The Defend Affirmative Action Party condemns the actions of Lucas Brody, youMich and all those associated with the party’s video featuring the minstrel character Da’Quan Carter. It’s deeply disrespectful and the fact that someone would think it is otherwise makes this a day we are ashamed to call ourselves Wolverines. The history of white Americans playing caricatures of African Americans is a long and shameful vestige of institutionalized racism in this country. We’d like to remind you all that this kind of disrespect of campus identities isn’t an isolated incident. Just a few months ago, the hate crime at Haven Hall resulted in the destruction of materials from numerous departments representing many of the identities we all share on campus. The Reflection Room in this same space has also, on numerous occasions, been made unusable due to vandalism. As a campus community, we cannot allow such actions to stand.
We demand that youMich and Brody apologize to the campus community. We also demand that the University take action to address this incident and the numerous others that have occurred. The way we treat and respect each other is a reflection on ourselves and our communities. Something is wrong with our campus culture on the day we can claim to be “the leaders and best” silent in the face of these attacks on the our most deeply held values.
Andrew Bradley and Ashley Garrick
LSA Senior, Graduate student