Structural Racism at Yale

Ms. Lolade Siyonbola, a Yale Graduate student, recently became a victim of racial profiling. She had been working on a paper and fell asleep when a fellow white student called the police on her after finding her sleeping in the common room of their dorm. The white student had reportedly said “You’re not supposed to be sleeping in here. I’m calling the police.” Siyonbola recorded the incident, posted it on Facebook, and received thousands of responses. The video received more than 480,000 views, 7,500 shares, and 12,000 comments.

Most comments were supportive of Siyonbola’s objections to justifying her place at Yale. The extreme extent of action the unidentified white female took was an unnecessary act of structural racism. Because Siyonbola was black, she immediately raised suspicion from the ignorant student and the police. She was required to provide the police her student ID to prove she was a student and was checked in the student database.

Ms. Siyonbola’s case is only one of many incidents caused by structural racism that have occured in America. Society creates a prejudicial perspective on black people through the use of media, which warps our perception of African Americans in our own personal lives. In response to Ms.Siyonbola’s dilemma, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Lynn Cooley emailed students, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity and invited them to share their comments about the matter. On a wider scale, police are now trained on unconscious bias, de escalation techniques, problem solving, and treating every individual with respect. It is pertinent that we do not neglect the importance of incidents like these, for the arousal of the people is the birth of change.