Racism in Baylor University

Chris Leahy April 17, 2009

Baylor is a Christian university located in Waco, Texas. It is a private school nationally ranked in liberal arts institutions, and was chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas. Baylor University is the oldest university in the state of Texas. Although 80% of the enrolled students at Baylor are from Texas, they are “home” to students from all 50 states and 70 international countries.

Racism has become a bit of an issue at Baylor University. The largest and most famous incident was the “bronze” incident, where apparently a Caucasian woman put on bronzer and tried to fit in with the African American society, which is essentially a substance for darkening skin color.

Another occasion was a party where a group of students wore stereotypical African American apparel and brought assorted objects related to African American culture. One student was known to have put a picture on their Facebook profile photo album of her wearing bronzer to “darken her skin in imitation of African-Americans.” Many students still don’t understand why the African American community will not let it go.

The particular student (whose name was not disclosed) did apologize for such an action, says SAE adviser Dr. James Henderson. His claim was also backed by members of the SAE who also attended the party and felt “deeply grieved” about the incident, little to the African-American community’s satisfaction.

Many students that are not part of the African American community believe the “real” reason for the refusal to accept the apology was because of the implications of the bronzer incident. It is a harshly accurate and cruel present-day recreation of “blackface,” in which white actors would commonly rub burnt cork on their faces to darken their skin. This was how the name developed.

This was not for audience appeal, or for comedy. It represented “sugar-coated slavery” and “ridiculed blacks,” which portrayed blacks as lecherous and easily sexually aroused. This is enough to make anyone angry; it’d be like stereotyping the average white man to be a member of the K.K.K, or thinking a Latino to always be nothing but a menial worker such as a gardener. It’s something not many people could forgive, or easily forget.

Blackface imitations are not only appearing in Baylor University, however. All across the country, incidents have been reported. Stetson University in Florida, for example, or the University of Chicago, the University of Maryland, Dartmouth, Auburn in Alabama, Oklahoma State University, and countless others have all reported blackface imitations.

As incidents increase in Baylor, questions have arisen as well. Does Baylor simply condone, or “overlook,” racism? The student’s actions were passed off as ignorance, and she got away with a mild slap on the wrist. As cultural insensitivities have meaning that can be traced back to slavery times and Jim Crow laws, Baylor must carefully monitor such cases, and quickly. National ratings and student reviews can both go down due to poor supervision, something no college wants.