Last week, the Star Press published an article by Ball State student Malachi Randolph titled “End the Witch Hunts at Ball State.” Randolph, whose series of racist tweets were published by the Daily News last year, condemns the blowback he received, as well as blowback over other incidents of public racism at Ball State, as a “witch hunt” and an example of “persecution.” This claim is horrifying and dangerous, as is the amount of support his statements have received from the student body. Randolph’s claims come from a place of power and privilege, and perpetuate dynamics of violence and oppression against people of color that both encompass and extend far beyond the context of Ball State’s campus.
There are several problems with Randolph’s argument, chiefly his false equivocation of getting called out with violence and victimization, and out of this his failure to recognize the historical and contemporary violence suffered by people of color. Anti-violence workers will tell you that people who enact abuse, both structural and interpersonal, are rarely challenged. Rather, structures of power and privilege protect abusers while disempowering victims. In rare cases when there is a call for accountability and justice, those who have done violence and harm often respond by claiming the act of being called out amounts to a form of violence against them, and that they are being “persecuted” and oppressed. This fundamentally ignores dynamics of power; it is a means of changing the narrative of victimization to benefit the abuser, in order to erase violence and silence victims. Let’s be clear, racism is violence and oppression. Being called out for your racism is not. Claiming that being publically held accountable for racism is a form of “persecution” actively erases and silences people of color who are harmed by the actual, felt violence of racism.
The failure of this equivalency becomes even clearer when contextualized by the reality of violence and oppression suffered by people of color. While Malachi Randolph complains on facing the minimum measurable consequences for his racism, every 28 hours a black man is killed by vigilantes or police. While he claims getting called out for racism is a form of persecution, a trans woman of color has been murdered almost every week this year. While he asserts being called out for racism is a witch hunt, black women continue to face some of the highest rates of violence of any marginalized group, and indigenous women disappear at such incredible numbers that a movement called “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” has been organized to address this slow genocide. In short, while Randolph equivocates getting called out on his racism with victimization, people of color are dying from the actual violence of racism.
After nearly a year of watching more and more names of murdered black people become hashtags, I am out of patience. For Malachi Randolph, racism is a matter of reputation. For people of color, it’s a form of violence and trauma, and a constant threat to survival. The lives of people of color have to matter more. If you are more upset about Randolph getting called out for his racism than you are about his actual racism, it’s time to self-reflect. Racism is an act of violence against people of color, and has to be called out in order to protect those most vulnerable to its violence. Instead of defending people who are being called out for racism, rally in support, solidarity and safety around people of color who are every day threatened by the violence of racist oppression; and instead of silencing them, learn to listen.
Esther Wolfe
eewolfe@bsu.edu
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