The Illusion of Inclusion: The Nubian Message in the New Millennium

This exhibit examines the changes in the content and activism of The Nubian Message between 1998 and 2002. Within this chronology, this study notes points of both convergence and divergence after the student government elections of April 2000, which produced monumental victories for the African American community at NC State. The inaguration of three black students, including a former "Opinions Editor" for The Nubian Message, as Student Body President, Treasurer, and President of the Student Senate marked an unpredented moment in the life of the African Americna community at NC State. 

As a result,these events forced changes in the structure and content of The Nubian Message. Whereas previous editorials and coverage of campus events and student government emphasized the need for activism and involvement to ensure African Americans secured a powerful voice in student affairs at NC State. The gains of the 2000 election, however, forced The Nubian Message staff and many black students to reconsider both what constituted activism and what role the paper would take toward the new student government leadership. Moreover, in other areas the paper’s editorials increasingly moved away from advice and encouragement for African Americans in confronting persistent racial discrimination. As a result, the Message continued to take a critical view of perceptions of “post-racialism” in both the university and the United States. More broadly, the internal and external debates evident from the content of this paper raise a number of fundamental questions about race at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In what forms did racial discrimination persist during this period? To what extent did these manifestations of prejduce, along with the respective reponse of African Americans, indicate continuity with the civil rights era?