Students and Faculty of Color Want to Be Welcomed, Not Showcased
We are individuals, not symbols
You have no doubt seen photos like this on college websites: multiracial groups of students and faculty working together, having a great time. You will find mission statements on these websites avowing values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. To all appearances, discrimination on college campuses has ended, Affirmative Action is a thing of the past, and we work, teach, and learn in environments of multicultural harmony.
This constructed image of diversity could not be further from the truth. I have written elsewhere about the lack of representation of faculty of color. As of 2018, Whites make up 75% of the total professoriate. Even though this is a dip from previous years, these numbers do not come close to providing qualified candidates of color with equal opportunities.
This deficit of representation creates a cascade effect, in which students of color lack opportunities to be mentored by faculty who look like them and understand their experiences. I know the pain of this deficit well. I did not have a Black professor until my fifth year of graduate school.
Encountering mentors from a variety of backgrounds can reinforce values of democratic pluralism
