The University of California, Berkeley, had a “Black-only graduation ceremony.” A video of the ceremony was posted online and is now under fire for promoting racial segregation.
Also Read| Florida shark attack 2023: 2 men bitten by predators in 36 hours
This event infuriated social media users, who quickly expressed their displeasure.
The separate ceremony for African American students appears to have started as a yearly event at the public university in 2013. The Black-only graduation ceremony is held independently of the main graduation ceremony.
Megan Wang, a student at UC-Berkeley in 2021, told Campus Reform that holding separate ceremonies is the “21st century equivalent of separate but equal.”
According to her, it communicates to students that “their race fundamentally differentiates them from other students.”
Also Read| Why was Meta fined $1.3 billion by EU over data privacy?
According to California College Republicans Communications Director Dylan Martin, this decision “furthers the division in this country.”
“We’re disheartened to see universities like Columbia and now Berkeley veer so far to the left that they’re resurrecting Democrats’ segregationist history. Encouraging our separation into groups – saying there should be something separate and special for different races – furthers the division in this country. The solution to racism is not segregation. CCR is happy to represent all College Republicans in the state in condemning these segregationist actions,” Martin stated in 2021.
Graduation ceremonies that are exclusively for Black students serve as a forum for them to celebrate their cultural heritage, share experiences, and remember their accomplishments. These gatherings frequently feature speakers from outside the region, live entertainment, cultural rites, and the donning of traditional African garb.
Black students who may have experienced particular difficulties and discrimination throughout their scholastic path, according to supporters of Black-only graduation ceremonies, benefit from the sense of empowerment and belonging these rituals give them. They can be used to acknowledge and celebrate the tenacity and accomplishments of Black graduates in a setting created especially to showcase their cultural identity.
Black-only graduation celebrations have drawn criticism from those who fear racial segregation or exclusion. They contend that these ceremonies could lead to student divisiveness rather than togetherness and continue the practice of holding separate graduation ceremonies for different races. The significance of inclusion and diversity within the larger academic community is also emphasized by critics.
According to Campus Reform, Columbia University hosted six identity-based commencement ceremonies two years ago, including a “Native Graduation Celebration,” a “Lavender Graduation Celebration” for LGBTQ students, a “Asian Graduation Celebration,” a “First-generation and Low-Income Student Graduation Celebration,” a “Latinx Graduation Celebration,” and a “Black Graduation Celebration.”
