Exeter: A Microcosm of His America
On Nov. 9, 2016, I turned 18 years old. I could buy cigarettes, lottery tickets and I could finally vote. Although I missed being able to vote in such a high-stakes presidential election by one day, I didn’t think that it would matter; because after all the phone-banking and canvassing and waking up at 4:30 a.m. on Election Day, I had all the confidence in the world that Hillary Rodham Clinton would become our next president, and more importantly to me, that he would not. Just the night before, as I watched the votes come in and the electoral map change colors, there was a corner of excitement in the room when it appeared that he would become the president-elect. At midnight, I grabbed my stuff and went to bed, unphased and optimistic that I would wake up to good news. The next morning around 7:30 a.m., I saw two notifications on my phone: one from my mother that said “Happy Birthday!” and one from CNN that said that he “...surpassed 270 electoral votes, becoming the president-elect.” I was disheartened. I would get up and be met with “Happy Birthday! and Sorry!” and I would go to one class during which we didn’t even acknowledge what had happened the night before. The America I grew up in was led by President Barack Obama, a man offering hope and a dream and someone who looked like me. Now, America will go from an amazing black president to a president endorsed by the KKK. Don’t get me wrong. I know this America. I know the America that disregards its black people, that fails to realize that the rivers of this country flow with the blood of the slaves, that their bodies are beneath the very buildings we students learn in everyday, that “We, the people” never included us, the black people. This America has always existed. But, I never thought that I would be a part of a country, where a man who spews so much racist rhetoric and perpetuates white supremacist culture could still assume the highest position of authority in the land. Or that voting Americans did not consider this to be a disqualifying factor for his election. But, this is not just America. This is Exeter.I have heard the voices of classmates who rationalize and intellectualize the situation, who fail to believe that hateful rhetoric matters, who don’t know that words become actions, which in turn become the law, which is how institutionalized racism works. I have seen his slogan on hats that people wear around the school and interact with students that joke about the election results. But, this is not a laughing matter. If these are the students that Exeter is producing, students that intellectualize every situation without compassion, who lack the humanity to empathize and understand why we are hurting, then this is a school I am not proud of attending. You may not see what I see. But, I see it. And it’s real. Exeter is a microcosm of His America. Don’t tell me that white supremacist culture and racism do not exist on this campus, when I see and live it everyday. Mediocrity from white students, white faculty and white administration alike will not dismantle the white supremacist culture. To buy a book and invite an assembly speaker is not enough. To host a discussion is not enough. To say, “I’m an ally.” is not enough. To create new positions that use language like “inclusion” is not enough. You can’t just check boxes off or fill quotas and think that you are doing enough. Actively dismantling a system requires work and commitment, not passive hope and uninformed decision making. We have to do better as a community. Now, granted many of these initiatives existing are in the forward direction, but I remember what it was like my prep year when discussions of race were brought up with administration and possible solutions as well. And we are having the same discussions three years later! Enough is enough! When will our motto of non sibi become our walk of life? When will Exeter face its issues of race and earnestly seek out help to reconcile them and create initiatives that are effective in preventing more conflict? I see potential here at Exeter and our nation, but it starts with you. So take off your safety pin and do something about it.