Museum confronts discrimination issues
The Museum of Anthropology hosted a presentation on current civil rights issues Jan. 15 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as part of their Saturdays at the Museum series.
“Discrimination occurs when one group is defined as better than another,” said Rachel Brighton, multicultural program coordinator for USU’s Access and Diversity Center.
The presentation focused on King’s goal to develop the “beloved community.” Brighton said the goals of this community are to eliminate poverty, hunger and bigotry. This ideal community does not need to agree on everything but it strives to solve disputes peacefully.
She said this community does not need to include every person on the planet but needs enough people to reach “critical mass” to be effective.
“The beloved community is about making space for people to be themselves,” said presenter Maure Smith-Benanti, the LGBTQA program coordinator. “There has been a lot of conflict between the LDS church and LGBTQ individuals, but the beloved community makes space for people to love who they love and believe what they believe.”
Brighton said people need to practice “agape,” the Greek word for godly or unconditional love. She said agape does not discriminate between those worthy or unworthy of our respect.
To illustrate that racism or apathy to racism is still a problem in our society, Brighton and Smith-Benanti showed a video segment from ABC called “Shopping while Black.” In this segment, three actors portraying a shop clerk, a security guard and an African-American shopper stage a racial profiling incident in a high-end Soho boutique. The video recorded a few shoppers who intervened; however, most shoppers were uncomfortable but did nothing to stop the obvious injustice.
“If we have the courage to stand up once we will find we can do it again and we give others permission to do so, too,” Brighton said.
Smith-Benanti said she is proud of her LGBTQA students because they recognize that LGBTQ issues extend to all demographics and are standing up for other vulnerable communities.
Brighton said Love is for Everyone, a LGBTQA organization on campus, is one of the most welcoming groups on campus, regardless of sexual orientation. She also said many non-black students are members of the Black Student Union. She said they are there to learn about different perspectives and make new friends.
Brighton said members of privileged groups need to acknowledge how privileged they are and resist the urge to categorize others.
Smith-Benanti said people in dominant groups tend to think members of other groups could attain their privileges if they worked hard enough.
Smith-Benanti and Brighton said they attended a presentation given by Utah State Court Judge Andrew Valdez, in which he related a story of being scared and out of place while visiting a university as a young boy. They said many members of the dominant group in the local community – Caucasian, middle-class Christians – grew up expecting to attend college and cannot relate to this kind of experience.
Smith-Benanti said heterosexual people have difficulty understanding what homosexual couples experience when they simply hold hands in public. She said homosexual couples worry about upsetting or offending others; this experience is not something a heterosexual couple normally worries about.
“I have found a lot more affirmation than discrimination. People on campus are pretty accepting,” said Rachel Jaggi, a sociology senior who identified herself as homosexual.
Smith-Benanti said being a member of King’s beloved community is difficult but it is necessary to stand up to injustice and to show respect to everyone, because everyone has value.
Lucas Martin, graduate student in consumer sciences, said he thinks the development of gangs is a response to the power gap discrimination creates. He said the goals of the beloved community are to redistribute power and respect, which could mitigate the problem violent gangs present.
“We don’t need to be an MLK or Nelson Mandela. We just need to care. Little things can change someone’s world,” Brighton said.
Saturdays at the Museum is a program hosted by the Museum of Anthropology. Events are every Saturday through the semester and are free to the community.
– rouchelle.brockman@aggiemail.usu.edu