Notre Dame’s apartheid: Race as faux pas

As the clock struck at 8:55 p.m., I would scramble to my parent’s room with a Pillow Pet in my left hand and my favorite blanket in the other. I would patiently wait for 20/20 with Barber Walters, or sometimes Diane Sawyer, to stream on ABC. 20/20 was a weekly news program dedicated to in-depth stories and interviews. It was investigative journalism covering things from celebrities Michael Jackson, Malala Yousafzai and Monica Lewinsky to issues like the Jonestown massacre. 

Initially, my parents were not too fond of me staying up past my bedtime, but they came around to letting their 7-year-old watch the news with them. Watching 20/20 on ABC was my first genuine exposure to major political and social issues during my formative years. When I was not watching ABC, I was probably watching Al Jazeera in the morning with my parents before school or even ”Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” reruns on CNN. The constant news reel of CNN, Al Jazeera and ABC around me as a child caused me to be mesmerized by international politics and news. Exposure to media like this at a young age made me globally-minded and open-minded early on. 

As I grew up, learning about other cultures continued. In my leisure time, I watched Ethiopian comedies, Mike Wines eat ”The MOST INSANE Street Food in Thailand!” or lurked around Embassy Row in Washington D.C. for Passport DC with trips to different embassies.

On campus today, you can find me at Russian Tea parties, representing U.K. Parliament members at Model UN conferences, or Egyptian Shadow Theater. (I like to keep everyone guessing!) 

As a student who grew up in Maryland, I was fortunate enough to go to a high school that was highly diverse. I grew up in the phenomenon known as the DMV (formally known as the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area), with one of the largest Ethiopian populations. 

I will always cherish my high school days filled with my encounters with driven students of color who were extremely racially conscious. Since I lived so close to Washington D.C. — around 8 miles from the White House — many of my classmates got to go to protests, lobby on the hill and participate in activism at a young age. 

Entering college, my reality drastically shifted. 

During my time here, I have learned that Notre Dame is housed with an abundance of knowledge and racism.  

As a student who has been here for three years, I find myself hearing students say things in some of my classes that would make Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis seem moderate. The blunt privileged mannerisms, entitlement and racially homogeneous narrative spewed by my classmates are terrifying. In lecture, I found that my white classmates’ voices were objectively louder, but not necessarily smarter. It feels comfortable for them to be in a classroom, whereas I do not. 

It doesn’t end in the classroom. While walking around campus, whether it be the dining hall, student center or library, it is easy to see how a self-segregated campus is. Students on campus congregate into racially homogeneous factions per racial identities and communities. There are very few racially diverse spaces with actual representation. It tells a lot about students’ friendships, government, leadership and clubs. We exist in a campus with little to no racial integration, and that looks like apartheid.

I have endured seeing classmates who have “Black Lives Matter” plastered on social media and their water bottles, turn around to say racial slurs after hours, respond with “stop making this a race issue” or even believe race is too taboo to talk about. 

But it doesn’t end there. 

At Notre Dame, I simultaneously find myself in hell and heaven. I am attending a school with renowned academics and a wealth of opportunities. Yet, the need for more diversity in thought and practice is one I am burdened with. Blame does not go entirely to administration, but possibly extends to the pre-conditions of teaching social factors to encapsulate structural racism. 

Race shouldn’t be ”faux pas” at Notre Dame, and I hope that changes someday. Being at Notre Dame has taught me to understand racism in a way I could have never imagined. In the coming years, I hope no student has to experience what I’ve had to. I hope Notre Dame can prosper.