Kutztown University prides itself on celebrating diversity and inclusivity. However, it has come to my attention that many people in Kutztown—both residents to the town and students and workers at the university—are less than inclusive toward people belonging to minority groups.
I’m currently taking a class on race and ethnicity, and the stories I’ve heard from students of color are horrifying. They’ve told stories of prejudice and discrimination shown towards them throughout their lives and, alarmingly, on their own campus.
The worst of these stories might be that some of their experiences did not occur from random students or residents of Kutztown, but from people who work for the university.
One story my professor shared occurred in South Dining Hall. A group of black students were using the waffle-maker and accidentally spilled some of the mix on the counter, which is not a rare occurrence. A worker came out to clean up the mix while the students were still waiting for their waffles. The worker proceeded to say, “I see you spilled the batter. That’s two whippings for you.” The students were horrified, understandably so, while the worker allegedly laughed it off and told them it was “just a joke.”
My professor told us a similar story about a group of black students waiting for the shuttle. When the bus driver opened the doors of the shuttle, he said, “You have to sit in the back of the bus today.” The students were taken aback and asked the driver what he meant. He responded the same way the South worker did: laughing and brushing it off as if it meant nothing. “I’m just joking with you.”
For anyone to treat students this way—let alone people who work for the university—is completely unacceptable. What makes things worse is that neither worker thought they did anything wrong. They genuinely thought they were making a funny joke.
Jokes demeaning people of color and reminding them of the horrible discrimination their ancestors had to endure and the experiences they must endure now is not a laughing matter. Jokes pointing out your dominance over people because of your own race is not funny.
This is not the inclusive environment Kutztown has promised. When 77.2% of the students enrolled at Kutztown are white while only 8.4% are black and 14.4% identified as other races, that is not diverse. When 83.9% of professors at your university are white compared to only 4.1% being black, that is not diverse.
We are not diverse.
We are divided.