Luckily, I’m not the only one who’s been thinking about this, especially in the context of our country’s current divided situation. According to an article from the New York Times, Latin and the Classics in general have recently been experiencing a diversity reckoning, after having been associated with discrimination, used to justify racism in extreme cases and simply thought of as “overwhelmingly taught and studied by white men” (Poser). According to this same article, a well known Princeton professor of the Classics, Dan-el Padilla Peralta “believes that it [Classics] has sown racism throughout the entirety of higher education,” and is making moves to change that (Poser). I would like to be a part of this change, starting with an idea I had for an affinity group a few months ago.
Right now, I’m starting a group for black students in Latin in the state of Ohio with a few specific goals. I’d like to make this group a place to talk about our experiences, the aforementioned diversity shift happening in Classics, and how we as students can help foster diversity and convince more student-aged black people to join Latin, considering that there’s a chronic lack of us in the subject. As I’m getting this group off the ground and developing it further please send me an email if you have any interest or questions; I would love to hear from anyone who’d like to get involved. Vale!
Email for Questions: [email protected]