BRITISH MONARCHY

CHASS: Surviving NC State

When I walk on the Centennial campus, I see the wealth invested in the buildings. The same cannot be said for Main Campus. Main Campus is home to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) students. Centennial Campus is home to almost all of the engineering departments. The financial gap between the two sides of campus is not only seen in the buildings; it is so much bigger than the buildings. It’s also visible in the number of resources that the CHASS department has compared to the engineering departments.

As an international studies and communications major, I am in the CHASS department. Although my department does a great job of providing its students with resources, they are underfunded. During the school year, I was searching for a journalism internship. I went to my communications advisor. She directed me to a couple of resources, but her knowledge was limited. I reached out to other people, but they also provided me with the same resources. At that point, there was no one else to reach out to. I had exhausted all my resources.

I understand that NC State is a STEM school. I was well aware that I was coming to a school geared towards people interested in engineering and math. The problem is that the College of Engineering gets more resources than the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The problem is that NC State University does not provide enough money and resources for its students in CHASS to excel in their field.

As a CHASS student, I often have to find out about internship opportunities from sources outside of NC State. I don’t have enough people in my specific department that can help me find internships. I don’t have enough faculty or staff to guide me along my career. I have no problem finding

an internship on my own, but I should not have to. I should feel supported in my major. As of right now, I don’t feel that I am supported. Other CHASS students share these same sentiments. I often hear other humanities and social science college students complain about not feeling supported. The difference between the resources in the College of Engineering compared to CHASS are stark. Over the summer, I got Jeanine accepted into a research program. This Ikekhua program was housed in the College of Correspondent Engineering. I spoke to my CHASS advisor about the program and the stipend we were receiving. Before I mentioned the amount of money I was receiving, my advisor jokingly said my program had to be in the College of Engineering ‘cause no other NC State department has that kind of money. Even some of CHASS faculty know their department is underfunded. NC State University's CHASS department is not bad. It has some of the most intelligent and caring faculty members I have ever met. Nevertheless, the department needs more money. As a CHASS student, I need more paid internships and opportunities. I need more places where I can go and find internships. I should not have to contact people outside of NC State University to learn about CHASS-related opportunities. CHASS is a growing department at NC State. This college is supposed to provide students with the connections and knowledge they need to excel in their future careers. The faculty are doing their best, but there is only so much support they can provide. It is up to NC State to provide the humanities and social science college with enough funding to support their students. If NC State provided enough funding and resources, students would not feel the need to complain. Students would not see the difference in the amount of money invested in buildings on each campus. At the end of the day, NC State University is not providing enough financial support to CHASS students. They can do better. They simply have not done it yet.

Hear Ye, Monarch Down

Conversational spaces have exploded with social commentary prompted by the passing of Queen Elizabeth ll. Online discussions have been tackling the past, present and future of the United Kingdom in the forms of Twitter threads, memes and story posts. In opposition to public commentary, many have claimed it’s ‘too soon’ to be starting any talk related to the monarch. The transition of the crown (which holds over two thousand jewels from other countries) is a perfectly appropriate time to talk about the need for purposeful change. Rather than waiting ‘til they’re comfortable and years have gone by.

During her seven-generation reign, Queen Elizabeth did not apologize on behalf of her country's violent hand in other nations' histories. This is reminiscent of the many times Britain forcibly censored the afflicted anti-colonialist Black and Brown voices to avoid addressing their atrocities. In attempts to reinforce their power, it was common for Colonial settlers to remove proof of their war crimes from written records.

Britain never publicly acknowledge calls for reparations and formal apologies over the looting, genocide, resource extraction, etc. They never address the things they’ve gone out of their way to blur. They are essentially omitting any possibility for a homogenous historical awareness of their crimes. While simultaneously attempting to dust away the history which laid the groundwork for most modern conflict

All this chaos is hidden behind the public veil which is this white woman that drinks tea, plays cricket, and never states her opinion to the public. The queen was a clear-cut example of how deeply their royal propaganda is intertwined in their daily lives. It’s easy to be good at maneuvering political atrocities if you never actually talk about them!

Despite breaking off from Britain in 1776, many Americans openly disapproved of the humor being made after her passing. For some it seems they don’t want to acknowledge the British atrocities because America has done similar things in history. Others believed it is immoral for the victims of Britain to make commentaries regarding the death of the main symbol of contemporary imperialism and oppression. Policing how individuals should Jo Miller compose their feelings or reactions in Correspondent order to ‘Be Respectful’ is a hypocritical a** notion. To tell the victims of trauma that the who-what-when-where-how-why is what makes it appropriate to comment upon publicly is to manipulate them to believe their experiences aren't valid emotionally. Attempting to neutralize the criticisms on literally any aspect of Britain sounds like it’d be a massive feat. However, their late figurehead was celebrated for mastering stoicism in the face of everything. She was a blank slate for projection by intentionally being as palatable as possible. It is not possible to be universally palatable and to try is to intentionally leave out billions. To create change is to acknowledge others’ discomfort. There’s violence in not acknowledging wrongdoings. Embracing the public with tea and empty words is harmful pageantry which does not protect them from their decades of immorality. Akin to how the Japanese harnessed cuteness to distract from their war crimes, an act of indirect violence. People will discuss the lasting effects that began under her reign, no matter the situational intensity. Ideally, King Charles lll will take this opportunity to address the requests that the prior monarch ignored. Colonial rhetoric and tears won’t neutralize the resistance to the British legacy. Defending them won’t provide them virtue.

