Campuses seek peace over race

Published on December 07, 2007

UMass, Smith respond to ‘blackface' incidents

By KRISTIN PALPINI Staff Writer

Northampton - As the Smith College campus begins to heal racial tensions strained by a white couple in blackface at a campus costume party, a similar situation has cropped up involving the University of Massachusetts.

On Nov. 30, Smith College held an open discussion at which students, faculty and staff addressed white privilege, racial insensitivity and the impact of blackface.

The event was attended by over 350 people who sat on floors, stood in tight crowds packed along walls and waited outside the Carroll Room in the Smith Campus Center to catch a whisper of the discussion.

Meanwhile, at UMass, two international students, a woman dressed in blackface and a man dressed as a conquistador for an off-campus Halloween party, have provoked a campus debate as to whether the costumes were racist, were unfortunate cultural mistakes - or both.

In both the Smith and UMass incidents, the wearers of blackface plead ignorance to the impact of their makeup.

And in both cases, people were typically more incensed by the larger community's lack of understanding as to why blackface is deemed offensive than by the person in costume.

"It's not a question of knowing or not knowing about the history or what was intended or not intended - that is less important than what the episode tells us about race, privilege and power," said Daphne M. Lamothe, a Smith professor of Afro-American studies in the forum's opening remarks Friday.

"‘I didn't know' is a starting place for a conversation, but not the stopping place."

<h4>Forums planned</h4>

Smith College and UMass have plans to address racial tensions on campus through forums that will lead to institutional improvements.

At Smith, more discussions on race and its role in society are planned and an all-campus meeting is scheduled for the beginning of the spring semester to address these issues.

At UMass, students organized a diversity forum held Wednesday, while university administrators and faculty leaders are planning workshops, investigating what exactly happened at the off-campus party and evaluating what is taught during international student orientation.

"To me, they should have known what they were doing was wrong and really a public insult," said Nahir I. Otano-Garcia, a graduate student, about the people dressed in blackface and as a conquistador. "This shouldn't be hidden. We want a public forum where we can talk about this."

Tensions over the racially insensitive costumes have been growing at UMass, students said.

Students in the graduate languages, literatures and cultures program (a department well represented among the party guests) have expressed disappointment in what they see as the university's slow response to the incident. Students filed grievances over the costumes with the UMass Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, the ombudsman and the graduate languages, literatures and cultures department.

"We have to do something ourselves," said Nikolina I. Dobreva, a graduate student, describing why the student forum will be held.

"We can't wait for the university."

<h4>UMass official's letter</h4>

In a recent letter to a group of about 15 offended students, Esther Terry, associate chancellor at UMass, said the university will schedule a series of workshops to teach about the history of blackface in America and cultural diversity.

Terry, who is black, described the attire the graduate students wore as clothes that "could be perceived as racist costumes."

"Through this all, it is our intent to conduct any activity around this issue so as to insure that, at the end, we will have engaged in teaching for growth," Terry wrote.

Giving credence to the claim that the blackface costume worn by the UMass woman was a cultural mistake is the Colombian Carnival "Blancos y Negros," in which white people dress as black people and vice versa.

The Colombian graduate student who painted her skin black and donned a red gingham dress and a head scarf for the party said she was trying to invoke this custom and did not realize the cultural significance the costume would have in America, said Julie C. Hayes, chairwoman of graduate languages, literatures and cultures department.

Hayes, like Terry, has spoken with the offending students about their costumes.

"However innocent their intent was, the effect is nevertheless devastating for people who recognize blackface in a different context, who have lived with the legacy of American history," said Hayes.

<h4>Apologies made</h4>

The woman and the Spanish man dressed as a conquistador have since apologized to students and the UMass community.

"The students involved in this matter, which occurred off campus, say they were misunderstood and have apologized," said Edward F. Blaguszewski, director of news and information.

"Keeping that important aspect in mind, the university is concerned by any use of a symbol so charged with racist meaning in our society."

To address the incident, in addition to workshops, Hayes is suggesting that UMass add cultural sensitivity training to the international student orientation program.

"After several years in this country (international students) don't always know the cultural landscape as well as people think they should," Hayes pointed out. "I see this as an opportunity to correct our training here, and there are going to be permanent changes."

Meanwhile, Smith's Friday forum and its attendance were hailed as a positive first step by the college community.

"This turnout shows us that this is a necessary conversation," said Naomi J. Miller, director of institutional diversity at Smith. "This is the first in what will be ongoing discussion about privilege and prejudice in our society."