The “Shades of Black” exhibition located in the Campus Center basement was found with unapproved alterations early Monday morning. The number “50,” the word “light,” and paper chains were added to the display.The exhibition title then read: “50 Shades of Light Black” with handmade paper chains hanging above the title. The new title allegedly made reference to the erotic romance novel, Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James.
The exhibition, which began at the beginning of February and was scheduled to be taken down at the end of the month, was sponsored by the Black Heritage Club (BHC) and Student Programs office. The purpose of the series, originally conceived by Niala Pressley, a BHC member, was to the share the stories, inspirations, uniqueness, and diversity among black students at Houghton, according to Abena Griffin, senior and BHC member, and Greg Bish, director of student programs. It displayed portraits of black students and a paragraph-long biography about each one.
The idea behind the series came from comments being made about black students. Griffin said, “I heard ‘all black people look alike, we’re the same.’” Bish said the members were looking to exemplify diversity among black students, both domestic and international. He also said any student who self-identifies as black was invited to participate.
The modifications to the wall happened sometime between Sunday evening and Monday morning, when they were discovered. Yinka Araromi, senior and BHC communications director, was the first to make the vandalism widely known. He posted an image of the alterations on Facebook with the single hashtag “nowords.” He tagged several friends who were involved in the project. Griffin found out about the alterations through text and Facebook messages, along with the image posted by Araromi, before visiting the exhibition herself. The alterations were taken down shortly after their discovery.
Araromi said that although the chains were allegedly a reference to E. L. James’ book, many students, including himself and Griffin, connected the chains to slavery. He also said that putting racism aside, it was about the “…disrespect of defacing that display, which was meant to be about sharing stories and inspirations.”
Bish said there was a “breadth of student response” which varied from feelings that it was a prank to a hate crime. Katrina Sawyer, BHC president and junior, said “…even if this was a joke that had nothing to do with race, how can you think this was okay?” A similar question was also asked by other students on campus, she said. Griffin said one of her first responses to seeing the alterations was, “When I saw ‘light,’ I saw that replacing black.”
The person responsible for the vandalism, a 2013 Houghton graduate, confessed and publicly apologized Monday evening for what was done to the display. The student was on campus visiting for the weekend and he met with Pool and talked to several students on campus. He also called Sawyer to apologize. The perpetrator then left Houghton campus late Monday night. According to Pool, after a discussion with campus Safety and Security director, Ray Parlett, they decided it was neither in his or the college’s “best interest” for him to stay.
Late Monday morning through the evening, upset students met with various student life administrators, including Bish, vice president of student life Robert Pool, Dean Michael Jordan, and dean of students Dennis Stack. Bish organized and attended a dinner in the south end dining hall Monday night for students involved with the project to come talk about the incident face-to-face. Approximately 30 students attended. The president’s staff, who met Tuesday morning at a previously scheduled meeting, also discussed the incident, the college’s response so far, and intents to move forward, according to Pool.
After the incident, students on Monday afternoon began posting sticky notes on the wall around the portraits. The act was started by Leah Sweeney and Caitlin Aloi, according to Griffin and Araromi. Each note had positive and encouraging words to specific students pictured in the display or for all black students on campus. Griffin also said that students stayed close to the display, ensuring that no more vandalism would occur nor that the sticky notes would be removed.
There have previously been minor incidents involving the “Shades of Black” project. Griffin said the picture of Daniel Thompson, a resident of Shenawana Hall and featured student, was removed from the exhibition, moved to the hallway of his floor in Shen, and defaced with writing and drawings. Another copy was then printed to replace the stolen one. Earlier in the life of the exhibition, Bish said an unknown person wrote in pencil “50 Shades of Black.” Shortly after, another student erased it.
The college administration decided to address the issue in front of the student body in chapel on Wednesday morning. Pool opened chapel by speaking to the campus about the incident. Dean Jordan then talked about the issue in his chapel message. He emphasized the importance of listening and dialogue, saying that a collective response must be to continue to talk about this issue as individuals and as a community.
