In Its Quest to Become Anti-Racist, Duke Must Reckon With a Past That Echoes Into the Present
On the job training session at campus dining in 1947.
âCan Duke really become anti-racist?â
The question was emblazoned on the cover of the 2020 winter edition of the Duke University alumni magazine and probed with essays, feature stories, and text excerpts from podcastsâmostly responding to the larger racial reckoning that swept America following George Floydâs death.
Letters to the editor in the issue offered mixed reviews about the magazineâs coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests. But an incendiary letter submitted by Charles Philip Clutts, a 1961 Duke graduate, unleashed anger on social media. Clutts called the âconstant remindersâ of systemic racism âwearisomeâ and said Black men should marry, take care of their children, avoid drugs, stay out of jail, and realize that âacting white by studying is not a bad thing.â
The Muslim-Canadian model and Instagram star Donna Bahdon is changing attitudes about how fashion and religion can co-exist in today’s world.
When I was younger, my family home was where the women in my family would come and get ready for any big day: a wedding, a bridal shower or any cultural festivity. I loved watching the process of them getting ready. The ambiance, the conversation, the laughter, the jewelry, hair and makeup all of it was so beautiful, and it’s definitely something I want to carry on as well.
I was born and raised in Canada as a Muslim-Canadian, and I grew up in predominantly French-Canadian communities. My parents emigrated to Canada from Djibouti in the late ’80s/early ’90s, and they settled in Montreal before moving to Ottawa. Growing up, I was always surrounded by my family and all my relatives and there was always a sense of belonging. As Muslims, from an early age, my parents taught my siblings and I to respect and understand the importance of