The Repression

 I've noticed that the life here in Cullowhee takes a tole on the typical black student. There's more stress and adjustment that takes place because of the small population of minority students. We aren't in a place where we can easily find our groups and in some way we have to search for them and that's something that the white students don't really have to do because they are the majority. I never really took a moment to think about how racism, discrimination, or prejudice can affect black students at a Predominately White Institute (PWI). After certain issues that took place on campus last year, it opened my eyes. I began to noticed the mental break that black graduates have to take after leaving Cullowhee. I often hear something along the lines of "There's just something about Cullowhee" or "I felt relief after leaving". Something that displays a certain cloud of darkness for black students that surrounds the small college town. We never consider the stress we endure over the years or how any kind of racism can effect our studies, our mental health, and our relationships with others. We are shown that our blackness doesn't really matter by some administration turning a blind eye or even participating in aiding racist acts, our peers telling us our concerns and safety doesn't matter, and our own culture being threatened. We may not always acknowledge what it does to us, but we definitely carry the weight of it.

“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.”

                                                                    —W.E.B. Du Bois