We Can Be Better

Submitted by Tuajuanda Jordan on June 03, 2020 - 4:32 pm
June 03, 2020
By Tuajuanda Jordan

Dear Seahawks and Colleagues,

Whenever there is a crisis of any sort affecting our community, as the leader, I am expected to issue an immediate response addressing the situation and to deliver a message that both consoles and inspires.  But, what if I have no words? What if the crisis at hand is one that penetrates my heart, lays heavy on my mind, eats at my spirit, and fills me with a sense of hopelessness?  What, then? 

The current crisis shows that I, too, am only human.  The most recent killing made my heart ache like it has never before.  I had no words to speak. No words to console. No words to inspire.  Just pain.  This nation cannot continue to be one in which racism and oppression remain the norm.  We cannot allow it to be.

 The tide is changing. How does one ensure that the tide can change unimpeded? Remove the obstacles. 

Systemic racism exists. Anyone who denies that is not in touch with reality. The system must be dismantled – completely.  To do that, each of us must understand the system in its entirety, down to the most minute component.  Study it from every possible angle.  Don’t just know it. Understand it.  It is only when one truly understands something can one permanently disassemble it to the point that it becomes completely and utterly nonviable/non-existent.

African Americans, as well as our allies, have tried for hundreds of years – four hundred and one years to be more precise – to work within the system and to assimilate.  The result has been transient periods of respect, temporarily being treated as humans.  Invariably, like an unbroken circle, “equality” wanes and there is no permanent change.  Racism rears its ugly head and they kill us by any means necessary.  

Enough is enough.  Black lives matter.  People of color matter.  The killings must stop.

I was on a panel in the fall of 2016.  Inevitably, the discussion turned to the upcoming election. A participant who was well known for his advocacy and commitment to social justice said that he was not going to vote.  He was “going to wait and see who got elected and then make (his) demands heard.”  I said to him that once an individual gets elected, you lose a lot of your “power” to effect the changes you want. You must make your voice heard beforehand. You cannot effectively tear down a complex system from the outside.  You must understand it and work it from within.  And, importantly, you cannot do it alone.

It is time to effect lasting change.  We must dismantle The System.  Education is the key.  Educate yourself about The System.  Understand the politics, the sociology, the economics, the psychology, the history, the language of The System.  The liberal education you experience at St. Mary’s College can prepare you for this.  Find your voice.  Find your allies.  We all have a part to play.  We must amass our collective resources so we can get to a better place.

There is no singular approach to dismantle The System.  Yet, there must be a singular goal and that should be to create a more just, equitable, and humane society in which all humankind can thrive and live in peace with dignity and respect.  The St. Mary’s Way is part of the roadmap that can get us there.  As a close-knit campus community, we must live it.  We must also embrace and respect the diversity of who we are and include every voice in the conversation.  It is only in that manner can we make our campus the best it can be as we each prepare and support one another to go out into the world, roll up our sleeves, and compel this nation to be better.

Tuajuanda C. Jordan, PhD

President

 

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