Why does BC support Racism? – The Answer Wall

BC probably doesn’t support systemic racism more or less than most other American institutions. Assumptions about race are inevitable in a nation with several hundred years of chattel slavery followed by 100 years of legally enforced racial laws (that ended during the living memories of Americans over 60). These assumptions take active attention to bring to light, and often take difficult conversations to dismantle. BC does make efforts through the Office of Institutional Diversity (bit.ly/BC-OID), and has publicly stated a commitment to nondiscrimination (bit.ly/BC-nondiscrimination). Please help BC maintain its promise by talking to the OID & other offices about deficiencies you’ve seen.

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.