2 years after blackface incident, community issues remain

Daily Northwestern - 'Images like these not only serve to dehumanize all members of the black community at NU and abroad,' he wrote, 'but it points to the lack of respect for one's peers and illuminates a mentality held by a multitude of people at NU'...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

From Daily Northwestern:

This week marks the two-year anniversary of Northwestern’s blackface incident, when two students used blackface in their Halloween costumes, igniting a campus-wide controversy and triggering a discussion about race relations at NU.

About a week after the incident, then-Weinberg sophomore Kellyn Lewis wrote in a letter to The Daily that the episode reflected a troubling racial climate on campus.

“Images like these not only serve to dehumanize all members of the black community at NU and abroad,” he wrote, “but it points to the lack of respect for one’s peers and illuminates a mentality held by a multitude of people at NU.”

In the wake of the incident, the University hosted a forum to address the history of blackface. Students at the forum voiced additional concerns, including racial profiling, and newly inaugurated University President Morton Schapiro pledged to create a more inclusive campus environment.

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