“You get the security guards leaving you alone. We get to say the n-word.”
“When the US Department of Education proves that our school district is racist, you need to listen.”
Those are a sampling of tweets posted recently on “Dear White Columbia,” a Twitter account started in March, which describes itself in its profile as “Popping MAPSO’s pseudo-liberal bubble of privilege one tweet at a time.”
The sometimes provocative and occasionally profane tweets appeared at around the same time as two other accounts, “Dear Male Columbia,” and “Dear Straight CHS.” “Dear Female CHS” and “Dear Black CHS” were launched soon afterwards seemingly as rebuttals.
It is unclear who started the accounts, but what is certain is the stir they caused among the student body, attracting reactions from admiring to highly critical. Students said the tweets help to spur conversations about race and gender, and were the subject of discussions in classrooms, at the “Diversity Rocks!” student group and informally among students.
CHS senior Mia Goldstein said ‘Dear White Columbia’ — which appears to be a spin on the movie “Dear White People” — addresses “the casual racism and micro-aggressions that students of color experience every day.” Some tweets also allude to the recent ACLU complaint involving the district.
The tweets take aim not at the entire student body but to those who “unknowingly perpetuate racism in small, yet harmful ways,” said Goldstein, and while some posts are “biting and sardonic,” they do reflect the everyday experiences of many CHS students.
“I think using humor is the best way to get people to listen,” said Goldstein, who doesn’t know who started the accounts.
On the other hand, Goldstein believes “Dear Female CHS” and “Dear Black CHS” use attacks as a way to cyberbully groups of people.
“The…accounts have generated open and passionate discussion, both organized in a forum and in other venues throughout our school,” said senior Maggie Kritzberg, student representative to the Board of Education. While some students think they have helped launch necessary conversations, others are troubled by the anonymity and the tone of some of the posts, she said.
“It has been very meaningful to witness the conversations being had, to see them continuing in our school and to see people sharing what they think so thoughtfully,” Kritzberg said. “This is another step to addressing problems that are clearly present, and that need to be solved in our schools.”
The tweets were addressed in a school broadcast last week by Columbia Cable Network A.M. News Director Edward Willshire. In a video posted on CCN’s Facebook page, Willshire accused the posters of “hiding behind a screen name” and called the “Dear Female Male Columbia” tweets “misogynistic and deliberately inflammatory.”
At least one male freshman agreed with him. “In particular I didn’t like when, on the Dear Male CHS account, the posters stated that there was no such thing as reverse sexism. That’s simply not true. Just as a guy can be sexist to girls, by insulting them in some way, a girl can be equally sexist to a guy.”
Wilshire said that while CHS provides many students with an excellent education, it is “a far from perfect place” and there are “undeniable problems that need to be addressed.”
Asked to comment on the accounts and the tweets, CHS Principal Elizabeth Aaron said in an email, “Twitter and the internet are public platforms – I am always in favor of thoughtful and intelligent conversations!”
