Listen To This Story
2020 was a year that laid bare our deep divisions as a nation. Over the past few months, America Amplified reporter Megan Feeney has been following up with a small group of Nebraskans to find out how they’ve been navigating their lives in a year defined by a pandemic, a presidential election and increased awareness of racial injustice.
When Brianna Simmons sat down for lunch with a coworker a few years ago, she was expecting a friendly, relaxed outing. Then that coworker reached out her hand and asked if she could touch her hair.
Simmons ducked.
She knew that her status as a higher educational professional didn’t exempt her from experiencing microaggressions or other insidious forms of racism, but she recalls in that moment having, “this feeling of amazement that my hair would be the subject of any kind of curiosity to her.”
“I believe that everyone has a voice and has a perspective that is unique, and that is needed but especially, currently, people of color, women of color.” Brianna Simmons. (Photo by Lasha Goodwin, America Amplified)
Representation matters
Too often in higher education, diversity is a marketing scheme rather than a real commitment to inclusion and equity, she says.
“Advertisements are diverse and multicultural, but when it comes down to the actual representation on campus, that can be quite the contrast,” Simmons says.
Representation matters to students of color -- whether it’s present in other students, instructors or university leadership.
“How comfortable are students going to people that maybe they don't know in the first place, but how much more comfortable would they be to come to someone who looks like them or represents their background?”
Simmons believes Americans should try to better understand the country’s racist past and present and seek to amplify and listen to marginalized voices.
“I believe that everyone has a voice and has a perspective that is unique, and that is needed but especially, currently, people of color, women of color.”
Megan Feeney produced this story as part of the America Amplified: Election 2020 initiative, using community engagement to inform and strengthen local, regional and national journalism. America Amplified is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. You can follow America Amplified on Twitter @amplified2020.