The University of Northern Georgia has been performing an extensive mia culpa the past few days after receiving backlash for a college course catalog cover. On the cover you can clearly see two white men finishing far ahead of a woman and a struggling Black man. The title ofthe cover says:
?Why follow when you can lead!?
Kate Maine, Associate Vice President of University Relations had this to say on the matter:
?The image was not representative of UNG’s commitment to diversity, and this will serve as an opportunity for increased dialogue about diversity issues, and we expect that to better inform our processes and publications,? The image has been removed from the department’s website, and social media and the catalog will be reprinted for redistribution, Maine added.
Now in this racial climate it’s hard to believe that those who created this cover were not aware of the connotation associated with this imagery. Then again, we live in America, a country mired in microaggressions.
Harvard University professor and Psychiatrist?Chester M. Pierce?invented the word?microaggression in 1970 to describe insults and dismissals he said he had regularly witnessed non-black Americans inflict on African Americans. This word now extends to a much broader context including other minority groups.
To be fair, the rest of the world has similar issues. The United States is maybe a bit more progressive in its introspection than many other nations, like?Russia,?for example. However, even as we have dialog about microaggressive behavior, we still have a hard time accepting that “innocent” comments and images can mean anything more than what was intended.
Subjects like white privilege and microaggression stir up lots of negative emotions in people. Feelings can range from anger, shame, and confusion. Many people become instantly defensive when these subjects are brought up; they feel as though they are being blamed or persecuted.
It’s difficult if not impossible to have a dialog when people put up their defenses. In a perfect world this picture wouldn’t mean anything. I wish we lived in a perfect world but we do not. So we must continue to have conversations about microaggressions and privilege, because we live in the real world.
