EDITORIAL: Diversify departmental social media year-round
- jordanroxannaa
- Dec 6, 2023
- 2 min read
As we all know, February is Black History Month, the time of the year to acknowledge all the hardworking and dedicated individuals who have and continue to make changes within Black history. SFA has hosted events and highlighted members of the community to celebrate, but we have noticed that certain SFA departments’ social media accounts are only spotlighting them during this month; Black students are hard-working and deserving of recognition year-round.
Certain SFA departments accounts have made it their mission to highlight Black students who are involved with their department this month. This is a wonderful way to support Black History Month; however, they deserve to be recognized outside of February as well. Previous posts made by the accounts do not mention Black students and the community as often, if at all. To take a step further, not only are they only being featured during this time, but the captions of these posts all begin the same way, “In honor of Black History Month….” We understand that this is the time to honor Black students but supporting and celebrating Black individuals is a year-round concept, not just for one month.
This is not just an issue within our campus but around the world. Influencers, companies and brands need to consider how they are championing Black people, culture and achievements through their social media 365 days a year—not just for 28 days.
There is no doubt that SFA is a predominantly white campus with having over 59% of the white race enrolled, according to College Factual. UnivStats reveals that there is a total of 12,969 students with only 1,700 students with a Black or African American background. Based on this distribution, it is understandable that some departments may not have any Black students. However, this should motivate SFA departments to post and highlight the achievements of Black individuals throughout history all year long.
We love that these students are receiving recognition, but they should be recognized for more than one month. Black History has laid a solid foundation in equality and is the definition of perseverance. It is not just a monthly praise, but a 365-day celebration.
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