NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The Beacon removed this story, titled “‘My father decided to cut ties with me for standing in solidarity’ with #BLM,” after hearing feedback from communities of color on campus and several current and former staff members who took issue with the article.
Rather than centering on the Black Lives Matter movement, the article focused on the situation of an individual student, who was white, and needed assistance after a member of her family cut financial ties. The story redirected attention away from the ongoing fight for racial justice and Black lives both within our campus and nationwide.
The Beacon understands the emotional repercussions of the article’s initial publication on members of the BIPOC community and other people of color. It lacked the necessary context, the inclusion of Black voices, and essential information about the Black Lives Matter movement at large. Per the advice of multiple staff members, The Beacon’s managing team chose to delist the story from our primary distribution platforms. Instead, it is now housed at this link for educational and reflective purposes.
The story was published online for almost three days starting around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. It did not appear in the Sept. 3 print edition.
Though our institution fell short in this particular instance, The Beacon stands in solidarity with the BIPOC community, its non-Black allies, and all people of color. We are committed to doing the work necessary to rebuild our relationships with the BIPOC community at Emerson, although we recognize this will take time and may never be fully repaired because of our actions.
We do not expect your support, but we hope community members recognize we are an imperfect group of people willing to do the work to stop this from happening in the future.
To learn more about Black Lives Matter, see here.
To donate to the Black Boston fundraiser, see here.
To learn more about the Massachusetts Bail Fund, see here.
Diti Kohli, Editor-in-Chief
Domenico Conte, Content Managing Editor
Tomas Gonzalez, Visual Managing Editor
Dylan Rossiter, Operations Managing Editor
