Not Black Enough for S.L.U.'s B.S.A.

S.L.U. Blues | Epi. I

Photograph: Black Student Alliance of Saint Louis University [IG Pg.]

Saint Louis University is a Jesuit private college dedicated to instilling a Jesuit education within all of those who are accepted so that they may go on to take those Catholic values of, "the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of GOD and the service of humanity" (S.L.U., n.d.), with them into the world and be fruitful, planting the seeds of selflessness and well-roundedness in those endeavors. The Catholic tradition that not only this school, but that the city of the same name, touts is undeniable and a lengthy one. But what's lesser known is the brutal and racist history of both Catholicism itself and the role that S.L.U. has played in the (il)legal enslavement of Black Americans. In an attempt to repair some of the damage suffered by the Foundational Black American community of Saint Louis, the Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation project was begun—a coordinated effort between the Jesuit authorities in the area and some of the local Black families who are descendants of the enslaved peoples who were violated by the institution (Schmidt, Ferguson, & Peterson, 2020).

Nevertheless, some old habits are hard to shake, and with only just over 300 of the 6000(+) undergraduate students attending the university being Black, and over 4 1/2 thousand of them being white (College Factual, n.d.), it doesn't seem that the lessons of racial discrimination from the past have been either learned or implemented. This becomes even more interesting when considering the population demographics for the city of Saint Louis. Despite the fact that the Asian population in St. Louis only accounts for just over 3% of all people here, they make-up the largest minority attending at the institution (just under 1,000 students without including students labeled International, who more often than not come from the Asian continent). The population of Black Americans in the city is almost equal to the white population, at 43.9% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023) (just under three percent less than the majority). And I would venture that the majority of the Black students attending are not Saint Louisans (or even Americans, for that matter).

One topic that is always discussed at this school, and that so many seem to be infatuated with, is the Delmar Divide and the emotional and tangible taxes that it imposed upon the Black American community; but I wonder if their interest is spurred by a morbid curiosity or true curiousness about the states of all people and how we can improve upon them. This question seems to have an answer when I am considered for consultation regarding such racial divides and never contacted by neither professors nor students who seemed so interested in my story. One person who was quite interested in the information that I could share regarding segregation in Saint Louis is a Professor Adeyemi, who I met when leaving my Chinese class two semesters ago. This Nigerian professor, who had just arrived in Saint Louis was quite interested in performing research regarding the area and the divide itself. He informed me that he would be quite interested in learning what a Saint Louisan could describe about the issue, and we exchanged S.L.U. emails. I followed-up just to make certain that he had my information, and after receiving an email from him that confirmed our connection, I never heard from him again.

Another instance that informs me that the intentions of this university might not align with its projected image is a battle that I fought with the Equal Opportunity & Title IX Office, formerly hypocritically known as the Office of Institutional Equity and Inclusion, which touted an entire host of white individuals as the faculty making-up that office until after I moved the needle a little further, so to put it, in the right direction and they hired a Black man, Seymour Mitchell, to sit amongst all of the aforementioned white associates as E.O.E. (Equal Opportunity Enforcer). It should be noted that Director Justin Lacey of that office, who was my point of contact for the meeting regarding the lack of diversity within the office of diversity, informed me that what S.L.U. meant by diversity was to include that which can be found outside of race, including parental status; marriage; military status; sexual orientation; etc. I pushed-back against this and informed him that at a university that is not only Catholic, but caters to mostly Catholic, cisgender, and heterosexual students (which must be presumed when there is a lack of admission/self-identification), it seems a bit unwise to staff an office of diversity without keeping in mind the same diversity that is (to a certain extent) promoted in the school's outreach. I've sat within classrooms and spoken about being avoided by fellow students as they sit around me and even move their desks so that mine is the only one in the middle of the classroom just to be met with similar stories that, while less dramatic, depicted the same type of discrimination and repulsion that plagues my time here at S.L.U.

So, you can imagine my frustration when I faced discrimination, shunning, and shaming by the Black Student Alliance on the 7th of this month for expressing that I did not vote for Kamala because I did not want to support a genocide or missing opportunity for Black reparations—both things that were part of Doctors Jill Stein's & Butch Ware's platform. Due to a combination of some illogically thinking that I was a Trump supporter, after saying this, and others not caring because it was still a lack of a vote for their favourite candidate, I was left by half of the B.S.A. in the room and shut-down by the other half of them, including a new professor who described himself as an observer. Professor Reggie Williams informed me that my feelings were not reflective of what they wanted to gauge when asking everyone to speak about their feelings hence the election, and he became quite quippy with me when I protested such a rude act. The craziest thing about this all is that it occurred after a meeting filled with me and other students expressing grief from our treatment at the university, including 'SunDown-Town'-esque situations described by multiple of us. It also came on the heels of questions about how the B.S.A. could be more inclusive to the entirety of the Black community. Doctor Johnson, a counsellor at the university, even interjected as well with sentiments that were shared with her of people not feeling Black enough for the group. Unfortunately, Dr. Johnson was not available in the room when I was attacked for not voting for Kamala. I was even told that if I had mentioned that I did not vote for Trump either that the reaction to me would have been less brutal. This kind of thinking is absolutely unacceptable and a part of the reason that we are where we are, presently, politically. You don't get to discriminate against people because they do not share your views, and it is just so sickening to see so many people who consider themselves to be of the Left turning into the same bitter and exclusive bigots who they claim to oppose.

I think that the craziest thing about this is that this room of people thought that they were able to shame me for not voting for a genocide like them, yet they purport to be totally different from the extremists and M.A.G.A.ts of the Right. We need to come together and realize that we all matter, and we will never get anywhere without the other and continue to fail in the face of Trump-like candidates who seem to represent the total opposite of what allegedly America is and wants. We saw what America wants a few days ago, and now is our time to change that or continue down the path of destruction.

Audio Evidence of Meeting (Since I'm Being Called a Liar):

https://youtu.be/k_3vxFFJGjU?si=EIED0MtNDg675zrP

References

Government, U. S. (Ed.). (2023). U.S. Census Bureau quickfacts: St. Louis City, Missouri.

Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/stlouiscitymissouri/PST045223

Schmidt, K. L., Ferguson, S., & Peterson, C. (2024, May 14). Slavery, History, Memory and

Reconciliation. Jesuits.org. https://www.jesuits.org/our-work/shmr/

Team, D. A. (Ed.). (2023, March 22). Saint Louis University Diversity: Racial Demographics &

Other Stats. College Factual. https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/saint-louis- university-main-campus/student-life/diversity/#overall_diversity