44°
The account @blackatspringfieldcollege, which was started in late August, features mostly anonymous, written statements. The social media postings are similar to other "black at" accounts popping up at American colleges and universities.
The 30 or so anonymous statements tell of instances where students were called racial slurs or singled out and treated poorly because of their skin color.
Meanwhile, Springfield College has held various diversity and anti-racism events including the summer’s “Conversations on Race” and the upcoming SEAT At The Table events, and the establishment of Campus Programming Planning Committee on Race, statements following the killings of Floyd Taylor Arbery and flying the Black Lives Matter flag, according to the Springfield Students newspaper.
Still, there are students who say the efforts have not accomplished enough to make the campus a welcoming environment for all people of color.
Here are some of the posts:
“I’ll never forget when two of my teammates said I was their ‘n--a’ at a party when I was a freshman. One of those teammates would later be brought onto the coaching staff so you could see how scary that could me.”
“When playing basketball in the field house at night multiple times I and my boys have been asked by public safety to see our IDs to make sure we go to the school. They didn’t check all the white boys on the court next to us. We were all males of color.”
“Being called a ‘black a-- m----’ and then almost losing my job in residence life because I ‘handled the situation wrong.’ Then I was told after being placed on suspension that I shouldn't have told any of the other departments, my teachers, and mentors.”
“Residence life staff making racist jokes while we were doing diversity and inclusion training.”
The Instagram account receives the posts through direct messages. The account's owner has pledged to keep posting until school administrators make changes.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Worcester and receive free news updates.
