|
OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF February 26, 2004 We, the members of the General Board of the Black Organization of Soul Sisters (BOSS), stand in solidarity with our fellow sisters and brothers at Columbia University in the struggle to defend and protect students of color from racist assaults by other students and student groups. We are deeply troubled and angered by the offensive and racist “cartoon” in the recently published edition of the Fed, and we are committed to taking both pro-active and re-active steps to combat racism on this campus. BOSS supports recent demonstrations and public displays of outrage to the Fed. Yet, we also acknowledge that this most recent attack against students of color and other marginalized groups is but the latest in a slew of veiled and subverted assaults, which have accumulated in the minds and hearts of students throughout the academic year. Specifically, BOSS denounces the statements made by the Columbia University Marching Band in Butler Library last fall, its disrespectful form of “advertising” for its bi-annual Orgo Night and the recent Anti-Affirmative Action Bake Sale by the Columbia College Conservatives Club. The Black Organization of Soul Sisters is pledged to the efforts by fellow students to put an end to these persistent forms of racism. We understand that the “struggle” will continue to be an uphill battle, as racism today is expressed in a much less recognizable and identifiable way. We recognize the silent nature of the protest as a demonstration of the efforts by the Columbia University administration to “silence” frustrated students of color through their negligence in even acknowledging student grievances with a formal and public statement for such a long period of time. Nevertheless, we look forward to the time when the silence will be broken and when the leaders of the University will take positive action to address the needs and concerns of students of color—a time, we hope, that lies in the very near future. Cultural diversity does not merely lie within the pages of university brochures, nor must it be simply be theorized in the annals of this nation’s highest court. Students of color deserve to know that these forms of assault will not be tolerated by the administration and will result in serious repercussions. The members and friends of BOSS must know how we feel and know that we will remain steadfastly in this cause. Justice will prevail. In peace, The Black Organization of Soul Sisters |