This is a distressing time for our campus. As a community, we are struggling to understand and come to grips with biased incidents, the most recent being The Primary Source's racist Christmas Carols.
Isha Plynton's Dec. 4 Viewpoint, recounting her and seven other Tufts students' horrendous experience at the Diva Lounge on Nov. 18, sparked outrage and controversy throughout campus and the wider Tufts community. The following day, on the front page of the Daily, Diva Lounge acknowledged the incident but chose to refute essential elements of Plynton's story. The result is that many people have begun to question the integrity of the Tufts students involved.
Diva's attempt to deflect blame from their blatantly racist and unfair actions leaves our campus grappling with the horrible incident and its ramifications: what it means for Tufts as a school, for the relations with the surrounding community, and each of us as individuals. Yet Diva Lounge is not an isolated incident; it speaks to a larger problem on our campus, and it is not purely a black-and-white issue.
We as concerned students have noticed several alarming incidents. The resurfacing of racism is a prevalent topic. Michael Richard's racist tirade sparked a national debate about race relations.
The prevalent use of the n-word by the former comedian and its featuring on MTV's reality shows, "The Real World: Denver" and "The Duel," have illustrated that, while the '60s have come and gone, racism and the need to continue the civil rights movement is still alive. Our campus holds several stories in this novel of hatred.
On Halloween, a party was thrown in Sophia Gordon Hall in which one would-be partier arrived dressed in blackface. Claiming to "be" P. Diddy, he, a white male, arrived in a white suit and a blackened face. When asked why, he recounted that it was simply part of his costume.
The residents of the suite quickly interceded and informed "P. Diddy" that he had several options: to remove the paint or leave. This incident was sickening and alarming. This brings up the important point that it is not okay to dress up as another race.
This mode of "dress-up," while viewed as "fun," is extremely offensive; it results in the white majority stereotyping the characteristics and actions of the race in question.
For example, take this second incident we observed: The weekend before Thanksgiving, an off-campus "Indian and Pilgrims" party was held.
The notion of playing "Indian" resulted in people wearing paper-feathered hats, two braids and uttering one-word sentences. This was extremely offensive to many, especially the one Native American student at Tufts. The Thanksgiving holiday is already historically considered the beginning of the destruction and extermination of Native Americans. Just having students, many who refused to acknowledge this offensive behavior, participate in these actions reintroduced sentiments many Americans consider part of our shameful past. Yet it happened on the Tufts campus, just mere weeks ago.
Now, in the midst of all this, the ever-faithful antagonists at the Primary Source have added fuel to the prejudice fire. Their publication of racist bigotry in the form of Christmas songs re-written to reflect their beyond-right-wing views have resulted in the hurt, anger and disgust of many members of our community. One of the most glaring songs, entitled "O Come All Ye Black Folk," characterizes all black people with such despicable claims as "boisterous yet desirable" and "born into the ghetto."
Accroding to the Source's parody, the "52" black members of the freshman class were admitted despite "F's, D's, or G's." This profound event, made possible by the grace of God (made apparent by the line, "Oh Jesus! We need you now to fill our racial quotas") is cause for "gospel choirs" to "sing." What exactly is the point of this song? Is it to spark debate about the validity of right-wing political forums? I think not.
Once again, the Source shows its true colors as agents of hate. There was already enough hatred and racism occurring in the Tufts community. Let us not forget the incidents earlier this semester involving the LGBT community: the incident at the Rainbow House and the defacing of the Cannon. [Editors' Note: On Oct. 11, the word "smut" was painted on Tufts' cannon, which had previously been painted for national Coming Out Day. On 3 a.m. on Oct. 13, lit firecrackers were thrown through the window of the Rainbow House.]
Now, with the Source's input, we believe enough is enough. It is time for a change in our community and as a school to take accountability for our actions. It is not enough for students to wrestle with these issues alone; it is past the time for the administration to acknowledge, address and fix the problems running rampant in our school.
We write this letter not to fuel the fire as some do, but to implore people to take responsibility for their actions. History has shown that it takes little for a situation involving prejudice to escalate. We urge responsibility, sensitivity and dialogue.
Ashley M. Seawright is a senior majoring in political science. Talia Quandelacy-Carrillo is a senior majoring in Biology.
