To say that racism and ignorance are the norm at Washington University would be false. But to say that Wash. U. is free from racism and ignorance would be an even greater fallacy.  Like any other place, there are instances of both overt and subtle racism within the confines of our campus. It’s easy to let the picturesque buildings in which we take our liberal arts classes obscure this reality.

Recently, Dr. William Landau, a Wash. U. professor of medicine who also served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), was forced to leave the board amid controversy for using the N-word. A few semesters ago, a student’s car was found in a campus parking lot with the N-word scribbled on it.  The community reacted to both of these situations: In the first instance, Landau lost his position, and in the second, students created Connect 4—a student group that works to foster dialogue among various social groups.

More disturbing than these cases, however, are instances that prompt no public response. Many students are guilty of saying nothing when racist remarks and jokes are made in casual conversation. Some of us are even guilty of uttering these offensive remarks on our own. Despite the fact that almost all Wash. U. students support equal rights for all people, it is the perpetuation of stereotypes through nonchalant comments that creates background racism in what appears to be one of the more open and forwardthinking communities in our city and state.

Wash. U. is likely no different from any other university setting in this sense: For us, there exists a divide between theory and practice.
In our classrooms, we learn and discuss theories and practices of social integration and political liberalism. We have programs—such as African and African American Studies and American Culture Studies—that directly integrate the statistics of our surrounding communities into our studies. However, when the time comes to actively apply these lessons to our day-to-day interactions, we often forget that our nation’s legacy of racism continues to infiltrate our society. Our daily actions and conversational comments often contradict what we learn in the classroom and what we know to be right.

The controversy surrounding the ACLU board’s dismissal of Landau has spurred the editorial board to ask questions about whether the use of the N-word is ever appropriate in our cultural landscape and whether the ACLU should be obligated to defend its use. Scholars of law and culture have long debated these questions, and we cannot—we will not—provide an answer in a 500-word editorial.

However, what we will do is encourage the community to consciously apply the lessons of the Landau case and those that we learn in our classrooms. We impel you to consider the cold facts of social stratification and turn them into warmth in everyday interaction, to be conscious of the risks of racism and the possibility that our apathy will turn to ignorance.

You, as much as anyone else, have the power to change our cultural landscape. It all comes back to that old adage: Think before you speak.