Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 50, No. 3 - 106

" Duty While Black "
As he moved into action, he was put on notice by the resident, who flagged his
identity as a factor in the interaction. Nevertheless, he proceeded:
I had to think quickly, mind you. I'm from Mississippi, and we handle disrespect and
racism very directly. I knew if I addressed the comment I would end up in more trouble
than the students in the party who spoke like that. So I decided to ignore it. That decision
haunts me to this day.
Here, Kelvin identified how addressing the inherent racism in flagging his identity
would likely be considered inappropriate given the institutional context; confronting
the student's behavior would be read as aggressive. He sensed that his role as agent of
surveillance and response could never be displaced by asserting himself as a human
being and member of the community for whom racism is a daily aspect of his lived
experience.
Expecting and acknowledging trouble meant that he was anticipating pushback,
perhaps even hostility, from the students. He recognized that this would be considered
suspect, perhaps even unprofessional. His focus then shifted back to the team member
he was supporting:
My second thought was about the RA: She was the only other Black person on my RA
staff. At this point we had had countless conversations about the racism that takes place
on campus. I was the person she came to when things like this happened to her. I would
be the one giving her words of encouragement when she felt overwhelmed. Having her
witness me going through some of the same stuff she had experienced made me feel
helpless. I had to think of the example I was setting for her. I wondered, was I just receiving
pushback because I was the person coming in to break up the fun, or was my authority
being questioned because I was a person of color coming in to reprimand White students,
having no choice but to intervene to restore community peace?
Kelvin's focus in this moment was to maintain order alongside the RA, yet here he also
acknowledges the expectations of serving as a role model to one of the few RAs of color
on his team and the burden of needing to appear unflappable in this situation.
As Kelvin aimed to act professionally, other thoughts were arising-such as who
made the comment and whether it might have been another student of color reflecting
their own desire to fit in-which interrupted his ability to focus on the task at hand.
At this point I dissociated and went about the protocols for the incident at hand. As we
were collecting student IDs, all I could hear was the student's words ringing in my head:
IT'S THE BLACK ONE. With each name I took down, I wondered, was this the guy who
said it? There were students of color in that space as well. What if it was one of them?
While duty rounds are certainly not inherently lethal,
the notion that outsider surveillance is essential to maintaining
peace in residence halls is overdue for critical reflection.
Volume 50, No. 3 * 2024 103

Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 50, No. 3

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