“Racism is alive and well”: (Re)visiting the University of Florida’s Black Student Union’s history through composite counterstorytelling

Abstract

This study centers on the origins of the Black Student Union (BSU) during the late 1960s and early 1970s at the University of Florida (UF) presented as a speculative fiction composite counterstory. The story presented in this manuscript serves as a cautionary tale of what the future of higher education will be, if white supremacy persists, even when white people will no longer represent a numerical majority. Though the findings utilized in this piece are decades old, we offer the current climate of public institutions and DEI initiatives to emphasize the importance of counterstories that underscore the resistance and activism that challenges oppressive systems and birthed such organizations as Black Student Unions, which are now increasingly under threat of elimination. Utilizing BlackCrit, we look backward to explore the permanence of anti-Black racism in our future. We invoke the genre of speculative fiction to give form to our findings - a fictional short story that posits a possible future world that runs counter to expectations for a post-racial future on college campuses and in the United States more broadly. Through a deeper understanding of how Black students drew upon their social networks during the Long Black Student Movement era, we aim to spark dialogue about the future of Black student advocacy at predominantly white American colleges and universities.

Keywords

• blackcrit
• long black student movement
• counterstorytelling
• racial realism