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
After the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of in-person campus tours and events, the Karsh building could no longer fulfill its intended purpose. But devoid of students and alumni, Karsh gained a new role, becoming a multifunctional empty space. In the past few months, the building has morphed from an early voting center in the 2020 election to a vaccination site for the Durham community.