University Memorials and Symbols of White Supremacy: Black Students’ Counternarratives

Universities across the globe continue to reckon with memorialization and symbolism tied to racist histories. In this paper, the author uses Critical Race methodology to examine how 23 Black undergraduate students at the University of Cincinnati interpret and experience one such symbol—the namesake of an enslaver—memorialized throughout campus. The enslaver, Charles McMicken, bequeathed money for what would become the University of Cincinnati explicitly for the “education of White boys and girls.” The author begins with the assumption that the namesake is a symbol of White supremacy. Using Critical Race Theory, the author analyzes 1) to what extent this symbol shapes students’ campus experiences and 2) the mechanisms by which students’ learned of the racist histories behind the symbol. The data presented demonstrates how counternarratives surrounding this symbol were shared and how the concept of racial realism—the belief that racism is permanent—might be useful in understanding how Black students are not completely demoralized by such symbols.