The White Student Union

Having moved to Texas, one of the first things I noticed about my new school in comparison to my old school was the absence of a Black Student Union. This especially became clear when time came to Black History Month, and we had our 95% white Student Council putting up quotes from the four poster black people (Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah, Michael Jordan, and Muhammed Ali) as their entire commemoration to the month. Some say some of the quotes were even made up....

There was no sort of effort to educate people on anything, nothing about the struggle of black people, just a couple random quotes with no context from their four favorite black celebrities.

I was extremely bothered by this, and decided to take it upon myself to take the steps to start a Black Student Union. I contacted my black friend who is actually in Student Council, and we sent an email to some school administrators to figure out next steps: to say we were shut down would be an understatement. One of the most memorable lines sent back from the email was "Would it be appropriate to start a White Student Union at this school?"

I was appalled, but not surprised. This was during my sophomore year by the way- I was still very new and did not know many people. I decided to let this issue rest for a year, but come junior year I decided to try again. This time I had 10+ other black people also working toward this, and we got in touch with the new African Studies teacher at our school to get her on our side. The administration could not say no to us. We now have about 75 members in our Black Student Union, are are currently planning a entirely new system for this year's black history month! Never give up, and stay tuned for whats to come!