Social justice is everywhere, and the south is certainly no exception.

Case in point: At Nashville’s Vanderbilt University, a new system’s in place.

On April 7th, the school launched its Social Justice CARE website.

CARE stands for Community, Action, Restoration, and Education.

Per its homepage, the organization is situationally aware:

Vanderbilt’s Student Care Network recognizes that our Black students are struggling with systemic racism in our society. We recognize that our Asian students are also experiencing discrimination, distress, and prejudice arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s anti-harm:

We recognize that so many other students of marginalized identities have been and continue to experience anguish and harm from conscious and subconscious bias as well.

And just to be clear, it’s also anti-ism:

The Student Care Network strongly condemns and rejects acts of racism, police brutality, violence toward Black people, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism, and classism.

Adolescents need affirmation:

We stand in solidarity with you, we are here for you, we are advocating for you, and we recognize your need for support and affirmation. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We acknowledge that harm experienced by any community member is damaging to our collective community.

Social Justice CARE invites “all students to explore [the provided] resources as a path toward understanding and healing.”

And it’s all arranged according to identity:

[T]hese resources are organized by race and ethnic identity, and that social justice refers to the broad eradication of inequity for all identities.

For “Community,” the following resources are supplied:

• Center Link – The Community of LGBT Centers | LGBTQI2S+ Students
• Modern Military Association of America | LGBTQI2S+ Students
• PFLAG | LGBTQI2S+ Students
• GLAD Racial Justice Resources | Black Students
• African Communities Together | Black International Students / African Diaspora
• The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. | Black Womxn Identified Students
• Greater Nashville Chinese Association | East Asian/ East Asian American Students
• WAVES Community | East Asian/ East Asian American Students
• Greater Nashville Chinese Association | Chinese/Chinese American Students
• Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi | Womxn
• The Mighty | Disabled Students
• iWeigh Radical Inclusivity | All Identities

“Education” identity groups are as follows:

• Code Switch (Podcast) | BIPOC
• Asian Mental Health Collective + Mental health Mukbang podcast | AAPI Students
• Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum | AAPI Students
• Center for World Indigenous Studies | Indigenous Peoples
• Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights | Immigrants
• Out & Equal – Workplace Advocates | LGBTQIA+ Students
• Campus Pride | LGBTQIA+ Students
• GLAAD Accelerating Acceptance 2020 Report | LGBTQIA+ Students
• Talking about Race – resources from National Museum of African American History and Culture | Black Students
• The Black Youth Project | Black Students
• Latinx Therapy Podcast + Latinx | Latinx Students
• National LatinX Psychological Association (website | journal article) | Latinx Students
• SisterSong | Womxn
• Feminism 101 Blog | Womxn
• Disability Horizons | Students with Disabilities
• The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation | Neurodiverse Students
• The Neurodiversity Network | Neurodiverse Students
• What is Systemic Racism (Video Series) | All Identities
• UC San Diego Anti Racism Guide: Resources for Education and Action | All Identities
• Anit-Racism Reading Resources | All Identities
• Library Research Guides – University of Dayton: Resources for Anti-Racist Allies | All Identities

It’s an interesting combination of components: The program references Martin Luther King — a man who preached colorblind integration — yet it seems intent upon separation.

And it touts “antiracism,” defined thusly by UCLA Law Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw:

“[It’s] the active dismantling of systems, privileges, and everyday practices that reinforce and normalize the contemporary dimensions of white dominance.”

So much has changed in so little time. For a few decades following MLK’s (and others’) leadership, America appeared to be strengthening by way of unity. That trajectory looks to have totally reversed. We are now once again segregated, as the small-group divisions are told they’re “harmed” and must be “affirmed.”

Moreover, they’re “marginalized” — not merely in the statistical margins, but “-ized,” acted upon by an oppressive force.

Where will we be in 50 years? If we continue along our current path, despite great contemporary talk of personal “pride” and “empowerment,” Americans don’t seem bound to possess either. Such qualities, as I understand them, are characteristics of individual strength.

As for the country as a whole, such a thing can’t exist if we’re only fragments kept apart. Hopefully, we’ll somehow find our way back to “one nation, under God.”

-ALEX

See more content from me:

Report: Harvard Cancels Feminist’s Speech on Poetry Because She Opposes Males in Women’s Prisons

Actor Mark Wahlberg’s Message to America: ‘Let’s Do the Rosary Together,’ Stay ‘Prayed Up’

Lady Drops Her Phone in an Outhouse, Tries to Retrieve It and Falls in — Says the Fire Department

Find all my RedState work here.

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