Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919.

Editorial: Misguided intent or masked racism?

The White Student Union has a questionable foundation

IC Editorial Board

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Terrorism, racism, hate crimes and other forms of similar violence define the era we live in. The news is ablaze with increasing death tolls from terrorist attacks, courthouses are still occupied with discussions over LGBTQ rights and racist slurs and behaviors that are still prevalent in our society. As the world tries to rectify this, a group calling themselves the “White Student Union” has become an unofficial student organization at the University of Toledo.

WSU was created because, as claimed by the founders, the white race is under-represented at UT. They write that their intentions for creating the group were simple and similar to all other groups on campus. First, they want to celebrate western civilization and indigenous European cultures. Second, they claim to “enshrine” freedom of speech, and thereby reserve the right of free speech.

They maintain and reinforce that their group was not created in opposition or to oppose any other races or organizations on campus. They state that any “white or non-white allies” are welcome to join their group.

Sitting on a history where people of the white race have maintained more of a dominant role in different aspects of society and a majority of the world, including both the political and economic world, WSU’s need to have a stage to voice their opinion seems unjustified.

WSU wants a platform to voice opinions, but when have ‘white’ voices ever been muted? In other words, if white people have always owned the platform, how can they justify talking about the difficulties of getting access to the platform?

As the world fights to obtain the proper rights for under-represented and oppressed races or communities, the creation of a “white student union” is ill-fitting. The first questions that come to mind are: what encompasses “white”? Has this “white” race been systemically under-represented, or suppressed or excluded from discussions of race, free speech, government, power, opportunities? What are the shared common historical events that banded this “white” race? Being aware of the oppression of people of color, allowing the historical oppressors to use similar arguments of free speech and racial exclusion to form their own group, within this context, is not fair.

Cultural enrichment of different traditional histories and heritages is required if we want to build a civilized world. This kind of cultural enrichment educates the society as well as allows the person to become more accepting of those who are different. If the WSU’s intentions and foundations are as pure and simply restricted to that idea only, their creation is an extremely favorable statement for our divided world. However, even a slight abuse of this platform or a slight contamination of their founding ideas would leave dire consequences. These consequences range from instigating people to increase racial gaps and subtly planting malicious seeds that grow animosity for other groups. It seems WSU is very subtly, perhaps unconsciously, doing exactly that.

The WSU Facebook page contains material showing people of color and white people fighting and political leaders condemning people of different religions. These stories are carefully interwoven with content showcasing contributions made by white people to television, poetry and literature. Instead of promoting freedom of speech and cultural enrichment, these actions do nothing but instigate conflict and opposition. While they state in their bylaws they did not form in opposition to any group or race, their actions speak of a devious intent. It seems like they are saying things but not following in their actions.

WSU is possibly unaware of the racist undertone that they are delivering, and so their actions and intents can be explained as accidental racism. However, racism is never accidental; at some level of consciousness you are always aware if you’re displaying it. Even if they are sincerely unaware of this “accident,” it is time for WSU to educate themselves and understand the connotations and associations of their actions to the dialogues of race.

WSU’s naiveté of their subtle racist connotations in their actions is something that can be educated and changed, but these instances aren’t the root of the problem. We don’t like what they are doing, and we don’t like how they are going about it. They are being more destructive than productive. More importantly, their request to participate in the discussion in a productive way is welcomed, but their methods are more inflammatory than contributory. The root of the problem is the existence of a white student union, which creates and perpetuates defensiveness rather than conversation, the opposite of the intended effect. Nothing is solved by defensively shutting out opposing views, so if you’re going to use your First Amendment right, use it to build pathways of dialogue, not walls that separate us from understanding one another.

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1 Comment

  • Tegan Wilkinson

    “WSU wants a platform to voice opinions, but when have ‘white’ voices ever been muted? In other words, if white people have always owned the platform, how can they justify talking about the difficulties of getting access to the platform?”

    Wouldn’t this quote prove that those opposed to this group are trying to mute their voices? How is this any different? If I’ve group gets a voice, then all groups deserve a voice. Is all only fair and equal if minority groups get special treatment? If people really wanted equal rights, they wouldn’t care if this group existed or not.

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