The self-described “woke” outgoing chair of the University Wisconsin-Madison’s student council felt the need to leave her position “honestly,” so she sent out an open letter on Monday to the entire campus community urging minority students and parents to “rethink” being affiliated with the university because the institution “does not care about people of color.” But it isn’t just the university that’s racist, her letter announces, it’s “all white people.”
The former student leader, Carmen Goséy, explains in the letter (full text below) that while at first she was optimistic about all the “diversity and inclusion” changes she could implement as the Madison Student Association chair, the reality of the university’s institutionalized racism and racist campus culture destroyed any such sense of hope.
Goséy begins by condemning the university for failing to acknowledge the significance of having “stolen” its land from the Ho-Chunk American Indians, which she says would force the university to “acknowledge the resentment and oppression that people of color face every day.” Instead of recognizing that oppression, the school is engaged in the “active silencing of students of color,” a claim for which she offers no examples, as is true of every accusation in the letter. Goséy then says that minorities should really “rethink” attending the university:
The University is on stolen, Ho-Chunk land, yet does little to recognize its historic significance. For the University to truly recognize this sacred land and its inhabitants it would have to acknowledge the resentment and oppression that people of color face every day. This institution perpetuates and suppresses the voices that are the most vulnerable. As Chair, I used to be hopeful. I used to be proud. I am no longer content with the University’s action and active silencing of students of color on this campus. I ask people of color to reconsider your place at this institution. I ask parents of color to rethink sending your children to this institution.
The university, she says, is failing to “protect communities of color,” even people like her in prominent positions. She describes herself as “a token for white supremacists,” a claim she does not expand on. Though she came in “ambitious to implement change and new initiatives,” her supposedly great ideas for “diversity and inclusion” were not implemented as she had expected. The problem, she explains, is that the university is “designed” to hamper minorities’ success:
I was operating in a white position as a person of color. Now I see that this University was not designed for the success of minority communities; it was designed for white students to learn about my oppression while not having to participate in dismantling it.
That institutionalized racism is not just a problem at the University of Wisconsin, she underscores, it’s culture-wide, which leads to her “woke” central premise: “All white people are racist.” They are “born into a conditioned environment” that makes them universally racist. “Being a racist is not an option, it is a condition,” she says. But there’s hope for white people, she suggests, they can fight their supposed inherent racism and choose to be “anti-racist”:
Racism is an institutionalized structure which is embedded in ASM and the University. Racism is a system designed to disadvantage people of color and create inequalities in each pocket os society. All white people are racist. Not only by upholding a system of disadvantage but being born into a conditioned environment where you are many steps ahead. Being a racist is not an option, it is a condition. However, being an anti-racist is a choice. A choice that white people will have to make which boils down to what they are willing to do to actively participate in deconstructing racism.
Goséy signs off by describing herself as “your woke” ASM chair.
American universities only have themselves to blame for the widespread backlash they are experiencing from their “woke” students, who have been taught by those universities to view the world as permanent victims of an unjust system perpetuating and perpetuated by “conditioned” racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic bigots. It was inevitable that campus social justice warriors would eventually come to see the universities as just another part of that institutionalized injustice that must be torn down.
Below is the full text of the letter:
Dear Campus Community,
As I move on from the role as Chair of Student Council, I believe it is necessary to leave honestly. The University is on stolen, Ho-Chunk land, yet does little to recognize its historic significance. For the University to truly recognize this sacred land and its inhabitants it would have to acknowledge the resentment and oppression that people of color face every day. This institution perpetuates and suppresses the voices that are the most vulnerable. As Chair, I used to be hopeful. I used to be proud. I am no longer content with the University’s action and active silencing of students of color on this campus. I ask people of color to reconsider your place at this institution. I ask parents of color to rethink sending your children to this institution.
This University lacks the capacity, courage, and integrity to protect communities of color. I have held one of the highest student positions on campus, and I was a token for white supremacists. In my first semester, I was ambitious to implement change and new initiatives surrounding diversity and inclusion. However, I found myself lost and defeated. I was operating in a white position as a person of color. Now I see that this University was not designed for the success of minority communities; it was designed for white students to learn about my oppression while not having to participate in dismantling it. I have struggled with the juxtaposition of my identity and representing a campus that does not look like me or remotely relate to my experience.
Racism is an institutionalized structure which is embedded in ASM and the University. Racism is a system designed to disadvantage people of color and create inequalities in each pocket os society. All white people are racist. Not only by upholding a system of disadvantage but being born into a conditioned environment where you are many steps ahead. Being a racist is not an option, it is a condition. However, being an anti-racist is a choice. A choice that white people will have to make which boils down to what they are willing to do to actively participate in deconstructing racism.
My last and final words call out an unfortunate reality; this institution does not care about people of color. This institution does care about people of color.
Sincerely,
Your woke, ratchet 23rd ASM Chair Carmen Goséy
Below is an image of the letter:
