During the last week of fall term a board was displayed by the doors of the library posing the question, "Have you experienced racism in the community?" Markers were provided for students to respond in whatever way they were compelled. The testimonies and opinions to follow were similar to the subject itself: eye-opening and controversial.
Albany residents may recall the hate flyer that blanketed cars at the 2014 Veterans Day Parade. The flyer was clear in its message that Africa is for Africans, Asia for Asians, and "white" countries are for everyone else. The racial remarks in the flyer led to local news outlets responding, the Albany Police Department investigating, and much of the community outraged.
The slander brought to thousands on a day designated to honor Americans that fight for the country, many of whom are not white, was considered in bad taste. Yes, people have freedom of speech, however, the blatant disregard in this instance of those minorities who fought, were injured, or lost their lives to protect the self proclaimed "Nazi" writing the flyer was shocking.
Librarian Richenda Hawkins attended a discussion on campus shortly after the flyer was circulated. The goal of the conversation between LBCC staff was to brainstorm how they could initiate conversation with students regarding the issue of racism in our community. The question prominently displayed in the library was Hawkins' solution to bringing awareness to campus.
"I'm not a classroom teacher but I am faculty, and I found a way to engage dialog," said Hawkins. "Let's let the students talk and express themselves, just write their thoughts and not feel confronted."
Keeping the comments anonymous gave comfort to those often afraid to speak up. Albany is overwhelmingly caucasian, and having an outlet to share the impact of racism in the community led to powerful statements reminding us that racism still exists.
Elikamida Toran works at the Help Desk in the library. She sat directly in front of the board and observed people reading it and sometimes writing on it.
"Whenever I saw anyone come up they had a very intense look on their face," said Toran. "I saw a lady with a head-cover (hijab) come in and it looked like she came in just to write something."
In modern-day America—where a black man was voted into the most powerful position in the country—people may dismiss the issue of color as something of the past. Yet, one-by-one students began to write their experiences revealing century-old mindsets as a reality today.
"In the town I live in, my friend gets called a n****r by the locals and has been threatened with a noose. Racism is still very real."
Someone else wrote about a woman in their class talking about immigrants taking jobs from Americans.
"Why are they here? They're just here to take our jobs and to do nothing for our community."
Some left testimonies of racial tolerance personally effecting those in interracial relationships.
"I and my fiance get jeered and booed sometimes when we are walking together."
Others were candid about their thoughts of the ability, or inability, to erase the ongoing issue in our nation.
"Racism will never die."
One person commented on the overuse of "racism" as a reason to explain conflict.
"When in doubt, play the racism card."
As the board filled with real-life experiences and opinions, some people responded to comments left by others.
"Blacks and Native Americans need to get over what happened in the past." In direct response a student countered with, "But racism is still prominent in the United States. The Ferguson protests aren't 'Blacks getting over it,' it's real racism. The Trayvon Martin shooting was undoubtably racism. Blacks aren't doing anything wrong, they are just black."
"The key to ending racism is to stop talking about it." This provoked an opposing opinion of, "Just completely ignore a real issue facing us as a nation? It needs to be fixed, not ignored!"
Regardless of each opinion, it was clear from the board in the library and from the hate letter at the parade that racism is alive in the Willamette Valley. Advancements in embracing diversity have surely been made, but much work is left to be done. Talking is the first step.
"Black, White, Hispanic, Asian--it doesn't matter! We are one race: human," said anonymous.
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