“When I first came here, I used to get mad all of the time,” said Courtney Baugh, a Black third-year student at the University of Virginia. “But you get tired of being mad. You get used to [racist] things happening. You get numb to it.”

 

Baugh therefore was not surprised when a message painted on Beta Bridge by Zeta Phi Beta, a historically Black sorority, was vandalized on January 17th. The phrase, ‘It’s OK to be white,’ was painted over part of the sorority’s message honoring its Founders’ Day.

 

According to The Cavalier Daily, ‘It’s OK to be white’ is a phrase frequently used by white nationalists. Though the phrase started on 4chan, an online discussion board, the Klux Klan, The Daily Stormer, and other white supremacist groups have utilized it for their own interests.

 

An unknown party painted the graffiti around 1 a.m. that Thursday. Within hours, it was smeared and illegible.

 

Nonetheless, students woke up to reports from The Cavalier Daily and U.Va. officials about the incident. Allen W. Groves, University Dean of Students, quickly issued a statement condemning the racially motivated targeting of Zeta Phi Beta and offering support to the sorority, while the University as a collective voiced its shock and disgust.

 

But students of color did not necessarily feel the same.

 

“Being in Charlottesville, I wasn’t surprised that it happened,” said Aaron Entzminger, a Black first-year student. “I feel that there is this underlying racist energy here that a lot of people are hiding.”

 

Deanna Lewis, a Black fourth-year student, shared similar feelings of numbness.

 

“I’ve seen so much here at U.Va. than I have living in New York in terms of white racism. I’ve become sort of immune to it and I haven’t been jumping into anger,” Lewis said. “My initial reaction was just, ‘I’m ready to get out of here.’”

 

Despite the outrage caused by the racist graffiti, the Cavalier Daily reported that the University Police Department would not be investigating the incident because Beta Bridge is not University-owned property. On the day of the incident, the Charlottesville Police Department was also not conducting an investigation.

 

Emily Garcia, a Latina first-year student, agreed with the University’s actions.

 

“Although the message was terrible and hurtful to non-white students…free speech is allowed. If it’s not under the University’s jurisdiction then [not conducting an investigation] makes sense,” Garcia said.

 

However, several other students of color disagreed with the University, stating that by not taking action, the University is sending the message that it condones acts of racism.

 

“Somebody definitely should be investigating,” Baugh said. “I understand that Beta Bridge is not the University’s property, but [the perpetrators] are possibly U.Va. students and something needs to be done.”

 

Just two weeks after the Beta Bridge incident, images emerged on Twitter and Instagram of members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority allegedly engaging in cultural appropriation during chapter-sponsored events. Multiple men of Kappa Sigma wore Native American attire during their bid day events, while several women of Zeta Tau Alpha wore sombreros and held maracas during big-little reveals.

 

Though they agreed that the fraternity and sorority’s costumes were culturally insensitive, Garcia and Baugh did not view cultural appropriation as a critical issue at the University.

 

“It was just out of ignorance and not hatred or malice,” Garcia said. “I think it’s important to rank offenses and focus on things that are more outwardly racist rather than ignorant.”

 

“I feel like there are so many other things happening at U.Va. that cultural appropriation is such a small thing,” Baugh said.

 

“[But] I do think it needs to be addressed,” Baugh added. “[If it’s not], they will think that cultural appropriation is okay and funny.”

 

Lewis was similarly appalled by the incident, asserting that it had nothing to do with cultural appreciation.

 

“Imagine me dressing up in a polo and khakis and painting my skin white and saying, 'Hey! I’m your big!'” Lewis said. “That’s ridiculous. You’re just making a joke out of people’s culture.”

 

Also at the beginning of February, outcries against racism spread across the country when conservative website Big League Politics discovered a racist photo of VA Governor Ralph Northam showing one person dressed in blackface and another dressed in a Ku Klux Klan costume. The photo was featured in the 1984 yearbook for Eastern Virginia Medical School.

 

Northam first confirmed that he was in the photo, apologizing for his ‘clearly racist and offensive’ costume and ‘the hurt that decision caused then and now.’ However, he later claimed that he was not in the photo, but that, on a separate occasion, he had darkened his face with shoe polish for a Michael Jackson costume in 1984. He also maintained that he would not be resigning despite numerous calls from both Democrats and Republicans.

