Recently, there have been several accounts of racial incidents occurring on school campuses, including APU where we are enduring or own racial slurs.
Five female APU students dressed up in fake mustaches, sombreros and a T-shirt reading “Juan Direction” for APU’s Homecoming dance.
The responses to these students’ actions have been varied; however, most came from Activate.
The conversation went viral after Activate posted the image of the girls on its Facebook page.
The post read, “Our experience is legitimate…and like a sleeping giant Activate rears its head. These five women at Azusa Pacific University wearing sombreros and fake mustaches dressed up as ‘Juan Direction.’ We will not cloak these incidents with fancy runarounds.
“This is not merely an issue of ‘diversity’ or ‘racial insensitivity’ this is RACISM,” the post continued. “The perpetuation of racial stereotypes that appropriates the Latina/o identity through demeaning costumes is RACISM.”
Within hours, the post received over a hundred comments, shares and likes.
The issue hit hard for many minorities at APU about whether or not this campus has social sensitivity.
As a campus, we lack the empathic ability to correctly understand other’s feelings and thoughts.
“I don’t have a relationship with any of the girls,” said Jessie Gomez, senior member of Activate. “So I cannot say they are racist. But if you didn’t think what you were doing was wrong, then that’s ignorant of you and our institution needs to address that.”
Gomez and many other students are angered by a perceived continuous lack of attention on this subject.
And in that silence, APU is willingly being part of a nation that encourages micro-aggression and insensitive comments.
Activate members agreed that Missouri and APU students are hand-in-hand when it comes to causing an uproar on matters of disrespectful racial incidents.
At the University of Missouri, African American students have been protesting in response to racial slurs made on the overwhelmingly white, 35,000-student campus.
“Missouri students and students across the nation are upset by years of systemic oppression,” Gomez said. “From their institutions, their peers [and] years of racial slurs.”
Perhaps the incident is being overlooked due to the minority group being targeted.
For instance, if we changed the five female costumes of “Juan Direction” to represent an African American group and the costumes included painting one’s face black, the issue would be more easily understood as to why it appears racist.
Contrary to Activate’s position, many of the comments made on the Activate post reflected that of Jesse Jimenez, “Honestly this is hilarious. In reality the people that find things like this racist are racist themselves because they’re just looking for an excuse to call others bigots. Find the humor in it, it’s a clever play on words.”
But comments like these show the lack of sensitivity that the issue is being given.
It continues to be seen as a simple joke. However, when has it been okay to laugh at each other’s race and culture?
Many students still feel that the issue has had no consequences as a result of the lack of awareness.
“I feel like some sort of consequence needs to happen,” senior computer science major Saleen Sanchez said. “We do not want to be represented by someone who laughs at our centuries of oppression and exploitation.”
As a university, we are a community that represents one another, not one that brings each other down by mockery.
APU strives to create a welcoming and diverse community. Quoting Romans 15:5-7 in our third cornerstone of community, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
Aaron Hinojosa, acting executive director for the Student Center for Reconciliation and Diversity (SCRD) commented in a Clause interview that though students may desire an immediate resolution, the correct manner to address this issue requires a longer process.
Accepting one another and becoming unified mean it is not okay to mock or laugh about other nationalities, ethnicities or sexualities.
“These women lack knowledge,” said Gomez. “With knowledge comes power, and power leads to change.”
Our institution needs to make itself aware of what’s occurring on campus before a protest breaks out over the the lack of attention it’s been given. This issue continues to grow in the silence.
If you do not understand why the group of girls were offensive, then you have lived a privileged life.
What the girls did is a form of mockery toward an entire race.
The matter needs to be taken seriously by our institution in order to raise awareness and educate others on social sensitivity and racial issues.
Stop the silence and shine light on a recurring issue, APU. Only then will we feel safe and unified.