Diversity Speaks: Loud and Proud

By Alexander Valdes | Published by October 23, 2020

It’s no surprise that our country is currently in a time of great turmoil, but it is also undergoing a time of change for select groups of people.

On Thursday, September 24 an online event called “Diversity Speaks” was held to educate the students of Kean University about racial discrimination within the country. Taylor Williams, an academic specialist and two time Kean alumna headed the event as the main speaker and explained what the message is behind Diversity Speaks.

“Ultimately the platform itself we want to expand beyond these two events we have, we want to be able to give students of all communities a platform to have these tough conversations that we’re kinda talking around but not talking about and not talking to,” Williams said.

Williams mentions the start of the Diversity Speaks program with the goal to address the issues behind racism towards the black and brown community.

“We kicked it off with specifically talking about the black and brown community because a lot of things are going on in the world currently with police brutality,” Williams said, “But we know that other communities have things to share, we know that there’s huge things going on in the latinx community, with immigration and this wall going up.”

Certainly a massive issue within the country is racial discrimination, but how exactly do things like racism and racial prejudice affect the Kean students?

“Everybody’s experiences are different, so I think that there can absolutely be issues with racism on campus, although it may not be as blatant,” Williams said. “It’s sometimes very covert as our students have shared before. I don’t think any place is exempt from having differing opinions, whether it’s prejudice, discrimination or racism. I don’t think any place is exempt from it when you bring together so many people with so many different experiences”

Even if the Kean community may not be exempt from these issues, there are some steps in order to combat these injustices. One of these ways is simply through self-reflection from everyone within the community.

“I think we first have to look within ourselves and understand where some of those implicit biases lie,” Williams said. “We need to become accountable for why we think this way and why we feel this way. So whether it’s experiences from  your home town or throughout your life, why do you feel this way? And now let’s get a little bit of knowledge about why that’s hurtful to somebody else and why making that thought process should need some altering and changing” said Williams.

It certainly does seem that the Kean community and others need to change their ways in order to further combat racism, we all play a role in positive change, she indicated.

“We have to actively change our behavior and change our thinking, change the things that we are ingesting through our brains and our eyes so that we can become a much more knowledgeable society, that’s one of the ways I’m choosing to do it,” Williams said. “ everybody plays a role in figuring out how to end racism”

---