University of Virginia Library

Racial Slander

This concerns some of the most
overt racism I have witnessed since
I have been at the University of
Virginia. It happened at last
Saturday's football game. While I
was sitting in the stands there were
several whites around me referring
to a couple of the black football
players as "boys." They were
saying things such as "Get that
boy" and "Run over that boy."
These remarks were directed
toward our quarterback Harrison
Davis and the opposing team's
flanker Walter Overton. When I first
heard the word "boy" I though
these people were using it as a
figure of speech; however, when
they reiterated that word I took it
as a racial slander. This is just an
example of the racial slurs I have
heard at this University. The black
students here still are not respected
by some of the white students.

While I do not expect every
white person to call every black
person "sir" I do expect more
consideration for us than I have
witnessed so far. I do not think that
the termination of racial
name-calling will serve as a panacea
for the elimination of racism, but it
will definitely serve as an asset.