Stories

In a [humanities] class, we were analyzing “oriental” paintings, and several students remarked that the people in the paintings didn’t “look Arab” because they had a lighter skin tone, lighter hair, or lighter eyes. My teacher did not… Read More

A few of my fellow interns were talking about going to Pride together. I was questioning my identity (I know now that I’m bi), and I was dating a man at the time. When I asked about their… Read More

I was a freshman who took a popular course with 100+ other students, who were split up into various sub-sections. I (a sometimes white-passing POC woman) spoke up often to answer questions or give opinions on how the… Read More

My freshman year, I went to eat dinner at Sabi with some friends from my hall. As the one Asian at the table, I was singled out and targeted with the classic stereotype jokes: squinted eyes while mockingly… Read More

A white woman colleague once told me she would love to “pick my brain” sometime because our knowledge and research interests around racism have possible overlaps interdisciplinarily. She said it in passing and as a way to forge… Read More

There have been several occasions in my time as faculty here that I have witnessed white colleagues use linguistically racist microaggressions to imply that a student would not likely succeed here (or to point out why a student… Read More

When I got tenure, I received many congratulatory emails from senior white colleagues. I have seen some of these people repeatedly in various faculty settings over the past 6 years to tenure, and have navigated those spaces largely… Read More

In a Moodle discussion post from my class, we were asked to comment on the story of the South African Khoikhoi woman, who people now know as Sara Baartman, who was coerced by English, and then French swindlers… Read More

I have family in Hong Kong. The coronavirus has affected my family and frankly, scared a lot of people who have family in China. I’ve been asked by my parents to search for masks so we could send… Read More

As an international student, I have felt belittled by my professors countless times. I especially remember my [social science discipline] professor’s comment on my first ever college paper. Despite receiving a score that was above average, she concluded… Read More

I am shocked and disgusted by the amount of white Davidson students posting on social media, showing them and their friends drinking, celebrating, sitting by pools and on boats, and generally acting as if there is nothing else… Read More

In the Fall 2019, two Jewish student leaders were contacted by Marketing and Communications with the vague request that they preview the new college commercial. This left them with the uncomfortable feeling that there were being asked to… Read More

I was hired to teach on a particular minority experience. Several seniors wrote theses squarely within my field of expertise. My colleagues who were teaching the senior colloquium apparently don’t think my expertise is necessary, because they never… Read More

My friend, [Asian woman], was walking up the hill from commons to the side of Belk when she heard a large group of guys who appeared to be wearing [sports team] attire. She recognized some of the guys… Read More

After my personal issues became very public, I learned that those issues stemmed from untreated ADHD. My medication helps me feel happy, motivated, and in control of impulses. However, I’m afraid of what people will think of me… Read More

As a staff member, I was told I was racial profiling someone because I was explaining the rules of a project to them that they didn’t like. Where is the line between insubordination and microaggression?

It’s like I’m a Ghost.  I was working with two men and we were trying to figure out what time we had a shift change. We were sitting in a circle, all pretty evenly spaced out. I said that each… Read More

I was talking to a friend of mine about a time where an upperclassman male student said he wanted to go a meeting where a lot of freshman girls would be so that he could scout out which… Read More

In one of my classes, I was mistaken for the only other black woman in my class. This was done by a student when trying to reference a point I had brought up in the previous class discussion… Read More

During my visits to the Davidson Student Counseling Center, I have brought up my ex-girlfriend, who happens to be trans. Because I started dating her before she came out as a trans woman, all three of the counselors… Read More

I had a professor say that she could tell english wasn’t my first language from my essay, because my sentences “sounded Spanish”. This was a [humanities] course, and I’ve spoken english since age 2. 

My male lab partner constantly invades my personal space, spreading out/scooting his stool over so I have little to no room. One time while I was leaning in to read a measurement, instead of waiting for me to… Read More

During a science class, we had a class about BMI and health and part of the lab included weight yourself and measuring the circumference of different parts of our bodies. As a fat woman who has always been… Read More

I spent my whole life having to ask permission to celebrate my holidays. As a college student, I often felt that I needed to justify how religious I was in order to have the luxury to have the… Read More

Davidson faculty, please learn your colleagues’ names and faces to at least try and show that you know that your colleagues of color are distinct people. Of the nearly 200 faculty members total, only 40 (or so) of… Read More

getting a voter guide that was only in Spanish because of my Hispanic last name

I grew up in an era when the Crayola crayon box included a pinkish-peach color that was labeled “flesh.” As a small child, I learned and internalized color names from that box. In class here I referred to… Read More

It was about 6:00 pm on a Thursday, my busiest teaching day that semester. I had just shut down my computer and was reaching for my bag to head out to a 6:30 class at the gym (the… Read More

A faculty member told me I was brave for “admitting” I was the first in my family to go to college. I do not understand why this fact is an admission rather than a statement. Should I be… Read More

I remembered during the 2016 Election, everyone was crying and shouting hateful, mean-spirited things at Trump voters. I felt very unsafe on campus that day and throughout the next week.

People say “Happy Holidays” now as a means of being PC. I get it, not everyone celebrates Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, but just say “Merry Christmas” if you feel like it. People are actually afraid to say… Read More

A guy followed me five minutes down a beach because his friend and he had a bet to see what race I was.

Any interaction at F from sun down on a Friday to sun up on Sunday.

One time in a class, the professor had us act out a dialogue. He assigned me the role of the mother because I would “make a good mother,” and asked me to hold a baby doll. Then he… Read More