 

Garcia and Lewis agreed with the calls for Northam to resign, citing his irresponsibility and untrustworthiness.

 

“He claimed that photo was [of him] and then he backtracked on that, which indicates that he was lying to the press at some point,” Garcia said. “His offenses have been enough for him to resign.”

 

“Just resign,” Lewis added. “You’re doing the people who voted you in a great dishonor by staying in that seat. You betrayed the people who trusted you were a decent person and wouldn’t engage in such activities.”

 

At first, Baugh also believed that Northam should resign. But as she learned about the sexual allegations against VA Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax and that VA Attorney General Mark Herring also admitted to doing blackface, she was no longer sure of her opinion.

 

“If [Northam] resigns, then everybody has to resign,” Baugh said.

 

Nonetheless, Baugh did not care for U.Va. President Jim Ryan’s email response to the University about Northam’s blackface scandal, which criticized the governor for his actions but asserted that he was ‘a decent and kind man, with an admirable record of service to our Commonwealth and the nation.’

 

“I cringed when I read the part that said that he is such a kind person. It seemed like [Ryan] was trying to put him in a positive light,” Baugh said.

 

“For [Ryan] to bring up the fact that…he met [Northam] in that same email, there was no point for that,” Lewis added. “So what? People thought he was good guy when they voted him in. Why do you need to bring this up now once blackface pictures are surfacing?”

 

Comparing these recent racist incidents to their day-to-day experiences as a student of color, all four students stated that they had not experienced any blatant acts of racism at U.Va. But that did not mean that race and racism were not critical issues.

 

“I think all of these incidents are way more significant than the stuff that I would say I go through,” Entzminger said. “But then again, these could easily be swept under the rug. If these have the capability [to be] just forgotten about in just a couple of days, then imagine the small incidents of microagressions I can face just going around Grounds. It wouldn’t even be dealt with.”

 

Baugh also shared that she has experienced microagressions and that, with U.Va. being more than 60% white, she feels very conscious of her Blackness when on Grounds.

 

The racial dynamics at the U.Va., among other factors, almost caused Baugh to transfer to a different university.

 

“But when I got back [after I took a year off], that’s when I met this group of Chi Alpha Black students. They really made me love U.Va,” Baugh said. “It gets tiring having to…be in white spaces all the time. In [the group] there’s no microagressions. You can just be Black.”

 

The four students had a variety of suggestions as to how the University could improve the experiences of students of color. Garcia stated the University needed to be more transparent and not wait until a racist incident is featured in the media in order to address it, citing the controversy behind the Corks and Curls yearbook, while Entzminger emphasized the need for another type of law enforcement besides UPD due to reoccurring conflicts between police and minority students.

 

“One thing that would be amazing [would be] if an African-American studies class was required to graduate,” Baugh added. “That would make people more knowledgeable of the Black experience [and] could change people’s hearts.”

 

In addition to holding mandatory discussions about race, Lewis suggested that the University sponsor more celebrations of cultural holidays and give minority groups spaces where they can be seen, citing the practically hidden locations of the Multicultural Student Center and the Office of African American Affairs.

 

“If the University was there to show that these [minority] groups exist…then perhaps that will lessen the tensions of minority groups toward white people and [vice versa]. People [could] be more comfortable to talk about these issues instead of getting one minority friend and asking them ridiculous questions,” Lewis said.

 

The students had some advice for their white peers on how to make students of color feel more comfortable and welcome as well.

 

“Just educate yourself,” Baugh said. “Go take an African-American studies class. Learn about our history and how it affects us today.”

 

“Try to attend some multicultural events,” Garcia added. “Be mindful of different perspectives and races.”

 

“There’s money on Grounds in all these organizations that have been here before so many of these minority groups were here,” Lewis said. “If these well-endowed organizations were to team up and organize with minority groups…then you would not only being creating equity but also friendships and interconnections.”

 

Entzminger had one last tip to give to white students at U.Va.

 

“Learn our names. I’m not the other Black kid that you know.”