Protest from Black students emerges as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill board of trustees prepares to vote on Nikole Hannah-Jones‘ tenure position.
What We Know:
- Hannah-Jones was set to start her position as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at UNC on July 1st. This position is typically a tenured one and she received full support for the position from the Hussman School of Journalism and Media dean, Susan King, the provost, the chancellor, and many of her new colleagues. The board of trustees decided not to give Hannah-Jones the position at a tenured level after receiving criticism from conservative community members, who disliked Hannah-Jones’ portrayal of American history in her journalism project The 1619 Project.
- The 1619 Project project historically examines how the slavery of Black people molded the American political, social, and economic institutions we see today. Published in August 2019, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved group of Black people arriving in Virginia, it emphasizes racial inequities as the foundation of American history. It gives educators a curriculum that authentically encompasses Black history into American history. Hannah-Jones was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for the project.
- The journalist sought legal counsel after the board’s refusal of giving her tenure. Hannah-Jones stated she doesn’t want to cause turmoil but does believe she has the right to fight against the “anti-democratic suppression that seeks to prohibit the free exchange of ideas, silence Black voices, and chill free speech.” The board, for now, has Hannah-Jones set to receive a five-year contract with the possibility of tenured to be discussed towards the end of the contract.
- Last Friday, the Black Student Movement (BSM) organized a protest for people to come and speak on their frustration with the board of trustees’ decision. Several hundred students, alumni, faculty, and staff gathered at the university’s quad by the chancellor’s office and chanted “no justice, no peace” and held up signs, with one stating “Hussman Alumni We Stand With #NikoleHannahJones.”
- Protesters described how Black students have been treated on campus and the lack of representation amongst faculty and staff. Members of BSM issued out 13 demands for Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and three for the Board of Trustees, such as no UNC police at resident hall move-in, ‘Alert Carolina’ be used when dangerous white supremacists are on campus, make Nikole Hannah-Jones a tenured professor, and more diversity on the board of trustees.
- Jaylen Harrell, a sophomore and member of BSM, stated, that Hannah-Jones not getting tenure was shocking. The decision made students “question where is the university at in terms of how they are viewing their minority students and what our importance level is there.” During the protest, Harrell expressed how minority students want their voices heard and represented through their faculty and staff. King showed her support of the protest via Twitter.
We so appreciate our great UNC students’ suppport & other schools’ support for @UNCHussman faculty & staff determination to bring a great journalist like @nhannahjones back to campus. Thank you. https://t.co/JFeoxxXGYZ
— Susan King (@DeanSusanKing) June 25, 2021
- University faculty group, the Carolina Black Caucus, met last week and have said that many members are threatening to leave the university after seeing the treatment of Hannah-Jones. Guskiewicz called a meeting to order for the group’s leaders, where vice-chancellor Patricia Harris claimed morale was low and that things needed to change. The caucus was established in 1974 when Black students at the school asked for a place for an African American studies program. UNC Black students and faculty had to jump through multiple hoops for decades before they finally got their own space. In 2004, the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History was created.
“This is not an isolated incident! It’s exacerbated what we’ve been seeing across campus, and even across the country when it comes to Black faculty, staff, and students. This is a systemic issue where the goalposts are constantly being moved for people of color,” said Harris.
- In 2006, Ph.D. candidate John K. Chapman wrote in his dissertation that the university was seen as “the Southern Part of Hell” or “the plantation” to many Black campus employees and students. He stated, “this has to do with the university’s long history of white supremacy and its role as the dominant institution and main employer in Chapel Hill.” In 2019, students became fed up with the “Silent Sam” statue on campus and toppled it, forcing the statue to be given to a Confederate group and causing the chancellor and the police chief at that time, to leave their positions.
Hannah-Jones’ team has released a statement that she will not be joining the faculty if she is not given a tenured position at the university. According to The Hill, the board will meet to vote on Hannah-Jones’ position today at 3 pm.
