UNF faces backlash after posting Black History Month quiz that some found offensive

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – The group of UNF students protesting Tuesday on campus may have been small, but their message was big.

They are upset because they said the administration failed to take appropriate action after a school group posted a question on Instagram for Black History Month that some students found offensive.

According to the Spinnaker, the UNF student-run news website, Osprey Life and Productions and the Cross-Cultural Center created a trivia quiz that was later posted to Instagram on Feb. 21 as part of the celebration by the UNF of Black History Month.

One of the questions posed: “What is a popular drink in the African-American community?” and gave four possible answers: Pepsi, Red Kool-Aid, Cranberry Juice and Sierra Mist.

Red Kool-Aid was the correct answer to the question.

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The post received an immediate reaction from students and prompted several statements from the university.

“The purpose of the trivia poll shared during Black History Month was to inspire students to recognize various aspects of Black/African American culture,” read an Instagram post on the Diversity Office account and of UNF’s inclusion last week “The questions were adopted from a pop culture quiz. While some content may have been considered insensitive, we reaffirm our commitment to honoring humility culture and cultural sensitivity. We seek to create a space to hear from the campus community about the impacts of cultural representation and cultural sensitivity.”

Later the same day, he posted an apology after students in the comments criticized the initial explanation.

“We apologize,” read an Instagram post later posted on the UNF Office of Diversity and Inclusion account. “We recognize that Black History Month stories have perpetuated racial stereotypes and caused racial trauma. Our subsequent statement did not take into account the harm we caused. We were wrong. Our student organizations [Black Student Union] [Student Alliance for Inclusion and Diversity] [Latin American Student Organization] [Asian Students in Alliance] did not contribute anecdotes or the statement.

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Students who protested on Tuesday were unhappy with the university’s handling of the initial post or the fallout.

“After the backlash with the initial first post, their apology wasn’t really an apology,” student Tionna Jefferson said. “It was just a slap in the face to all the students they hurt by perpetuating this harmful stereotype.”

Tuesday’s protest was a success.

Acting NFU President Dr. Pamela S. Chally introduced herself and agreed to meet with the students.

“Our plans are to organize this protest to get some people to walk with us to the president’s office so we can actually sit down with the administration and discuss an editable plan so we can know this won’t happen again. more,” Jefferson said.