![]() ![]() The comments section of their Tik Toks can be tough, sometimes hostile and at best, compassionately surprised. In one of their most-watched videos, with 10.5 million views, they ask students on campus: "How many Black friends do you have at BYU?" (A third of the students interviewed had none). Their account mainly features videos where the Menaces go around campus asking students, and sometimes professors, questions on divisive topics from Black Lives Matter to former president Donald Trump to abortion rights to same-sex marriage. Today, they have amassed more than 393,000 followers and 14 million likes. ![]() This worked well for the Menaces, given that the reason they created the account was to showcase the realities of Black students at predominantly white institutions.Īt the beginning of Black History Month this year, Shepherd, Nate Byrd, Rachel Weaver, Kennethia Dorse and Sebastian Stewart-Johnson-also known as the Black Menaces-launched their Tik Tok. To relate it back, because we go to a church school, Jesus would have wanted me at his table and so, I should be allowed at any table."Īlthough the Black student population at BYU is small, the enrollment of any Black students shocked many Tik Tok audiences, who-up until they stumbled upon the Black Menaces on their For You Page-didn't know Black BYU students existed. "It just goes to show that we're not welcomed at anybody else's table. "The fact that we have a 'Black' table is an issue in itself," Shepherd told Newsweek. The school's white population is higher than any other university in the state, both public and private (although these figures do mirror Utah's membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which operates BYU). Of the university's more than 30,000 undergraduate students, less than one percent are Black. Shepherd, a junior at BYU, and her friends all hang out at one table in the Wilkinson Student Center, not because it's in an ideal location nor because of some social order that separates kids by club affiliation, but mainly because there's only enough of them to take up one table. If Kylee Shepherd were to come back to Brigham Young University (BYU) in 20 years' time, the one thing she'd want to see is the fall of the "Black" table. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |