlackintheIvory. Last weekend, students and professors started tweeting painful stories about fighting an uphill battle in the academy, under the original hashtag #BlackIntheIvory, after two scholars urged black people in academia to speak about their experiences in higher ed. At a moment when people are marching in cities across the U.S. to demand a reformed and equitable criminal justice system, many professors and students are showing that inequality also exists in other corners of the U.S.

“There are other institutions, like academia, where harm is also being done to black people,” said Shardé Davis, cofounder of the hashtag and an assistant professor of communication at the University of Connecticut. “And the common root is systemic racism.”

There were more than 86,000 tweets about this topic between Saturday and Monday, said Joy Melody Woods, the other cofounder, who is a Ph.D. student in communication studies at the University of Texas, Austin.

“I want structural change everywhere,” said Woods. “I feel like what’s going on with this hashtag and what people are sharing is that structural change will come, because it’s a lot of people at a lot of different places across the country.”

Many of the stories are cringeworthy.

Biosha Jones tweeted “ ‘Why would your momma name you something like that?’ *laughs* ‘What was that name again?’ ”

Jones told me that she was an undergraduate participating in a summer program for aspiring medical school students when a faculty member involved in the program made that comment. Speaking up about these microaggressions and covert forms of bias and racism can be difficult as a black person who is trying to excel.

“I didn’t want to be labeled as the angry black woman for speaking up,” said Jones, who graduated from McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas in May.

Other tweets tell stories of a black professional being confused with custodial staff, a black student being told the only reason she received a medical school scholarship was because she was black and a black professor who had someone physically block her from getting her mail and threaten to call the police, even though she had her faculty I.D. with her.

Some of the stories, however, are uplifting. Twitter user @ProfRucker tweeted “1st black economist tenured @ UC-Berkeley, 2011; making sure not the last.” And @deedledee90 is using the hashtag to learn: “I am educating myself and developing a plan to make sure that I am approaching all angles of my academic and professional career with equity in mind. I hope you will too.”

Having seen the outpouring of responses to this hashtag, Woods and Davis are also using their platform to help black graduate students who work as teaching assistants get higher pay.

They want the movement to continue to evolve organically

“We’re just happy that we’re able to provide a space for us,” said Davis.

What can colleges and universities do to create more inclusive campuses? What should black students and faculty know before they join a campus where they will be in the minority? Email or tweet me your thoughts.

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