The Illusion of Inclusion | Exhibits

Investigate the circumstances behind The Nubian Message's establishment and its ongoing coverage of race-related issues. Connect featured articles with their historical context to draw broader conclusions about the past.

Is the Technician Racist? Debates about Multiculturalism and Post-Racialism, 1991-1992

This exhibit, "Is the Technician Racist?", looks at newspaper editorials and debates within the pages of the Technician between 1991 and 1992 to determine why Tony Williamson founded The Nubian Message.  This exhibit contextualizes the founding of The Nubian Message in early 1990s political debates about post-racialism and the value of multiculturalism and affirmative action nationally and on State's campus.  It asks hard questions about whether or not interracial dialogue was possible in the pages of the Technician, or whether The Nubian Message cut off the possibility for that dialogue even as it created a safe space for African American to express their views.

The Nubian Message in the 1990s

This exhibit, "The Nubian Message in the 1990s," explores four major themes in the paper during the 1990s and how those themes reveal the state of race relations on campus and in broader American society during that time. The four themes--racism, culture, history, and space--move from a local, concrete perspective, to a national, more abstract perspective to show how students' experiences on campus affected their interpretation of events, trends, and movements elsewhere.

The Nubian Message in the New Millennium

The exhibit, "The Nubian Message in the New Millennium," analyzes articles and editorials from The Nubian Message between 1999-2001. The Message staff published content on a variety of topics of local, state, and national concerns. Four major themes, however, stand out in these articles. These themes include: campus politics, the failings of more traditional media sources, historical awareness, and ongoing discrimination in employment and social interactions. Despite changes in the Message's staff, coverage, and content, the paper continued to navigate between cynicism and optimism about the potential for progress in race relations at the beginning of the twenty-first century.