Diversity talks are not enough

Kyra Rickards

Letter to the editor

To whom it may concern,

I came from a small town in Hawaii, to a small predominantly white town and college in Oregon.

As a woman of color, I was used to dealing with ignorance, racism and white-washing. Perhaps it was idealistic of me, but I hoped that my college experience would be different.

The advertisements I saw, as an incoming freshman led me to believe that the campus was diverse and welcoming. When I actually got to campus, I was often the only person of color in my class.

The few times I shared a classroom with other people of color, it generally tended to be the same three students. This is not diversity.

I cannot tell you how isolating it is, to walk in and immediately notice that you are the only woman of color. It’s a slow and wearing anxiety–a subtle tension that is constantly questioned by peers who wonder why this makes you uncomfortable, why this is an issue, why bring it up. It’s grinding and exhausting.

I took a job in admissions in the hopes of relating to other potential students of color. I hoped that change, although slow, would come in the newer classes that came through Linfield.

However, I went through four years at Linfield with only one POC professor and the same three POC students in my department. I was told percentages to assuage my concerns about diversity on campus.

My picture was used as a poster, to advertise the “friendly and approachable” POC.

I’m angry that a campus that supposedly celebrates diversity used me as a token. I’m angry that my isolation was used as marketing tool. I’m angry that these discussions tend to circle around white guilt rather than actual change.

While at Linfield, I saw little to no attempt to make diversity a reality, rather than a statistic. I loved my years at Linfield, and I loved my education.

What use is a diversity board if we have only a small fraction of professors of color? How can we respond to racism when we will not acknowledge the ways our campus perpetuates the same systematic oppressions muffle our anger?

Stop feeling guilty and hire faculty of color. Listen to your students. Take firmer and more decisive actions to combat racism and ignorance on campus.

Require diversity training for all incoming students. Silence and punish the racism on campus, rather than those who choose to speak out against it.

Thank you,

Kyra Rickards, Class of 2014