An Open Letter to Florida Southern College — #BlackLivesMatter
As black alumni of Florida Southern College, and their allies, we would like to address the message from President Anne Kerr and the open letter co-authored by previous Student Government Association Presidents. Each of these responses failed to adequately address the reality of society today. Black Lives Matter. The Florida Southern College administration has failed to act upon this truth. Moreover, alumni’s response to this injustice has failed to see the point of this movement and has successfully erased black student narratives and their proposed solutions.
President Anne Kerr addressed Florida Southern, exclaiming that justice and social inequality must be at the forefront of our minds in the wake of George Floyd’s brutal death. It is a loose attempt, at best, to urge civility, peace, and responsibility. Veiled in a prominent quote by Martin Luther King Jr., the response makes no direct mention of the Black community, nor does it offer an apology for Florida Southern’s lack of interest in pursuing an expanded and diverse faculty and student body. This response also offered a pointed distaste towards violent means of protest, once again disturbingly shifting the focus of police brutality and social injustice onto the backs of those calling for change.
To follow, President Kerr announced the immediate reimplementation of the College’s Diversity Task Force. A task force not new to the college. A task force that already developed strategies for progression and pitched ideas for inclusivity. A task force that will go unheard. Florida Southern College must learn the clear distinction between allying itself and showing solidarity for its Black students and tokenizing those students in an attempt to prove a false intention of inclusion.
Under the guise of action, the administration will undoubtedly place the Diversity Task Force’s recommendations at the wayside and continue to perpetuate Florida Southern’s inequalities. We urge the administration to reconsider that path and to announce an action plan. Specifically, an action plan that requires more than a shallow reattempt at a plan that offered no solution (likely because no one wanted to listen). Black students deserve more than a repeated and failed plan of action. See the current U.S. police system, antiquated racially-charged laws, and the failed justice system. Overused and often quoted, Albert Einstein coined the idea that, “[i]nsanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Anyone present at the MLK Day event of 2018 knows that this task force was only implemented because of a public and necessary challenge to Florida Southern’s lack of diversity. What was the outcome of the previous task force? A preserved status quo.
In response to this meager attempt at reconciliation that coddled students benefiting from racial privilege, alumni weighed in. Without consulting current Black students, nor calling for action, we have once again failed our Black community. This letter, after applauding the college’s response to the BLM movement, simply questions the status of the Diversity Task Force. “We each had positive experiences on campus,” it reads, but how true can that be when black students experience multiple instances of racially-charged harassment, and their complaints are halted and treated as misunderstandings? “We are also proud of the way that the College, its students, and student organizations are responding to the continued national media coverage of institutional racism,” it reads, but how is that possible when prominent student leaders on campus are circulating the rhetoric of white supremacist organizations? “Unlike many other smaller liberal arts institutions, Florida Southern has always taken the concerns of its students and made positive changes without delay,” it reads, but what strides has administration made to include Black students other than directing them, and all of the problems Black students bring to the attention of the administration, towards the Multicultural Student Council?
The letter makes no mention of the BLM movement until the very last sentence. Moreover, on Saturday, June, 6th, 2020, Black students held a Zoom meeting on the premise of devising specific solutions to the problems they face at Florida Southern. Those solutions were not even mentioned within the Alumni letter. Alumni effectively erase the current Black student narrative at Florida Southern. Instead, they offer a feeble ask for reassessment, with a calculated silence as to an endorsement of the wants of Black student leaders. Why should we make the issues of racial injustice, the blatant disregard for Black lives in America, and police brutality more palatable for alumni and administration? What purpose does it serve to actively ignore the change Black student leaders wish to see? As alumni, we must call for the college to listen to Black student organizations, and to uplift their calls for change. This college has aided, whether it be directly or indirectly, to the systemic racism that debilitates the nation today. Our lack of consultation with Black students, lack of self-education, and lack of reflection, has again asked the Black community to educate us and correct our mistakes.
Black students at Florida Southern deserve a new and revitalized plan of action. Black students deserve a specific path to submit complaints that arise out of racially-charged misconduct by fellow students. The Multicultural Student Council is a wonderful environment for students on campus, but Black students should be afforded an organization and set of resources that are tailored to provide them success and protection. We fully support a Black Student Union, which many students and faculty have advocated for. We urge the administration to draft a more specific and detailed plan of action, and when they do, it is absolutely necessary to do it with the input of Black students.
Florida Southern faculty, students, and alumni must understand that the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement is to elevate Black voices and activists; to consult Black student organizations; to listen. We urge all members of administration, faculty, the student body, and alumni to listen to the voices of Black students, to uplift them, and to act on them. Exemplified in the alumni open letter, there is a clear distinction between the act of overshadowing and the act of uplifting the voices of Black students. There is no time to make these issues attractive to people in positions of power and people with money. We can no longer coddle Florida Southern College for its baby steps toward addressing a mature issue. Lives are at stake. Morality is at stake. Justice is at stake. If you say Black Lives Matter, start listening to them.
Sincerely,
Mikaela Guido, Class of 2019
Driyanna Lynch, Class of 2020
Mark Haver, Class of 2020
Taylor A. Paulin, Class of 2019