JFMC teach-in: Race and Language

jESS kIRBY & kY hUYNh Editor-in-Chief & Staff Writer

On the evening of Thursday, Jan. 26, junior Layla Barnes asked those in Chandler Ballroom to close their eyes, think back to when they were young and raise their hand if the following situation ever happened to them.

“You are very young, probably early elementary school, usually somewhere between first and third grade, and you need nothing more than to desperately go to the bathroom,” she said. “You most likely say something along the lines of, ‘Can I go to the bathroom?’”

“Your teacher might not just respond with yes,” she continued. “But you might have had a teacher that says, ‘I don’t know, can you?’ Or maybe you have a teacher that says, ‘Do you mean may I go to the bathroom?’ and insists on correcting you.” talking with the student body.

Many audience members raised their hands.

“We as a club will be having another interest meeting in early February to discuss the issue with students and plan on doing word on the street style videos asking students on Campus Walk to guess what our motto is out of a handful of other fake mottos,” Spencer said. “We’ll then get their opinion on the issue and take those opinions to the administration.”

The Humanist Society has planned to change the motto since the club’s founding.

“Changing the school’s motto was one of our first long-term goals, so it has been in the works from the beginning,” said Pedigo.

Because the logo is written in latin on the UMW seal, many do not know what it means.

“I was not aware that our school had a motto,” said Jenna Montijo, junior studio art and religious studies double major. “I believe the motto should be changed. ‘For God and Country’ no longer fits the atmosphere of the school.”

Pedigo believes that changing UMW’s motto would not be as much of a step back from tradition as other actions the university has taken.

“Frankly, if UMW really wants to embrace tradition, maybe it should stop tearing down historic buildings on campus, as well as stop turning historic interiors into spaces that look more like airport lounges than classrooms,” she said.

The Humanist Society plans to propose a campus-wide email that will allow students to submit new motto ideas that can then be narrowed down by the Student Government Association and other student leaders.

Pedigo is hopeful for what the Humanist Society will accomplish.

“The club has been a service organization since day one, and I’m sure their first steps will involve engaging with the student body and making sure everyone’s voice is heard on this issue,” she said. “The club has also done a great job in the past of coordinating with UMW administration, as well as local leaders like Mayor Greenlaw. I’m sure that the club will facilitate open, honest conversations with all stakeholders as they work to make the change happen. As an alumna, I can’t wait to see what they accomplish.”

That was the beginning of the James Farmer Multicultural Center’s “Race and Language,” a social justice teach-in about standardized English and institutionalized racism, led by Barnes, an English: creative writing major in the secondary education program studying to be an English teacher.

Throughout the teach-in, audience members engaged in a critical dialogue about language and race in the education system. Those in attendance answered discussion questions with the people at their table, and Barnes led the conversation, interweaving research on standardized English that she has studied since her freshman year at UMW.

“Standardized English is the English that we claim to teach in schools,” she said. “It is what we say that we are teaching when we are enforcing correct grammar, when your teachers are telling you to say, ‘May I go to the bathroom?’