{"id":129749,"date":"2023-06-27T00:02:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T04:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=129749"},"modified":"2023-06-26T19:45:29","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T23:45:29","slug":"students-demand-black-solidarity-day-at-binghamton-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/students-demand-black-solidarity-day-at-binghamton-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Students demand \u2018Black Solidarity Day\u2019 at Binghamton University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former professor says race-specific days turn campuses ‘\u00a0into centers of grievance, hostility, and political activism instead of the sites for the pursuit of knowledge\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Students and administrators at Binghamton University want a \u201cBlack Solidarity Day\u201d added to the academic calendar for the upcoming fall semester.<\/p>\n

The Black Student Union is pushing for the recognition along with the Student Association. \u201c[T]op level administrators\u201d are reportedly in support as well, according to the campus newspaper.<\/p>\n

The BSU regularly hosts<\/a> \u201cBlack Solidarity\u201d programming. It has yet to provide comment to The College Fix<\/em> after initially acknowledging receipt of the email.<\/p>\n

The BSU told The Fix<\/em> via email that it would answer how it thought Black Solidarity Day would help create a more inclusive campus and benefit students. The group has yet to provide further comment since June 13 when it first responded. The group was also asked if it would support adding other solidarity days for other races.<\/p>\n

The Fix<\/em> reviewed the academic calendar<\/a> for the New York public university and identified only seven holidays where students receive the day off – Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Easter and Passover. The three others are Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Juneteenth, although most classes are out on that day anyways. Students are not exempt from classes on other days including Columbus Day and Veterans Day.<\/p>\n

The Black Power Movement first started<\/a> Black Solidarity Day in 1969. Recognized on the Monday before November elections, it started as a day where black people would stay home from work and school to show how their absence would affect society.<\/p>\n

According to Carlos Russell, spokesperson of the Black Solidarity committee, instead of working black people would protest \u201cagainst the intensifying repression that threatens the very existence of black people in America\u201d on Black Solidarity Day.<\/p>\n

Nia Johnson, president of the Student Association, said the black student group has previously planted black flags to honor all the black people who have lost their lives to police brutality, She told the student paper that \u201c[b]lack creatives share their work, reflect on the day and march around campus honoring those who lost their lives to brutality and share our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will show Black students that our culture and our history matters in a higher academia setting,\u201d Johnson told<\/a> the BU Pipe Dream<\/em>. \u201cI also believe that this is a step that BU can take to show Black students \u2018we see you all, we hear you all and this is our step toward fostering a more culturally competent campus.\u2019 The only Black holiday recognized on the academic calendar is Juneteenth, [but] there is a difference between acknowledging a holiday during the summer sessions and acknowledging a holiday during the fall semester.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fix<\/em> asked Johnson and other members of the Student Association for more information on their advocacy but no one responded to two emails since in the past three weeks.<\/p>\n

Binghamton has not said whether they plan to add Black Solidarity Day to the academic calendar. The Binghamton University president\u2019s office and Ryan Yarosh, director of media and public relations for the school, were both asked twice in the past three weeks whether they planned on adding the Black Solidarity Day to the academic calendar, but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n

Professor calls race-specific days a ‘terrible idea’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A former New York University professor who has been critical<\/a> of wokeness in academia called it a \u201cterrible idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Michael Rectenwald, author of \u201cBeyond Woke\u201d a former professor of global and liberal studies, told The Fix<\/em> via email that he thought this day would hurt, not help, students at Binghamton.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Black Solidarity Day\u2019 is a terrible idea. It suggests that all blacks represent a singular collective block of people, rather than a group of distinct and diverse individuals,\u201d Professor Rectenwald said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, the nomenclature is suggestive of collectivist leftist politics. \u2018Solidarity\u2019 is something that leftists claim is necessary for political power\u2026 Rather than adding \u2018Black Solidarity Day,\u2019 it would behoove blacks more if the college celebrated individual blacks for their achievements as individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe effect [of Black Solidarity Day] is to suggest that blacks are somehow incapable of success without special affirmative-action\u2026,\u201d he said. \u201cIt encourages defeatism because it gives the incorrect impression that blacks are being thwarted by outside forces, when, in fact, they are not.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Bret Weinstein chased out for not taking part of white ‘Day of Absence’<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Black Student Union\/Instagram<\/p>\n

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