This article is a response to the opinion piece entitled, “The Myth of the ‘Safe’ and ‘Open’ Space” published on November 19, 2015 in The Dickinsonian.  We appreciate that the author published this article, as the marginalization of social groups must be discussed in a public forum.  With that being said, we disagree with the ideas put forth by the author, and have written this article as a carefully considered and respectful criticism of those ideas.  While the opinions of others should be respected, they should also be informed by facts and pertinent context.  In this article, we follow a core principle of safe spaces – we direct criticism at ideas and not at people.  We hope that this article initiates an open and honest dialogue about safe spaces and all other issues affecting students at Dickinson.   

As white, middle to upper class students, there are many privileges that we, and people like us have that may not be evident because they are entrenched in the systems that we function in. It can be difficult to comprehend and accept that our way of life, our achievements and goals are a direct result of others’ oppression, but it is a reality. The United States was created through the genocide of Native Americans, enslavement of Black Americans and subjugation and exploitation of other non-white groups. In addition, discriminatory laws (such as Jim Crow), scientific racism (pathologizing people of color as biologically inferior), forced sterilization, limited and racist media portrayals, over/under policing, mass incarceration, segregation, unequal education opportunities, red-zoning, discriminatory hiring practices and negative controlling images have violently worked against, and denied resources and opportunities to Black Americans, as well as other marginalized groups. As white people, we do not have to see these things if we choose not to. Our lives are not harmed by refusing to acknowledge our privilege. This is not a choice for those who have been marginalized.

Without acknowledging these things, it is easily understandable that a white middle to upper class student could forever assume that all spaces – especially spaces designed for them, such as Dickinson – are safe.  The institutions and people that make up our society are friendly and accommodating to people like us; we are not burdened by the residual effects of an oppressive and violent past in this country.  We do not need to worry about being subjected to government-sanctioned violence, to discrimination from education and employment, or to verbal hatred and harassment.  Students of color simply don’t have the luxury of assuming that all spaces are safe, because history and experience have showed them that white individuals in any space constitute a potential threat due to racial power dynamics.

After acknowledging these facts – and they must be acknowledged – the article published in the Dickinsonian titled “The Myth of the ‘Safe’ and ‘Open’ Space” is problematic.  Its conclusion that the requests of non-white students are, “too contradictory to ever be satisfactorily met,” is reached as a result of fundamental misunderstandings and a flawed, uninformed analysis of posters in the HUB.

The author of “The Myth” article referred to a poster that read, “someone once told me I wasn’t black enough to have an opinion on the Mike Brown killing. –multiracial student.” The author misread the signature “multiracial student” as a claim for legitimacy (note: not “black student”), saying that the student’s opinion was so stifled that they felt the need to define themselves by race “to justify the validity of expressing an opinion on the killing of Michael Brown.”   This reading fails to recognize the absurdity of the statement itself, which evaluates the legitimacy of someone’s opinion by their physical appearance. This speaks to a larger problem of a desire for diversity without an understanding of difference. While Dickinson may claim to honor diversity, the students who are looked to for diversity are not valued for their identities and experiences.

The author claims that posters naming “the jock table” and a “white girl” as the speakers of offensive statements calls for the merit of their words to be judged “not by their content, but by the gender, sexual orientation, skin-color, and groups with which the speaker associates.” Instead of urging Dickinsonians to recognize that discriminatory remarks are expressed to marginalized students every day, the article focuses on a supposed victimization of “jocks” and “white girls.” It is harmful to interpret these labels as conversely discriminatory; they merely show that dominant social groups are actively discriminating.  The author’s comments ignore the ways that students of color, non-binary and transgender students, and international students get judged as speakers for their group in countless ways. The posters illustrate that students belonging to dominant social groups (white, jock, etc.) can speak and act in ways that hurt others without consequence. The posters reveal that students with marginalized identities have had experiences that make them feel threatened by other students in nearly every space at Dickinson.

The article also criticizes the anonymity implicit in the posters. There are several posters that detail experiences with sexual assault, verbal harassment and vandalism, all of which violate Dickinson’s Community Standards as well as local or federal law. She says, “rather than ensuring personal accountability by providing names of the offending students, those who wrote the posters refer to the individuals by generalizations.” It is not commonly acceptable to outwardly implicate individuals in crimes when further evidence is not being provided. Since these posters mostly occupied 9.5 by 11 inch papers, it would be difficult to outline the exacting details of the crime committed while still getting the point across and not facing serious backlash by accusing a Dickinson student of a felony. It is naive of the author to expect “personal accountability” when we cannot even acknowledge that there is a problem.

From the article, it seems evident that the author has not spoken with those involved with the movement. She says that students expect the administration to “create spaces designated solely for specific minority groups.” While it is important that all students have safe spaces, general demands from the movement ask that the larger student body and administration take concerted efforts to create safety, knowledge, and resources in spaces where they do not currently exist, rather than created segregated spaces for them.

We, and all other white students who studied here before us and did nothing, are responsible for the hatred directed towards our non-white peers. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves on the history and realities of racism in the US, and understand the ways that we are complicit within oppressive systems.  In this crucial moment, let us not trivialize the necessary requests of fellow Dickinsonians by dismissing their lived experiences as myths. We cannot look to our own experience as the only truth. We must challenge the words and actions that threaten our peers wherever we encounter them or we are abusing the opportunity we have been given to make a difference.