u/Ambitious-Lab3040

I worked at Howard University and loved many aspects of it. The legacy, the history, and the sense of American Black intellectual tradition genuinely inspired me.

That said, one experience seriously unsettled me. Before an exam, a student began leading a Christian prayer and asked everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes. Most people joined in automatically. One student did not, and I immediately wondered how alienating that moment could feel if you were Muslim, nonreligious, queer, or simply not Christian.

My issue is not that students have their religion. My issue is the expectation of a collective participation while in a university setting (i.e. not a church, or a home, or a community etc but a place where people come to live and learn from ALL backgrounds). A classroom at a secular university should not operate as though Christianity is the default identity of everyone present, and it felt that way to me. I felt weirded out and alienated, not to mention the student who did not pray.

As someone who grew up in the Black church, and endured its harms, moments like that make me nervous about whether there actually is room at Howard for ideological and religious non-conformity because people seemed really into it and I wouldn't want to feel left out or like I had to clash. Had I been a student there, I probably would have spoken up at the risk of costing myself social value. As an employee, I had no clue what my role is.

I still deeply respect Howard’s importance and legacy as an HBCU, especially as someone from Maryland who grew up aware of Black and mixed figures like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. But I do think universities should be careful about maintaining environments that are welcoming to everyone, not just people comfortable with public Christianity.

Curious how other people feel about this, especially students or alumni from HBCUs.

Note: Written with the help of ChatGPT. It said: "Your current draft has a few tonal layers happening at once:

1. sincere admiration for Howard University and Black intellectual legacy
2. discomfort with public prayer in an academic setting
3. fear of social exclusion as a queer/nonbinary leftist person raised in Black Christianity
4. implied criticism of Black communal religiosity itself

The first three can absolutely generate productive discussion. The fourth is what will likely trigger backlash, derailment, or moderation issues."

Personally, this was not okay for me. I would have stopped it and asked them to do it outside of the testing hall or something. What is the presumed legality of them doing it, and of me redirecting them to outside the classroom?

{Original version before GPT: I worked at Howard University and loved it. Was absolutely inspired and want to continue to work there but one thing REALLY seriously turned me off was...during one exam, a student led a prayer and did the "all eyes are closed and all heads are bowed" thing and I was NOT having it at all. (To me that seems illegal actually and I thought to interrupt her but I was not paying attention when she started. I just looked up and everyone was suddenly praying.) One girl did not pray and I felt SO BAD for her. She looked like she could be African and my first thought was "she could be Muslim and feel so weirded out or alienated right now, and it's right before a test." I just found the whole thing inexplicable because it is a college and college is where you go to expand. I developed a sense of fear that if I do go there I am going to be wrapped right back up in the black Christianity I was raised in, which I do not want as an androphilic enby amab who is very leftist. I respect people having their own religion; I do not respect it being forced on anybody or excluding anybody and I felt that the prayer, while probably wonderful for the Christian kids, was a bit imposing on the non-Christians. I figured in DC religion would not be the centerpiece of our mostly secular society. Anyway, thought I would start a discussion, including on the legality if anyone wants to chime in who knows about that stuff. I would be so proud to attend and become a part of the legacy at Howard as a person who is of African-American ancestry but I would NEVER be down for being forced to participate in any form of Christianity. (Study, sure, but participate NO!). I graduated from a PWI. Did not like it or dislike it but wanted more of that powerful "legacy" that is sort of indescribable but powerful especially since I am from Maryland, birthplace of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass (another mixed Marylander like me).}

I am considering law school there that is why I posted. I am wondering if I will hate that aspect of it so much that I feel as alienated as I would anywhere being biracial, gay, etc. Don't want this for me as a non-traditional age student.

I worked at Howard University and loved many aspects of it. The legacy, the history, and the sense of American Black intellectual tradition genuinely inspired me.

That said, one experience seriously unsettled me. Before an exam, a student began leading a Christian prayer and asked everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes. Most people joined in automatically. One student did not, and I immediately wondered how alienating that moment could feel if you were Muslim, nonreligious, queer, or simply not Christian.

My issue is not that students have their religion. My issue is the expectation of a collective participation while in a university setting (i.e. not a church, or a home, or a community etc but a place where people come to live and learn from ALL backgrounds). A classroom at a secular university should not operate as though Christianity is the default identity of everyone present, and it felt that way to me. I felt weirded out and alienated, not to mention the student who did not pray.

As someone who grew up in the Black church, and endured its harms, moments like that make me nervous about whether there actually is room at Howard for ideological and religious non-conformity because people seemed really into it and I wouldn't want to feel left out or like I had to clash. Had I been a student there, I probably would have spoken up at the risk of costing myself social value. As an employee, I had no clue what my role is.

I still deeply respect Howard’s importance and legacy as an HBCU, especially as someone from Maryland who grew up aware of Black and mixed figures like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. But I do think universities should be careful about maintaining environments that are welcoming to everyone, not just people comfortable with public Christianity.

Curious how other people feel about this, especially students or alumni from HBCUs.

Note: Written with the help of ChatGPT. It said: "Your current draft has a few tonal layers happening at once:

1. sincere admiration for Howard University and Black intellectual legacy
2. discomfort with public prayer in an academic setting
3. fear of social exclusion as a queer/nonbinary leftist person raised in Black Christianity
4. implied criticism of Black communal religiosity itself

The first three can absolutely generate productive discussion. The fourth is what will likely trigger backlash, derailment, or moderation issues."

I notice a lot of people will say things like, across the diaspora, or they'll use the term diaspora to include Africans, but African people are not a part of a diaspora. So when they say diaspora war, I know what that means, but is the idea there that the diaspora is going against Africa, or are people mistaking that Africans are part of a diaspora?

This was a few years ago and I think ultimately I was in the right because over the course of months he would not stop bringing it up to me. I am mixed but look white and he would just keep hammering at it. I felt so belittled by it, and when another coworker kept saying things like this is how we do things in our community I felt like it was so didactic that I was just so frustrated so eventually I told him to stop.

Just wondering black people's perspectives of African descent and African people how you associate those people in the concept of being Black. Do you or no?

This came up in a conversation about Barack Obama being half black but not being African American. Someone told me that he is African American since his father is African but I told that person that simply being African and born in America does not make you African-American because the term refers to the historical people of the United States. Then I have heard from others that they are African-American, such as a person who was from the Caribbean but born in the United States and who called themselves African American.

I'm confused about the Obama thing so I'm just looking for other people's inputs because I don't consider him African-American, though not because he's the child of an interracial couple.

I'm also a little bit confused because this person said that although their culture is Caribbean, their identity is African American and I just was confused.

The thing about the Indian people is just the question I've always had because they are dark black so I'm just very confused as to why they are not considered to be black. I was telling my coworker who is Indian that it's oftentimes difficult to tell when someone is mixed with Indian and black because they come out just looking black.