Oberlin Microaggressions
Our blog is primarily for students who have been marginalized at Oberlin. We welcome submissions by marginalized students who wish to speak about their lived experiences.
If you see or hear racist, heterosexist/homophobic, anti-Semitic, classist, ableist, sexist/cissexist speech etc., please submit it to us so that we may demonstrate that these acts are not simply isolated incidents, but rather part of structural inequalities.
Submissions are welcome. Please refer to the guidelines set on our submissions page.
We do not endorse every submitted post we publish. We encourage respectful, critical debate.
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Letter of Solidarity from Williams College
To those in need of reassurance,
I am writing to you because some of my peers at Williams College and I are deeply moved by the recent events at Oberlin. My peers include a wide range of people: members of the Minority Coalition, a group that provides space for campus affinity groups to collaborate and strategize together; members of some of these groups such as the Black Student Union, the Queer Student Union, and the Williams College Jewish Association; past and current executives of College Council, our student government; varsity and club athletes; biology majors and Arabic studies majors, and more. Some of us were witnesses and reporters to hateful events, some of us were on the front lines of marches and meetings to address the systemic problems. Those who sign their name at the bottom do so as individuals, not as representatives of their communities. Nonetheless, I include group affiliations because racism hurts us not simply as individuals, but as members of communities.
We are no stranger to your struggle. Truly, Oberlin is not alone. Oberlin is not the only college community being reminded of its ugly side. It is not the only college community struggling to handle what it means for the repugnant to live in its midst.
In November 2011, the Saturday of my freshman homecoming, my college was rocked by a heinous, racist hate crime wherein some person(s) scrawled across the stalls of a shared dorm bathroom, “All N****** must die.” There was outrage when the event came to light. Our administration was initially resistant, but students rallied and successfully lobbied to cancel classes the following Monday. We sought to provide time for personal healing, to facilitate marches of solidarity, and to host opportunities for the college community to engage together on the issues of racism on our campus. We see the similar actions that you have taken and admire your work.
This event I described above was not the first of its kind at Williams, and it was regrettably not the last. Given the chronological accounts of events at Oberlin this past February, now bravely put into public consciousness, it is woefully apparent the end is not remotely in sight for you either.
Hateful actions rip apart small liberal arts college campuses in a unique way. Each of us chose to attend our school, hoping to take part in an intentional community that would provide a space for us to grow into our identities while expanding our limits. The liberal arts philosophy relies upon a community built on an understanding that conflict can be constructive, that even when disagreements arise, we can rise above. But hateful actions come from hateful people. They demonstrate a remarkable cowardice, an inability to play by the rules of fair conduct, a mistaken sense of entitlement that protects their voice from repercussion.
Hateful actions, contrary to popular thought, are not protected by “free speech.” We have the right to speak up when we believe our communities are under attack. As student leaders, we are entrusted to find ways to correct that which we find unacceptable, and we are empowered by our peers to seek a better future for our spaces. As community members, we are obligated to mobilize and organize when one of our own is hurting, when support is needed, or when our leaders do not step forward. You are right in taking action.
I write this letter as a sister. That part of my very self attends your school is therefore enough to compel me to write. My older sister, who attends Oberlin currently, raised me to act when it is not easy, to speak when the opposition is loud, and to support when I am weak. Through literal sisterhood, I first learned the meaning of solidarity. My understanding of solidarity grew with my peers at Williams when we experienced the previously mentioned incidents. We all remember vividly when our most needed resource was an ally. We all remember the power that surged when hundreds of students convened to say in unison, “We have had enough.” It may seem to some that marching and loud declarations are useless in convincing bigots to unlearn their ways, but we at Williams have seen how important it is to set community standards. You at Oberlin are sending a message that hateful acts are intolerable. You at Oberlin are proving to the country that college students, so often disparaged for being apathetic and shallow, care enough about their community to speak out against a hidden enemy.
