Last week, the University of Alabama, in response to the state’s anti-DEI law which takes effect October 1st, shuttered the Black Student Union office and the Safe Zone Resource Center for the LGBTQ+ community and, according to AL.com, scrubbed the word “diversity” from the university’s website and facilities.
It was a shameful and despicable act perpetuated by conservative and racist Republicans across the South who are using “DEI” as a rallying cry for those who fear the beauty, perspective, inclusivity and success that diversity brings.
Instead, they label “DEI” a divisive concept, akin to their faux-outrage and crusade against CRT and the nonexistent “woke” concept.
These attacks have left Higher Ed administrators scrambling to comply with a ridiculous law that seeks to intimidate and harm.
And all who support it know it.
So now these permanent offices, which not only offer safe spaces for Black and LGBTQ+ students but also resources and information as well, are gone and won’t be replaced.
“We are saddened by this loss – not just of a physical space, but of a place where we have gathered, shared, and built a community rooted in our shared experiences, struggles, and triumphs,” wrote BSU President Jordan Stokes on Instagram last week.
Now the organization, which was established in 1968, arguably the most significant and transformative year for Black America, is essentially homeless on the University of Alabama campus.
The situation was mirrored at Auburn University where the school closed its Office of Inclusion and Diversity last month.
These decisions, deliberately taken to revive Jim Crow across the state, will have a damaging effect on the already low Black population numbers at the state’s public institutions.
According to the 2020 US Census, the state of Alabama is 27.2% Black or African American alone or in combination. Yet the University of Alabama is only 11% Black and Auburn is even worse at 5%.
So now these already small number of Black students at these campuses will be without a place to congregate safely. Even with the offered help of the NAACP, the lack of a dedicated space to gather and talk with those who look like you adds another burden to an already severely underrepresented group.
Yet despite these setbacks, one group has annoyingly remained quiet.
Black athletes.
At these universities, football players are treated as royalty, and many of them are Black.
Yet their silence further exacerbates the situation.
