As we reflect on the events of the past two weeks, many of us are saddened and disappointed by the actions of the members of Psi Upsilon Fraternity. We have raised our voices in outcry against an act of gender and racial insensitivity. However, in looking critically at the Dartmouth campus, it would be wrong to allow an equally offensive act, taken on the part of the 2003 class council, to go unchecked. While we hold some groups accountable for the ongoing subjugation of fellow students, let us not forget to look critically at non-Greek, College-sponsored activities.
Two Fridays ago, the Class of 2003 held an auction to raise funds for Upper Valley Charities. Students were put up for auction and bid upon by other students for a "date" with the buyer. While the gender ramifications of such an event are less than tasteful, the racial undertones of this, especially in the context of Black History Month, border on downright disgraceful. For those of you who don't see the connection, let me outline it for you.
For 400 years, peoples of the African Diaspora were kidnapped and sold into slavery, and brought to the Americas through the notoriously horrific Middle Passage, during which millions of lives were lost due to abusive conditions. These injustices occurred worldwide, and their legacy in the United States was one of brutality, rape, and torture that left a people close to demoralized, struggling to rebuild what had been lost. Yet we pressed on. No, I do not think that a replication of people standing up on a block, auctioned off to the highest bidder, is an appropriate event.
This event is not humorous in the least, considering that the ramifications of the slave trade have echoed down through generations. Lynch mobs, the disenfranchisement of black voters, a racially motivated war on drugs, and the continued impoverishment of millions of people of color have haunted us through the decades. In addition to these injustices, the sexual implications of a woman, stripped naked and sold on a block, have helped to twist sexuality and concepts of beauty for African Americans.
The stereotypical depiction of hypersexual African Americans come as a direct result of slavery. The light skin and European features of some African Americans, like myself, are the result of generations of the systematic rape of black women, validated by the patriarchy of slavery. No, I do not think that a replication of people standing up on a block, auctioned off to the highest bidder, is a good time to be had by all.
The biggest disgrace is the pathetic response given to me by the Class of 2003 Council after I voiced my concerns in a letter. It took a week for the class presidents to write me back, in a letter that basically said, "We had a good time, we raised money for a good cause, we knew it could be suggestive but decided to go ahead with it anyway, and we are glad that we did." Well. I am so glad to know that we vote people into class offices to disregard the concerns of the very students they are there to serve. What good is raising money for charity when it harms others?
If you want to raise money for me and my organization in such a fashion, no thanks, I'd rather stay poor. To think that leaders would do something so disrespectful and objectifying is saddening. To think that such an event happened on Dartmouth property, catered by the Hanover Inn, under the name of a college my father's hard-earned money goes towards is downright sickening.
The attitude taken by the Class Council, and subsequent silence of the administration, outlines exactly what is wrong with Dartmouth College. The attitude is that "If I'm having fun, and feeling good, who cares if someone else is hurt?" Well, I am hurt. If we are truly striving for community, or are truly intellectuals interested in learning from our past, this should bother us all. To the Class Council of 2003, Happy Black History Month. I hope that someday it means something to you.