We offer you few resources, few success stories, few strategies for resolving hate-fueled conflicts, but we can offer you our solidarity. Please know that you are not alone in your struggle. Please know that you are not the first to march these paths. Please know you are paving the ways for others. You know too well that your actions are being watched and discussed by many, but please remember you have allies, too. Though we are scattered far and are often quiet, we hold you close in our hearts. We hope that you see this letter as an extension of our student-to-student kinship.
As a family, we are stronger than the demons that we face. In solidarity,
Emily Nuckols ‘15,Miranda Cooper ’16, Irene Castillo ’16, Isy Abraham-Raveson ’15, Carrie Tribble ’13, Rachel Hagler ’13, Zoe Grueskin ’14, Michella Ore ’16, Alejandra Rosales ‘15, Monica Torres ’13, Matilda Feder ’13, Ranana Dine ’16, Nathan Schine '13, Rani Mukherjee ’15, Olivia Polk '16, Robert Carnes ’14, Emily Dzieciatko ’15, Gulya Radjapova ’14, Laura Calloway ’13, Clyde W. Engle, Jr. ’15, Samantha Teng ’13, Shannon Hsu ’15, Brandon Abasolo ’13, Rakdong Lim ’15, Nneka Dennie ’13, Erica Moszkowski ’15, Elise Baker ’13, April Jenkins ’14, Matt McNaughton ’16, Sam O’Donnell ’15, Malik Nashad Sharpe ’14, Claudia Corona ’13, Quinn Solfisburg ’14, Sally Waters ’15, Michael Girouard ’13, Ashley Meczywor ’13, Aidyn Osgood ’15, Maximiliano Magaña ’14, Kaya Gingras '16, Josh Morrison ’16, Deena Bak ’13, Tara Miller ’15, David Stevens ’14, Garrett Welson ’15, Liz Dietz ’15, Nakita VanBiene ’15, Meg O’Connor ’14, Marissa Lowe ’14, Long Dang ’15, Alex Jones ’14, Anna Ryba ’16, Amelia Ortiz ’15, Jessica
O’Brien ’16, Louisa Lee ’14, Emily Cook ’13, Fiona Dang ’15, Christine Case '15, Katie Shao ’16, Jake Verter ’16, Jasmine Thomasian ’15, Postyn Smith ’15, Andrea Lindsay ’13, Daniela Zarate ’15, Chris Huffaker ’15, Ezequiel Davila ’16, Alison Magruder ’15, Peter Drews ’14, Anuj Shah ’15, Eirann Cohen ’15, Hannah Ohlson ’15, James Wilcox ’13, Steve Mendoza ’13, Kiah Walker ’15, Sarah Lyon ’13, Grace Weatherall ’16, MeiLu McDermott ’16, Kate Flanagan ’14, Maggie Hughes '15, Tatum Barnes ’15, Nitsan Goldstein '15, Steven Kiesel ’15, Haley Ladd-Luthringshauser '15, Corbin Chu ’15, Alex Silver ’15, Clare O’Brien ’15, Phoebe Gould ’13, Sophia Rosenfeld ’15, Gabriella Kallas ’16, Karen Huan ’16, Joan Brunetta ’15, Jennie Harding ’13, Casey McLellan ’14, Rachel Nguyen ’15, Chris Simmons '13, Nykeah Parham ’13, Jenny Tang ’13, Elanie Wilson ’15, Jochebed Bogunjoko '16, Sola Haye ’14, Judith Clerjeune ’14, Giselle Trivino ’15, Gideon Hess ’16, Matthew Tarduno ’16, Lauren Moseley ’16, Daquan Daly ’16, Charlotte Vinson '13, Ana Contreras ’16, Carolina Jaramilo ’16, Lacey Serletti ’16, Aldis Inde ’15, Abraham Kirby-Galen ’16, Sarah Peters ’14, and Charlie Billadeau ’15, Ladd Hamrick ’13, Scott Fyall ’13, Adrian Castro ’14, Kate Kiernan ’14, Amelia Ortiz '15, and Tyler Holden ’13
Caitlin O'Neill submitted this to