There is Hierarchy in the Black Community

Are competition and hierarchy seriously prevalent in the black community? I’ve had some time to dwell on it and here’s what I think. A week ago, I saw a Tiktok video by a user named @ iheartjaidior, and in it, she said, “HBCUs are filled with nothing but insecure bullies.” This caught my attention because I felt this was a controversial opinion, so I opened the comments to see what other people thought about it. Many Black people agreed with her, saying that’s why they ended up going to a PWI. I sat there and contemplated this for a few minutes.

I explored the subject further, and I ended up coming across other videos explaining the issue. Classism, texturism and colorism were often brought up.

Many said that students at HBCUs often judge other Black people who don’t have 40-inch buss downs and Telfar bags, who don’t have loosely textured hair, who are dark-skinned, who listen to different music and have different hobbies than a Black person would be “expected” to have.

I have never attended an HBCU but I have been to a predominantly Black high school and I have been in Black spaces for practically my entire life. With that being said, I feel like I could see where these people are coming from. In high school, I was often ostracized because of my fashion choices, the way I wore my hair and my interests and music tastes.

I was often accused of acting “white” whatever that means. Many Black people around me who were maybe “different” from what you’d expect from a Black person experienced the same thing. It’s very frustrating and some could somewhat understand why Black people will avoid being in Black spaces.

They fear judgment and fear isolation. And in this fear, they have sometimes been driven away from the Black community as a whole. They seek refuge in other communities that may seem more accepting of them as a person.

I feel we need to acknowledge that the inner hierarchy within our community is a very real thing.

Classism, texturism and colorism have been present in our community for a long time. I feel this is because we are at the bottom of the minority pyramid, so some of us feel the need to have a way to be at the top within that bottom tier.

I may be Black but I have more money than other Black people so I’m better. I may be Black but my hair is loose and my skin is light so I’m better.

It’s a mindset some of us adopt as a coping mechanism; a way to deal with the

exhaustion of being Black in a white world. I think it’s important to recognize this and try to fix the issue one step at a time. However, I think it’s also important not to generalize Black people and HBCU students as “judgemental bullies” because all of us aren’t like that. Many Black people are very warm and Nadia Hargett welcoming no matter who you are, what you look like or what you like. That’s how I’m able to have a circle of Black friends Correspondent that I love and enjoy spending time with. Avoiding those Black people who may have judgemental tendencies and negative energy is very understandable and completely valid but in shunning those people, do not shun us all. Stay connected to your Blackness and remember that there are always Black people out there who will accept you for who you are.

No Escape in Escapism

Escapism has been something that people have used in order to remove themselves from the harsh reality of the world. However, that hasn’t been the case for people of color. For me, video games have always been a way to leave all of the stress and bulls**t from my day to day. It’s just something so comforting about being able to hop on the console and be someone else, be somewhere else, even if it’s just for an hour. But, like with everything that holds some sort of economic profit, it holds a racist underbelly that most people ignore. Especially those who benefit from the representation that they hold a monopoly over.

With worldwide Video Game Day occurring last week, it's a reminder about how big of an industry video gaming is. The video game industry has expanded over the past several years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, grossing an estimated revenue of $200 billion from 2015 to 2022. This number has only been increasing with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. It’s crazy thinking how video games as an industry outclasses every other entertainment industry as a whole. A more interesting question is who’s the largest demographic of consumers that power this industry?

In 2015 there was a study that attempted to find out who was the largest demographic of people who purchase video games. The study showed that on average, 83% of Black teens and 69% Hispanic teens play video games, which completely eclipses the 71% of white teens. You would think that with these numbers video game developers would have a history of inclusivity and good representation in their video games right? Well I’m here to tell you to be disappointed.

Historically, video games have always been a white dominated field, especially in terms of representation. Many of my childhood moments playing video games, the heroes that I would typically play as would white men. What makes it even worse looking back on it was that outside of the white characters that would be in abundance, most (if not all) of the other characters were aliens. So you’re gonna look me in the eye and tell me that a white person can exist in some sort of dystopian video game world but people of color can’t? This delusional behavior from video game developers has occurred for some time now.

Most of the imagery that I and many other people of color got in video games were sports games like FIFA, 2K, and GTA. So aliens and all kinds of fictional creatures can exist alongside white characters in science fiction games and have deep and multifaceted storylines, but all black and brown people amount to are athletes and robbers?

Now I’m not saying that the games aren’t enjoyable, cause I play them. However, sometimes people just wanna see a Black mage or wizard, or a Black main character

that actually looks black. H*ll, Spider-Man on the PS4, one of my all time favorite games, had Miles Morales looking like he was in serious need of a haircut. They fixed it in the second game starring Miles but the point stands. Now I wish other video game companies would follow by example. Why do we have to nag and pester video Austin game companies to have more and better Modlin representation of people of color in video Staff Writer games? Especially since people of color are their primary consumer. Without us the franchises that make them so much money wouldn’t be able to be as popular as they are. You would think in a fictional world that it wouldn’t just be white people doing the saving. But, like many other things, they seem to constantly be painted as the main character to everything. While there are developers that are finally adding black characters into video games that actually give good representation, we still have a long way to go.