Heather Mac Donald makes money from every problematic and triggering speech. It’s her shtick, and considering how well it’s worked for her so far, I don’t think she plans to change any time soon. That being said, nothing negates her language’s roots in bigoted and oppressive ideas that disproportionately impact marginalized people, even if they may be “privileged” enough to be students at a prestigious university’s campus.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is, arguably, the biggest fallacy of youth. Words matter: they have power, they empower and they permit. They also oppress. They endanger and they hurt. Mac Donald’s words were, for lack of a better word, trash. In 20 minutes, she spewed her narrative that Black and Brown people are lucky to be here at Emory and, quite frankly, do not deserve to be.
This is a woman that traveled all the way to Emory just to say “rape in college is just a voluntary hookup,” “tutoring is a hoax” and that some people of color do not deserve to be on this campus. She referred to organizations on campus such as the Office for RACE and the Center for Women as wastes of resources, and insinuated that every non-white person on a college campus is admitted based on color, not merit, yet simultaneously pulled the model minority card, saying “if one minority group can succeed, you all should be able to.”
To our student body: rape is never your fault and tutoring is not a hoax. To our lovely campus organizations working for the success and thriving of the marginalized: you are doing great and you deserve so much more than what you get. To every person of color on this campus, be you student, staff or faculty: you’re here, you’re great and you matter. You have accomplished so much, you deserve to be here and no one, especially not a Heather, can take that from you. She said her words; now, here are mine.
We push the culture forward. Us. The Black and Brown people she deems so incompetent. We make all of the meaningful moves. When we dance, they watch. The Heathers imitate. When we speak, they try and fail to emulate. We are proud and unabashed, and they can merely stand back. And stare. And want. And hate that they will never, ever, have. The Heathers want our features and our style, our music and our minds. They want it all and yet they don’t see us as human beings. They see us as larger than life and simultaneously barely human. They see us as … unreal. Unattainable and therefore unrespectable.
We as people of color are conditioned to accept and be grateful. To be grateful that we have finally been let into spaces we’ve been so long excluded from. To be grateful for the education we have always deserved. We can’t complain; we can’t ask for more. We can’t ask for better.
She wrote her narrative, so now I’m writing mine and you should write yours too. We’re not lucky to be here; we deserve it. We’ve worked hard. We’ve excelled and the mediocre Heathers of the world are mad because, in spite of both history and society, we surpassed them. We made it here, and we made here better. We bring it to life. We continue to make everything better.
Remember, Emory is lucky. It is privileged to have us. It’s not the other way around. And this university should act like it.
Jasmine Burnett (21PH) is from Kissimmee, Fla.
