Members of the Boston University School of Public Health community gathered for a “From BU to Mizzou” march on Massachusetts Avenue Tuesday in solidarity against campus racism in colleges and universities around the nation, particularly the University of Missouri.
Approximately 60 students and SPH staff and faculty convened on Talbot Green in the BU Medical Campus before starting the rally. The rally’s organizers, Jessica Christian and Alicia Afrah-Boateng, first-year graduate students in SPH, distributed signs and taught the crowd several chants.
“Hey ho, hey ho,” Christian shouted. “Racism has got to go,” the crowd answered, as they held several signs that read “We Stand Against Campus Racism,” “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Christian said the march aimed to “bring some motion” to the issue of campus racism, as there has not been enough movement to actualize meaningful change.
“What we’ve seen around our nation in the past couple of weeks is a radical vanguard,” she said during her opening remarks. “Thousands of students [have] used their power to say that they have had enough with classrooms that teach whitewash history. Silence has never served us and it certainly will not bring out about the change that we want to see.”
Christian said the rally made her realize that the SPH community “needs to have a stronger presence on campus” and students are beginning to understand that “their voice is important and can make a change.”
The crowd began the rally by exiting Talbot Green and then circulated the medical campus. Cassandra Osei, a first-year graduate student in SPH, led the march and chanted “M-I-Z” while the crowd answered and spelled out “Z-O-U.” The march garnered traction from several passers-by as some of them took pictures and eventually participated.
After the rally, Osei said many students in different colleges and universities are victims of campus racism. “No story [of a victim] is smaller than another” and victims should know they are not fighting the problem alone, she said.
“I hear you. We hear you. You are loved,” Osei said. “We march in these streets this afternoon to let Boston know what we are doing in solidarity for those at Mizzou, what we are doing for students of color at this university and beyond. This is just a small fight.”
Osei said students of color across the country are outnumbered, isolated and unsupported in campuses.
“If college presidents are surprised by this movement, it is because they haven’t been listening,” she said. “Let the elephant in the room known as racism continue to be heard [and] continue to be discussed.”
Several attendees said the rally could provide transparency in conversations regarding racial inequality on campus.
Avnee Patel, a first-year student in SPH, said she has only heard the explicit use of “racism” during the rally once students unite and purposely talk about the issue.
“It is important to explicitly talk about racism. It’s not getting to the main problem if not,” Patel said. “Nobody has an answer to solve racism or where to begin firstly because it’s so deeply rooted in so many countries, cities. So where do you even begin?”
Clare Schmidt, also a first-year student in SPH, said she hopes the rally can further provide a support base for students to have candid conversations about racism on campus.
“BU SPH is here for you and support these conversations because this is an issue that’s important and make people feel okay and encouraged to talk about issues like these,” Schmidt said.
Edward Bernstein, a professor in the School of Medicine, said people need to voice their opinion on racial inequality and go “out in the streets” so that their opinions are heard.
“[Today], people stood up for their rights,” Bernstein said. “We’ve seen a lot of things that people should be disgusted with in our society like social inequality and injustice. If people don’t come out, there’s going to be a wave over their heads from the Trumps and the Cruzes, as they’re running for office. If they get in power, we’re going to be suffering quite a bit.”
