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The opportunities available for black individuals in the United States has long been a struggle for the community due to the financial imbalance posed by a hierarchical racial divide that has been seen throughout the years. We spoke with two student leaders from the Black Student Association about their experience as leaders on campus.
“We’re given the same opportunities but have to work twice as hard to get them,” Madison Cook said. Cook, a senior applied statistics major, also serves as the President of the Black Student Association. Jae Thomas, a junior Biomedical Biology major and Vice President of BSA, believes privilege plays a role in the lack of consistent opportunity for students of color.
“Privilege plays a big role in this, the lack of ACT preps and tutors adds to the [academic] oppression that Black people face because of poverty.”
Though obvious oppressions are identified societally, then subsequently altered– many injustices lurk beneath the surface, according to Cook.
“Oppression is now just covert” Cook claimed.
“This accentuates the idea of white privilege taking place in elite school admissions. We have to re-do the whole system, since it is so embedded in our society and capitalism,” Thomas added.
“Freshman me always felt like I had to prove to my professors that I belonged in that class,” Cook said. She expanded on the feeling of imposter syndrome, or one believing they are not deserving of their achievements or of their status in the world.
“In many of my advanced classes I am the only Black person in the class. In those environments I have heard questionable comments said, not in a harmful intention but more so in an ignorant way,” Thomas said.
Thomas also expresses that his stance in the ATU community is a Black student leader that has become easily acceptable to the white population.
“I’ve sort of been labeled as the token black voice, since I have made myself very palatable to white people,” he said.
Thomas’ statement focuses on the idea that Black voices are often limited to individuals that the white community are comfortable with, rather than the voice of the Black community altogether.
Cook and Thomas urge the ATU community to support and uplift the Black community, not only during this month, Black History Month, but every month of the year. They ask that students and staff conduct their own research on the subject surrounding Black and POC issues in their communities. BSA has many events planned throughout the semester designed to educate the public on appreciating Black culture, rather than appropriating it.
For more information on the Black Student Association, their events, and Black History Month, visit their Instagram @atu_bsa.
