Alpha Kappa Alpha's "Race Card Project" starts a dialogue
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority recently brought “The Race Card Project” to Dartmouth for their annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day program. The project, which asks participants to sum up their thoughts about race or identity in six words or less, was started by journalist Michele Norris in 2010 in an effort to energize the public conversation about race.
AKA president Olivia Scott ’13 came across The Race Project online over winter break and thought it would go along with the theme of “The Art of Nonconformity” this year. The sorority’s programming board discussed the idea and decided they would like to use the project to begin the conversation at Dartmouth.
AKA sent out emails to campus asking students to anonymously submit “race cards” distilling their thoughts, experiences, questions and observations about identity into six words. The sorority also advertised and hosted a discussion and unveiling of the race cards on Jan. 28 at Kemeny 105.
According to AKA vice president Deidra Willis ’13, around 67 cards were submitted.
“We got unexpected feedback from all areas of campus,” Scott said.
AKA members said that the aim of the project was not only to start a dialogue, but also to provide students with a safe place to express their views. Compared to public discussions in which students may not be comfortable enough to reveal their views in front of a group, The Race Card Project’s system of anonymity created a place for people to say what they wanted without fear of retaliation.
“There’s a relief that’s had when people get something off their chest,” Willis said.
Due to recent bias reports and programming events aimed to encourage discussion of race, AKA members believe the project was initiated at a relevant time for campus and aided the subsequent conversations that have been taking place on campus.
“Obviously, someone had something to say,” Willis said.
At the unveiling of the project, AKA displayed a slide show of the cards, which is also available online http://prezi.com/fwqn2n-hrddh/dartmouth-race-card-project/. Willis said the slideshow would alert viewers how people think and start conversations.
Willis and Scott led the discussion by asking general questions about race. The discussion compared participants’ expectations of how Dartmouth culture treats race to the reality of race at Dartmouth. Willis and Scott were interested in making the discussion an inclusive experience and in using the personal narrative to reveal what race means to the Dartmouth community.
“We’re trying to have a conversation about issues instead of just yelling back and forth,” Scott said.
Although 67 anonymous cards were submitted, only around 12 people actually showed up for the discussion, all of whom were female. Willis said she found it interesting that so few people were willing to openly talk about their thoughts in a closed room. The small size of the meeting did allow for deep discussion. Willis said she felt that rather than just agreeing with one another, participants responded with stories.
“I really liked how honest people could be,” Willis said.