![]() "Right now, everybody is very tuned into changes that they would like to see in our world and our country," said Sharon Mitchell, president of the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors, or AUCCCD. N.y. slur root out racism clerk plus#Black student leaders noted that the amount of stress they endure and the time-consuming nature of activist work - plus the racist incidents that inspire this work - can cause students to fall behind in their studies or can become so emotionally burdensome that they drop out. They have less time and emotional bandwidth to dedicate to typical student experiences, such as creating and maintaining personal relationships and a social life, performing academically and navigating what is likely their first time living away from home. Students of color who engage in activism and leadership frequently sideline their own mental health needs to focus on the fight for racial justice on their campuses. But even as the students welcome that they are finally being heard, their efforts have come with a heavy price. The national racial justice movement fueled by outrage over the police killings of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people has given the students’ cause momentum and forced college administrators to act more forcefully and urgently to speak out against racism and implement diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The incidents were the focal points of protest movements and demands for change for several years, but the calls for action seemed to reach a crescendo this year as Black students at colleges across the country repeatedly called for college administrators to condemn and address racism on their campuses. Whether victims of constant microaggressions or outright verbal or physical assaults, many have stories of being called a racial slur directly or seeing it scrawled on a campus wall, viewing racist posts by classmates on social media, or sitting through a presentation by a classmate professing a white supremacist conspiracy. Black students at many predominantly white colleges have long complained of the racial hostility, subtle and blatant, that they regularly encounter on their campuses. "That is a story that continues to sit with me," said Lofton, who is now a junior. She has felt “out of place” ever since and hyperaware of her surroundings, which has taken a toll on her mental health. That 2018 incident was a marker for other racial incidents that would follow at the predominantly white campus in North Carolina and leave Lofton without any illusions about the deep prejudices that some students on campus have against Black people. She then returned to her dorm and confided in her roommate, but she said she didn’t report the comment to the university because she was not aware of the process to do so. When the class ended, Lofton left, reeling from hurt, and went to a nearby bathroom to cry. Lofton, "completely shocked" to hear a racial slur used so casually, said nothing, and neither did her professor, who Lofton said paused and appeared to have heard the comment. Lofton, who is Black, asked her macroeconomics professor a question during class and heard someone sitting behind her say, "I guess n****rs don’t understand." Colbie Lofton’s first week of classes at Appalachian State University is sealed in her mind. ![]()
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