On January 31st, a very racist motivated photo was posted on the social media platform, Snapchat. The infamous photo shows two George Washington University Alpha Phi sorority members: one of the members holding up an empty banana peel, while alongside another member, with the caption stating “Izzy: I’m 1/16 black”. There remains a third complicit member who appears to be the photographer of the photo.
Fun Fact: Alpha Phi is the same national sorority that Harley Barber , the former University of Alabama student who was expelled for her consistent racist rhetoric and use of "nigger" on the social media platform Instagram.
This is the photo:
Real action must be taken by the administration. The administration must hold these three students accountable for their actions. If George Washington as “intolerant to discrimination” as it claims to be, then actually holding them accountable shouldn’t be a difficult task.
George Washington University’s administration, for years, has aided in the continuous adaptation of a complicit culture of racial exclusivity.
See also: To The Person At USC Who Called Me A 'Stupid Monkey'
For too long they have remained complacent in the knowledge of the dichotomy of the white vs minority experience at their own university.
For too long, they have heard the cries of their students; for too long they have heard and have failed to act; for too long they have justified their inaction with “We are making an effort”, those five common words that students of color know sound good but know will never become a reality.
For too long, they have taken the passenger seat, when they should have been drivers of the vehicle that would move the George Washington towards racial progress and inclusivity.
For too long, they have positioned and have done everything in their power to keep students of color complacent in the back seat.
What do you do when you have been in the back seat for so long and the driver fails to drive?
You take over.
You leave the backseat and become the driver.
Student leaders, through the support of the Multicultural Student Services Center, the cultural inclusion space on campus, planned an open-dialogue discussion last night. About two-hundred plus students attended to voice their opinions, to aid in allyship, and to confide in each other to create transformative and necessary administrative and legislative demands to the George Washington administration.
Students of color want to be taken seriously, they want to feel welcome on campus, and want to receive proper support systems. Too long they have been promised support, and too many times, the GW community has let them down. They no longer need simple apologies, they need to see things actually change.
Change must come through on-campus policy and the communal legality of the status of people of color on GW’s campus. Students of color need to be integrated into the community on a larger scale, and not put on the backburner as history has shown.
No longer will the students of color at the George Washington University take the backseat to racist rhetoric in their own spaces.
No longer will the students of color at the George Washington University sit back and wait for change, they will be the actors of change: they will dismantle and rebuild the racially exclusive foundations that this university ‘prides’ itself on.
No longer will the George Washington University's administration be able to turn a blind eye to their students of color.If you are reading this and you are remotely moved by this, can relate to this, or simply want to aid in the national fight against systematic complacent racism on college campuses, please join the George Washington Community by using these hashtags on your social media platforms:
#AlphaPhiNot4Me and #AlphaphiBigotry
I hope that one day, students of color at predominantly white institutions will no longer have to fight for their sense of belonging on campus.
