EDAD 524 Capstone Project: Juneteenth

Year 1 / Summer 2021 / Saturday, June 19, 2021

DESCRIPTION

For EDAD 524 - Diversity, Access, and Equity (led by Dr. Ding-Jo Currie for my section), we were assigned a "Diversity Experience Capstone Project" where we would select or design an experience that will enhance or expand knowledge of history and current status of a group with specific identities; gain empathy of the group’s current status; and synthesize the experience with a summary of the intersection of the student, history, and today.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Student will be able to research and discuss the history of a topic that is related to the identity and experience of a marginalized student population group.

2. Student will be able to analyze and connect the history of the issue to its present-day status.

3. Student will be able to synthesize the research, analysis, and personal reflection into concrete recommendations on how higher education professionals can take action on the issue.

LEARNING DOMAINS

• Social Justice & Advocacy

• Personal & Professional Development

REFLECTION

For my Diversity Experience & Capstone Paper, I focused on Juneteenth – a day of celebration that commemorates June 19th, 1865, when Union Army General Gordon Granger officially declared to the people of Galveston, TX that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed two years prior and all enslaved African Americans were free. The newly emancipated celebrated in the streets of Galveston, and this moment became celebrated throughout the Black community as “Juneteenth.” Juneteenth has historically been a day of not only celebration but also political engagement and activism. Garrett-Scott, Richardson, & Dillard-Allen (2013) state that during early Juneteenth celebrations in the 20th century, Black community members not only hosted large celebrations but also discussed political topics like voting rights and encouraged people to get involved in the political process.

On June 19, 2021, I attended a Juneteenth event held at La Palma Park in Anaheim, CA. The outdoor event comprised several art displays, live music, open mics, speakers, and more. The event also collected donations for local mutual aid organizations. The artwork mostly centered around calls for defunding the police and tributes to Black victims of police brutality, such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Sandra Bland. While celebrating Juneteenth and the moment of liberation, the event's speakers highly emphasized the continued work of fighting against the oppressive systems of police brutality and white supremacy. I began to see how in the present day, Juneteenth continued to operate as a space of not only celebration but also political activism, engagement, and resistance. Inspired by this connection and revelation, I decided to research the history of policing for my Capstone Paper.

To briefly summarize my research, the history of policing in the United States is intimately tied to racism and slavery. Durr (2015) notes that the slave patrols were one of the earliest forms of a publicly funded police force in the American South. These patrols monitored and controlled the movement and actions of the enslaved people. After the Civil War, “federal military, state militia, and the Ku Klux Klan emerged from disbanded slave patrols” and eventually transitioned into modern-day police departments (p. 875). The over-policing of Black communities has disastrous consequences. Blankenship, del Rio Gonzalez, Keene, Groves, and Rosenberg, (2018) report that compared to Whites, “Blacks were more likely to report any impact of incarceration on education, and dropping out of school, leaving a job, leaving their longest job, and becoming estranged from a family member due to incarceration” (p. 45). This leads to a compounding effect on the educational and economic opportunities for Black Americans. On top of this, exposure to police violence is linked to stress, trauma, and mental and physical ailments for Black communities (DeVylder, Fedina, & Link, 2020). For Black Americans, the system of policing is fundamentally tied to the history of white supremacy and keeps them trapped in a system of racism, classism, and violence.

It is easy for us as educators to see our Black students and blame them for the "achievements gaps." I have seen many educators speak in deficit language that blames Black students as the problem when they fail a course or do not meet program requirements. However, when educators learn the history of the system of policing and white supremacy, we begin to see how from the moment Black students enter our institutions, they come in with deep trauma. Black students have had to cope with the sweeping impact of police violence on their education, employment, physical health, and mental wellness for many decades. It is no surprise that when our campuses do nothing to address those barriers and trauma, it is difficult for our Black students to succeed. The challenges that Black students face are not their fault - it is the collective failure of our society and institutions, including our campuses.

As I reflected on the research and my role as a student affairs educator, I began to think of what educators can do today to support Black students in the present moment. Firstly, the first step to remedy the historical impact of white supremacy and policing is for our campuses to discuss race and racism publicly. Our campuses are often silent or speak in coded, softened language when it comes to the topics of racism and white supremacy. We release official statements when moments of national outcry arise, but on a daily basis, discussions around race and racism are avoided or even discouraged. As educators, we need to be unafraid to discuss race in our daily conversations and work.

Secondly, we need to develop a language and mindset that is trauma-informed. When a Black student reaches out to you for support, we must not blame them for their struggles, but instead, be conscious about the events and conditions that led the student to this point. I once had an experience where a Black student reached out to me with a question, a bit embarrassed that they had to ask for a resource. Once I reassured them that I was a safe space to ask for support, they continued to come back throughout the year with more questions and requests for support. Reflecting back on this experience, I can see how this student may not have had many spaces on our campus where he could admit his struggles freely without judgment or blame. My relationship with this student continues to be rooted in trust. It would be transformative if all educators could be mindful of our students' trauma and help our students feel safe to ask for help inside and outside the classroom.

Lastly, educators need to advocate and demand services and resources for Black students. The support and resources that Black students to combat the historical legacy of racism and policing won't come from thin air - campuses need to be willing to allocate their time and money into resources that will directly assist Black students. As educators, we must advocate for our students and demand that our campuses put staff, funding, and institutional energy into assisting our Black students. Researching this topic for the Capstone Paper gave me the valuable opportunity to reflect on my current role and practices as a student affairs educator. It also gave me the opportunity to participate in a Juneteenth celebration in person and hear from Black speakers first-hand the impact of policing on the community. Equity is a continuous process, so I hope to create more opportunities out of a formal class assignment to reflect on my own biases and expand my practices and mindsets in supporting minoritized and marginalized students.

REFERENCES

Blankenship, K. M., del Rio Gonzalez, A.M., Keene, D.E., Groves, A.K., & Rosenberg, A. P. (2018). Mass incarceration, race inequality, and health: Expanding concepts and assessing impacts on well-being. Social Science & Medicine (215), 45–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.08.042

DeVylder, J., Fedina, L., & Link, B. (2020). Impact of police violence on mental health: A theoretical framework. American Journal of Public Health, 110(11), 1704-1710. doi:http://dx.doi.org.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305874

Durr, M. (2015). What is the Difference between Slave Patrols and Modern Day Policing? Institutional Violence in a Community of Color. Critical Sociology, 41(6), 873–879. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920515594766

Garrett-Scott, S., Richardson, R., & Dillard-Allen, V. (2013). "When Peace Come": Teaching the Significance of Juneteenth. Black History Bulletin, 76(2), 19-25. Retrieved July 13, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24759690