A historical moment has taken place at Brandeis over the past two weeks. However, we must remember to diligently watch the enactment of the Draft Implementation Plan for Diversity and Inclusion. If the student body does not continue to hold the administration accountable, the progress seen because of Ford Hall 2015 will be lost.
Ford Hall 2015 cannot and will not be an isolated moment of activism within the Brandeis community. There is increasing momentum behind the Brandeis Asian American Task Force (BAATF) petition, showing that students could now have a renewed awareness of issues such as race and equality for underrepresented groups. The Brandeis Hoot endorses BAATF’s efforts and hopes that the community moves to address this and other similar issues that remain buried under layers of systemic oppression in a constructive way. In adopting this as a policy, Ford Hall 2015 will remain a living legacy.
At The Hoot, we recognize that our organization operates within a majority white space. This is a result of our implicit privilege not to think about race, and we must actively work to counteract this homogeneity.
The progress made through the Draft Implementation doesn’t just happen; student activists of color worked for it. That work must not end now that the Ford Hall 2015 protesters have vacated Bernstein-Marcus. As a community, we must recognize injustice where it occurs and call out racism. We must learn and never forget how we can all act as allies, accomplices and decent human beings.
Perhaps part of the problem is that for too long, Brandeis ignored obvious flaws in itself, because as an institution, we like to see ourselves in the best possible light. “How could we have racism when we have the African and Afro-American Studies Department, if Brandeis was founded on social justice?” In the future, people may even ask the question, “How can we still have racism after Ford Hall 2015?”
It is up to students, faculty and the administration to honor the pact made for improvement. Ford Hall 2015 isn’t where issues of racism end, but rather it is a new beginning in the fight for equality.
