Hello, everyone. To those of you who don’t know me, my name is Zachary Lee. To those of you who do know me and enjoy the column, I sincerely thank you for your time, and I’m glad you’ll be joining me again this Fall. To those of you who do know me and don’t like my column, thanks for reading it anyway. I’m grateful you read the column the way I watch Fox News: to hear the other side of the conversation.
With classes officially starting this week, I figured I’d do what I always do to prepare for classes: load up the ol’ Reddit account and prepare myself for a semester full of mindless clicking during lectures.
While on Reddit, I decided to mosey on over to the UF subreddit, which I rarely read, let alone comment in. There was a post there asking about the campus community in terms of diversity, respect, tolerance, etc. The title of the post read, “How Racist is UF?”
This question, while likely well-intended, seemed odd. The tone and phrasing of the question are akin to asking, “How stupid are the athletes here?” I mean, most athletes here are brilliant individuals who contribute to this campus not just with their athletic ability but inside the classroom as well. Others are really f------ embarrassing (see Gator alumnus Ryan Lochte).
Similarly, most of the people I’ve encountered on campus are not racist in the slightest. I’ve also met a few absolute a--holes who casually throw around horrible, embarrassing and humiliating words, have the Confederate flag draped across their living rooms and “The-silent-majority-stand-with-Trump” signs dangling from their windows. Sadly, not so silent. Thankfully, not the majority.
After the shock of the initial question had worn through, I read the description. The author of the question describes herself as a “black female” who is “very vocal about things such as Black Rights, White Supremacy, Slavery, Colonialization, etc.” I think that’s awesome. All of those are fascinating and controversial topics I encourage you to discuss with your peers here. I also encourage you to get involved in political organizations and campus special-interest groups that align with your opinions (of which I’m sure you and I actually agree on), and engage in civic responsibilities and duties to make this nation even more respectful, transparent, fair and just to all of her citizens.
Additionally in the explanation I noticed mention of the infamous “Black Face Party held at the University a while ago” (two party-goers, not the entire party). You’ve found some of the few I was talking about earlier; I apologize on their behalf for their shameful and disgusting behavior.
Regardless, this campus is not your “safe space.” Neither is the world beyond it. We here at UF are incredibly proud of our diverse community and pride ourselves on the fact that, while most campuses have safe spaces, we have free speech zones. I’m not kidding when I say speech is so unbelievably free here. Come Spring, you will walk through Turlington Plaza and Plaza of the Americas while some incredibly disrespectful citizens from Ohio politicize the bodies of aborted fetuses and display photographs of them in graphic detail for you to grimace at as you try to walk to class.
I understand where you’re coming from. Sincerely. Black women have it absurdly hard in this country. I encourage you to read Kristie Dotson’s (a brilliant black female philosopher who specializes in feminism) “Tracking Epistemic Violence, Tracking Practices of Silencing.” I want you to keep fighting the good fight. I want to fight that fight with you. But we all need to watch our tones in these conversations, because really important things get lost in the crossfire of battle.
Zachary Lee is a UF philosophy senior. His column appears on Tuesdays.
