It is customary that the opinion editor writes a halfway-through-college reflection. However, though reflecting on my own college experience is important to me, there are far more pressing issues currently plaguing us that need to be addressed at UC Santa Barbara.
I feel that the Nexus, a newspaper with a majority-white editorial staff, the larger UCSB community and I, as a white woman, haven’t lived up to the standards we should be setting for ourselves as allies, advocates for inclusivity and active opponents to the racism and prejudice that underlie our society.
The goal of the opinion section is to be a forum where opinions and stories are shared: This is what forms the backbone of any community. It is necessary that we listen to each other’s voices in order to better ourselves and the world around us, and I believe an opinion article is a powerful way of doing that.
Our opinion section is dedicated to serving as a platform for all members of our community. As the editor of the opinion section, I believe it is my duty to ensure that everyone is heard. I ask everyone who wishes to write in to email us at opinion@dailynexus.com. The Nexus must do a better job of amplifying the voices of those who have historically been silenced.
The responsibility to do better is on us and us alone, but I want to emphasize that we are always open to hearing voices from our community and encourage anyone affiliated with UCSB or I.V. to submit an op-ed to us. Tell us your story.
Our UCSB and Isla Vista communities must take action; writing to our elected officials, attending protests, signing petitions and donating to organizations are all steps that will help enact real changes. Most importantly, we must all vote in every election, including our own campus elections, for leaders who will uphold the values we believe in.
It’s time for all of us to put this conversation front and center.
Reach out or send in your submission to opinion@dailynexus.com.
Isla Vista has its own history of tormenting black residents… starting with law enforcement going after the students involved in the North Hall occupation in the late 1960’s, to the arrest of a black civil rights worker from South Carolina (Lefty Bryant, described in Season 1, Episode 5 of the PBS program “We’ll Meet Again”) for allegedly having “bomb materials” in the back of his car in February, 1970… he was one of the few IV residents to actual do state prison time after the 1970 IV disturbances… to an incident circa 1996 where there was an after-hours no-alcohol party… Read more »
Whoops, the Anaconda incident was 3 Nov. 1991.