Make Us Feel Like Owls: Black Student Perspectives
Tyson Lewis | February 24, 2022
Special to The Echo | Sarah Puterbaugh
Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a predominantly white institution (PWI). For Black History Month, three Black students shared their perspectives on what it means for them to be people of color at a PWI, and the intersections of their identities as both Black and newly as Owls.
Adonis King, a psychology major and first-year, gave his perspective on what it means to him to be Black.
“What Blackness means to me is just being myself, my authentic self in a country where that wasn't allowed and it's really looked down upon,” King said. “I feel like being in touch with my roots, just knowing and learning about my ancestors. I feel like for every Black person just being authentically them, not having to reform or change how they act for someone else’s comfort.”
This is not the only way an individual Black identity can be described. Nijah Colston, an English major and first-year, has shared a different and more intrinsic description of her Blackness.
“I take my identity in stride; I’m a Black person,” Colston said. “I would say when it comes to it, I don’t separate my Blackness from anything. I’m a Black writer, I’m a Black content creator, I’m a Black podcaster. That’s a part of me. Before anything else, I am a Black woman. That’s how I was put on this earth and that’s how I’ll die.”
As well as being Black, these students are also Owls, students of WWC. They both share the experience of attending a PWI with a 76% white student body and 91% white faculty.
King gave his account as a first-year student on campus. Overall, it is a neutral one.
“I think, for starters, everyone can agree there aren't many of us here,” King said. “I think this is a predominately white school. But honestly my experience here hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been amazing. It’s kind of neutral, very chill. … From some conversations I’ve had with people, it's actually gotten better. What I’m experiencing now is kind of a good stretch, but I’ve heard from upperclassmen that it used to be not as good in terms of microaggressions and the way teachers treat and talk to Black students.”
Similarly to how people may describe their identity as Black differently, Colston described a different experience being Black on WWC.
“You just call me an Owl, dog? Being Black on campus here is annoying. It’s so annoying,” Colston said. “First off, people think that if they’re not saying slurs, they’re a good person. So they ignore you. If you don’t have a lot of friends, especially white friends, you’re just ignored. You don’t exist. Definitely not an Owl. Definitely just a person who goes here. There’s no sense of community. The only community is with other Black people here. I wouldn’t say I’m in a community with these white kids, I don’t think they want me to be in their community. That’s how I feel being a Black Owl here.”
Having grown up in a predominantly white area, Colston said that she still had not expected to feel this way at Warren Wilson in her process of choosing schools to attend. A student’s perception of their Blackness can change how they feel on Warren Wilson.
Black History Month and Black identity are not necessarily exclusive to African American Black people, but also Caribbean students. Bria Scott, a biology major and senior at WWC is the head of the Wilson Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (WIDE) Crew and she offered her perspective as someone who identifies as Jamaican and an international student.
“People hardly ever know if you’re not African American as a Black student,” Scott said. “Also it's a tough subject to talk about how you identify. Being an international student is different from being a Black person from America. In a sense, my identity reflects me as an international person here.”
She also shared some thoughts on if it should be easier to talk about identity.
“I think so, but I’m not rushing that process. It's heavy,” Scott said. “I only know that because where I come from it's different; we don't talk about identity; we don't have to. From a predominantly Black space, we all know who we are and who we represent. Here it's a lot different, it's a lot more cultures and backgrounds, so if they’re not ready to be that comfortable I get that as someone on the outside. This is the first place I’ve ever been where everything surrounds my identity. Even me doing this interview is about my identity. I’ve never had that experience before. Most of the things I’ve done here is about identity, which is sad because I feel like I’ve accomplished so much other stuff, but it’s rarely talked about versus ‘What’s your perspective as a black student?’”
Scott recently accomplished presenting her Natural Science Undergraduate Research Sequence (NSURS) project entitled, “Measuring antioxidant levels in Momordica charantia tea with different brewing times,” and was proud to have done research that connected her educational experience here at WWC to her home.
King described his time as a first-year as neutral, yet he closed with this line in reference to how he has perceived other Black student experiences.
“Let’s not have a neutral experience,” King said. “I’m not saying that people on this campus don’t try as hard, but let’s keep trying. This is a predominately white institution. It can leave some students feeling a little left out, a little out of place. I’m not saying people aren’t trying hard enough or hard at all, but keep pushing for that inclusion. Making us feel like an Owl, a part of a bigger family.”