So I've been meaning to find a member of the group in person to talk about this. First of all, I am extremely pleased that there is a new anti-racism group on campus. As a fourth year, I have seen many anti-racism groups come and go, so I hope that this one will be here to stay. Last week, I received a question in my mailbox (along with the rest of the campus.) "How do you feel about identity-based housing on campus?" Well. To be honest, this question startled me. I didn't know exactly how to answer that. I have lived in ID Based housing since my second semester of college until very recently. Surely my answer should be an easy one. It wasn't until I talked with one of my friends, a former housemate of mine, that I was able to understand why this question was unsettling. It was the wording of the question that threw me off.
I feel great about ID based housing. I feel like it should exist. But what I don't feel great about is the fact that over 80% of our campus, and therefore our campus housing, is all-white. Why is it that the emphasis is put on the minority, rather than the looking at the larger issue of why ID based housing exists? This question seemed like an attack, another reason for people in ID based housing to have to defend and protect their homes. And to be honest, the fact that this is an anti-racist group, rather than an anti-oppression group, makes me feel like the ID based houses that are going to get the most heat are the ones that revolve around race.
I think in order to truly get Hampshire to be actively anti-racist is to change our point of view. Why is the focus being put on something as personal as marginalized people's homes? Why are we not asking the larger questions instead? There is a larger issue of structural racism on our campus, and I am very curious to see how this group plans on acknowledging that.
I am also curious about why you chose this particular question, and what you plan on doing with people's responses, if you don't mind me asking.
