My Day

How do we talk about race on the University of Kentucky campus?  A virtual community exists starting with the UK web page - particular concepts of diversity and gendered ideologies that are projected out from under the UK logo (see what color? what me worry? don't worry, be happy!). Then the insertion of another "virtual" community through the quick Internet traffic of communications about the disrupted visualization in one of UK's public boulevard of a simulated lynching of Barak Obama (some say, hung in effigy, to evoke Revolutionary Era political signifiers instead of Jim Crow Era). That Internet community broke into mirror shards, some facing at each other, at angles and some just turned back to back in the physical communities in various places on the UK campus. 

 

The national media crafted a picture of a simulated UK for public consumption that added fuel to the growing trend of differentness of Kentuckians from the rest of the nation: we are seen as poorer, sicker, less educated and more parochial than any other state in the US.  Pockets of conversations and other social interactions accepted or dissected this constructed image.

 

The local media moved from a press conference on an historic agreement (called BCTCblue+) crafted between the University and its former underling, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, to assure more access to successful transfer and primarily a timely graduation from UK for people of all backgrounds, not just the more affluent.  President Todd's words at BCTC, warmly applauded and attended to by all who were present (the TV cameras there didn't even get turned on until after the BCTC president spoke and the UK president came to the podium) - his words recorded there were shunted aside to news editorial archives and instead his later comments on the horrific racial incident came to the fore. 

 

It seems to me that no one can any longer pay attention to what is undeniably a very positive step toward greater access to our state's flagship institution -- will Kentuckians know more later?  I wish that we could spare some additional attention to this amazing and collaborative effort for better, more student-centered efforts at connecting with our local communities surrounding UK (including those segregated still by race) -- that it has happened even or despite the roiling discontent about UK's racist communities of the past (and present).  The student newspaper couldn't do more than a short article on BCTCblue+ -- the Kernel's front webpage is dominated by a video of the very successful rally attended by hundreds of people last night.  But... where is the Internet community for this unprecedented event for UK and BCTC?