Hey guys,

Greg has inspired me with his pieces to share some of my thoughts that I wrote about in an Op-Ed article for my school newspaper.  Let me know about some of your thought on the issue. (Might be a bit long…)

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The Race for Race
By Christopher Eng

Spanning the skybridge, the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship conveyed a clear message with their poster campaign: race matters, racism still lives large.  In celebration of Black History Month, club members set up several stations with two posters surveying students about the effects of racism that they experience.  The strategy was simple. One poster explored negative external consequences of racism, such as joblessness, poverty, and death.  The other listed emotional experiences, including depression, low self-esteem, and anger.  Students participating in the survey were asked to first review the various external consequences of racism and to place a dot sticker on each one that applies and then repeat the same process for the other.

In light of absurd post-election claims made by various media outlets that racism in America is over, the posters bore a staggering number of multicolored dots, as diverse as our society itself.  Partaking in the survey myself, I felt blessed to place stickers on only two of the external circumstances.  However, the second poster was another story.  I found myself placing a sticker under every single emotion.  What are the implications for those who have suffered more material consequences of racism, when I, even as privileged as I have been, found myself experiencing multiple instances of feeling negative emotions?  The complex intersections among race, gender, and class that form the texture of society still needs to be explored.  Outside of my courses as an Asian American Studies minor, this was one of the rare few instances that I observe a discussion on race outside of the classroom.  With budget cuts impending, what will happen if the administration cut classes from ethnic and gender studies departments that are already in pitifully poor and neglected conditions?

The race for race is quickly losing ground in academia, especially within the CUNY system and in Hunter.  The neglect of ethnic and gender studies by administrations across the educational system seems to suggest that they too deem these issues irrelevant.  When I visited my public high school last month, several teachers were debating whether or not students should have a day off from school for Chinese New Year.  The principal insisted that he supported the notion, but that the students should organize a petition if they agreed.  My response to him is the same to all: “The onus should not be on the students.”

Unfortunately, the same indifference and lack of understanding exists even in higher education. I am sure that my high school principal would regret his words if students actually did organize.  Speaking from personal experience with CRAASH, any student action is considered radical by administrators.  Simple actions such as petitioning, meeting with administrators, and coordinating a conference were too much.  As much as I would like to say that we are now a post-race society and that the effects of race are exaggerated, the truth states otherwise.  Assumptions based upon race and gender are ingrained into the way society thinks and functions, bearing profound socioeconomic, political, and cultural implications that must continue to be discussed and studied within and without classrooms.

Budget cuts do not justify the need for cutting ethnic and gender studies programs.  Claims that everyone must make sacrifices during tough times would merely reinforce histories of marginalization.  The world wars told women that they must sacrifice chances for liberation under the male ideology of patriotism.  War and patriotism again deemed it necessary to racially profile and intern Japanese Americans.  Yet again, they appeared to contain the cries for Civil Rights for need of organizing against Communists in the Cold War.  The relation between budget cuts and the vitality of ethnic and gender studies is not and should not be a simplistic one.  It is reductive to assume that the former should automatically undermine the latter.  The administration needs to know that there are alternatives and find them so that we are able to survive through these tough economic times, while maintaining the integrity and diversity on which Hunter College prides itself.

Although it should not be the responsibility of students to have the great education that they deserve, student action is needed now more than ever.  Action is not necessarily radical.  Just make sure that your concerns are heard and addressed by your administrators.  If any one of you or your loved ones have or continue to experience the potential debilitating effects of race, stand up in support for them.  We have come so far.  Now is not the time for regression.  Having fully functioning academic departments and programs on ethnic and gender studies is vital.  Students have a right to ownership of their education.  Voice to your administrators your support for ethnic and gender studies before they make the choice that it is unimportant for you.