2020 has been a monumental year so far. Not only is the world in a pandemic but it has erupted after the death of George Floyd, which caused protests not just in the United States, but the whole world. Now, more than before, education on Black studies is vital.
“Cabrini University’s mission of educating people to go forward to improve the world speaks to my heart,” Professor Joseph R. Fitzgerald said. “This is because I was educated in the field of Black Studies, which is a problem-driven and solution-oriented discipline.” Black studies is a major that analyzes the experience and traditions of Black people from all around the globe. The course emphasizes culture and ideological battles against dominant power structures.
“During times now history is always changing we need to continuously educate on black studies to maintain information that is changing with time,” Vernon Young, senior business student, said. Since arriving on this land 400 years ago, black people never realized true equality and yet the fight for racial equality is still far from over. Black people deal with racism constantly in their daily life.
These students discussed their personal experiences with racism. “In 2018 when I lived on campus, I witnessed racism. A girl had a sign saying, ‘go home n****r.’ It was on the Loquitur news.” Zaraya Tollerson-Irby, a senior vice president of the Black Student Union, said. “I feel like Cabrini did a terrible job informing people. They kind of brushed it to the side.”
Racial inequality in something that has been around since forever. It is still a huge problem is our country and people from all races, ages and genders are fighting for a change. Some students have talked about what they feel racial equality is to them. “It means that people don’t see people for the color of their skin but the quality of the character,” Enajah Williams, junior business major student at Cabrini, said. Students were also asked if they feel as if there is an inequality problem at our school. “Colored people don’t get the help they need!”
“Some people feel like they get cut short when they need assistance,” Tollerson Irby, said. The Black Student Union is a club at Cabrini that celebrates black culture and those who have made an impact on society to help disband stereotypes and viewpoints of racism.
Black Lives Matter protests took the country by storm starting in June and are still going on until this day. Last year, more than 1,000 people were killed by police, according to Mapping Police Violence, one research group. Black people were disproportionately among those killed, the group found. Black people accounted for 24 percent of those killed, despite making up only about 13 percent of the population.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s very true. Many black individuals are only known as a statistic,” Dwayne Saunders, sophomore business student, said. The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2013 in response to the release of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. The Black Lives Matter Foundation is global organization and is pursuing equality and combating acts of violence towards the black community. All types of races, ages, and genders flooded to streets to protest peacefully for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter.
Although peacefully protesting, authorities still interposed. When authorities did intervene, they used force such as tear gas, rubber bullets or pepper spray in more than half of those demonstrations. More than 5 percent of protests linked to the Black Lives Matter movement were met with force by authorities, compared to 1 percent of other demonstrations, the authors wrote. Throughout the past few months there have been several protests about COVID-19, none being interrupted violently by authorities. This goes to show that the world is far from what it should be.