The Diversity Task Force, a preexisting committee chaired by Stack, focuses on campus diversity and related issues. The committee includes students with various backgrounds, including Sawyer. It began last year and generated a “campus climate survey” last spring. The members have done a series of focus groups concerning underrepresented groups on campus, including African American and black students earlier this semester, as Pool explained. Members ask what life is like on campus for these groups and ask for their stories.
Griffin said that the conversation which has begun as a result has been quite encouraging. She said many students feel this is not just a black issue, as they also felt disgust and hurt by it and for black students on campus. Bish has committed that his office will work on at least two events before the end of this semester that will “encourage a healthy dialogue about race and respect.” Griffin said we need to do a better job of explaining what Black History Month is about. She said it must start amongst faculty and in classrooms; it can not be from black students alone. Pool voiced his hopes that the student voice is prominent concerning this issue and said that “this is a community wide concern, but it’s only going to change when we individually act.”
2 replies on “Shades of Black Exhibition Defaced”
None of this comes as a surprise to me. In the 1980s I sent a c.v. to Houghton College, and I requested that they inform me if there might occur an opening for a position that would possibly qualify for. From my c.v., one might deduce that I am an African American (I indeed am), but one cannot be positive. When a position did become available, an individual from Houghton called my home and spoke with my grandfather, who answered the telephone; I was not at home. My grandfather, who was from south Georgia, spoke with a very noticeable Ebonics dialect, which would have indicated that I too am an African American. The individual from Houghton neither left any contact information, nor did he call me back. Imagine this! At a Christian college. That is very disheartening.
I read this article with dismay and a strong sense of déjà-vu. This is not the first time a public racialized event like this happened on campus. I was assistant professor of sociology at Houghton College from August 2008 – May 2012. In April 2009 a similar incident occurred during chapel with the Gospel Choir and Prof. Ndunge Kiiti on stage.
After I and others publicly expressed concern about it, anonymous notes appeared on our office doors and around campus belittling our views and disrespecting often marginalized groups in our society. When I wrote an open letter to Houghton College about these actions (copy provided to STAR), a student leader in a class cabinet warned me via e-mail that I was “moving into dangerous territory”. The person was right, but for the wrong reason. It is risky, but not to blacks – to whites. It means acknowledging our privilege and sacrificially giving it up.
In another year between now and then, Black History Month educational materials publicly displayed by the Black Heritage Club (BHC) were defaced with Nazi imagery. And there are more numerous instances of racial speech that happen in less visible spaces on campus. Most of us, especially if we’re white, remain unaware because they do not mar our everyday life experiences. Consider how they do for persons of color on campus for four (or more) of the last five years. Putting the February 2014 event in this recent historical and campus context suggests a systemic issue deeper, and far beyond, the solitary person reported to have defaced the BHC exhibition.
I hope future conversation on this will not be about individuals’ motivations. Instead, focus on understanding our racialized U.S. society and our place as white evangelicals in it. Griffin is right this is “not just a black issue” and that addressing its underlying causes “must start amongst faculty and in classrooms.” The problem is not BHC students’ to solve or the faculty of color to speak out on. It is our responsibility as white followers of Christ. I believe Houghton College’s identity as a Christian, liberal arts school, in the Wesleyan tradition, calls us to face this difficult issue however discomforting it is. Avoiding it does not well reflect our Mission and the Biblical values of those striving to achieve it.
Other Christian liberal arts colleges offer examples for doing this. Bethel University (MN) implemented an institutional emphasis on racial reconciliation in 2003. It could start here with the next Houghton Reads book being “Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity” (Edward Gilbreath), or “Being White: Finding Our Place in a Multiethnic World (Paula Harris and Doug Schaupp).
For myself as a Houghton College alum (’97) and former faculty member, I am sorry for how these repeated incidents make students and staff of color feel unwelcome and unsafe. If your (and until recently my) community is to come together – and include People of Color – it will take much more than gracious students and personal reconciliation. Besides the issue’s spiritual foundations that are everyone’s responsibility, I doubt these racialized events will cease happening at their current frequency until white faculty, staff, and students take ownership of them. I pray that in the next five years the Houghton story includes you walking together with God into this “dangerous” territory.