Put Up or Shut Up

Put Up or Shut Up

This editorial was first published in The Nubian Message, North Carolina State University's African-American student newspaper, which was first published on November 30, 1992. Buskey's editorial appeared in the first issue of the Message during the 2000-2001 school year. In this piece, he challenges the belief among African-Americans at NCSU that the new officers in student government represented the "dawning of a new day" on campus. For Buskey, despite the election results, the alarming level of student apathy especially among African-Americans toward tuition increases indicated a discouraging trend. Instead of abdicating their responsibilities to their newly-elected leaders, Buskey calls on the African-American community at NCSU to move out of their formerly "dormant" status and demand changes to university policies on diversity and tuition. The need for involvement remains a constant theme in the Message's content, however this editorial posits that African-American leadership in student government is useless without the activism of the broader community of black students.

Brandon Buskey, Staff columnist

Brandon Buskey, "Put Up or Shut Up," The Nubian Message 8, no.1 (September 7 2000), 7. Digitized by the Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

2000-09-07

Madison W. Cates

English

The Dawning of a new day. That’s how many African-Americans see the beginning of this new academic year… the dawning of a new day. With so many changes around the university that affect black people, it is easy [sic.] why some are optimistic about our prospects for the upcoming year. For the first time in recent memory, our Student Body President, Student Senate President, and Student Body Treasurer are all African Americans. After the unexpected departure of Dr. Lathan Turner to East Carolina University, the office of African American Student Affairs has brought in the charismatic, competent, and well respected Tracey Ray to give a welcomed new flair to the position. The Provost’s office has inaugurated two new positions, the Vice Provost for Diversity and African American Affairs and the Director for Diversity Programs, in order to address the daunting questions associate with diversity and how minority populations are to flourish in N.C. State’s predominantly white culture. Everywhere you look, there is evidence that we are heading for something of a renaissance in terms of improving the African-American presence at N.C. State and understanding what it means to be a diverse campus. But I am not completely convinced that things are going to improve.

You see, last year, especially during the elections, there was constant discourse among student leaders about the discouragingly high level of student apathy on campus. No one seemed to care about what happened around the university, and they couldn’t have picked a worse time to drift into lethargy. When the battle to halt tuition increases reached its most critical moments, students felt the least empowered to make a positive influence on the situation. Protests faltered, wills crumbled, tuition rose, and most people remained content to hide behind the conviction that were powerless to do anything about it. But was this really the case? True, there probably wasn’t much students could have done in the face of a Chancellor set upon using tuition increases to further a self-serving agenda, but that is very different from saying that there was nothing students could have done.

The whole fiasco becomes even more frustrating when I consider that one of the most silent groups during the tuition increase debate was probably the group with the most to lose. African Americans have traditionally had some of the highest levels of unmet financial need at N.C. State, and last year’s tuition increase placed the academic careers of many African Americans in treacherous predicaments. You may have noticed that some of your friends from last year aren’t here anymore, and the tuition increase was undoubtedly no small factor in bringing this about.

Yet, despite all that was at stake, we did not fight. Were we too busy? Did we just have too much homework? There were probably a million different excuses as to why people chose not to involve themselves with the tuition battle, and some of them were probably quite admirable. In fact, if I wanted to be fair, I could waste a whole paragraph or two trying to justify why, when our efforts were most needed, we faded into the background. But, honestly, I’ve ceased concerning myself with excuses. I’ve ceased concerning myself with mentalities that lament and harangue every social injustice imaginable but leave the responsibility of addressing the issues, of actually putting forth an effort, to someone else. I’ve ceased concerning myself with dispositions that shamelessly posture about all the proactive things they are going to accomplish and then do nothing except come up with reasons as to why they are too busy to help see their own goals to fruition. I’ve ceased concerning myself with talk.

Now you can see why I am not convinced. Yes, our university has found some new officers to lead the African American community into battle next year, but, if we are to fight with the same sorry soldiers, we are doomed. African Americans on campus have lain dormant for far too long, and it is high time we actually began taking responsibility for what occurs at this university. “Too busy” will no longer be good enough. If, at the end of this year, we have not elevated the status of the African American on campus and protected our interests in the face of those who would undermine them, it will be our fault. If, at the end of this year, we have not educated other racial and ethnic groups at N.C. State about the culture of African Americans and consciously sought to learn more about the groups we seek to educate, it will be our fault. And, if at the end of this year we have not brought legitimacy to the idea of campus diversity and begun the process of creating a more tolerant racial climate at N.C. State, we will have failed both this campus and ourselves.

My friends, the future of this university is ours, and it is time we did more than talk about it.

newspaper article