University launches ‘If Austin Peay Could Talk’ project, featuring personal stories of racism
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – In the 1970s, LaNeeça Williams watched her family struggle against multiple forms of discrimination. Her parents had married shortly after the Supreme Court’s 1967 decision in the Loving v. Virginia case, which said that laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional. Her mother and father were legally allowed to marry, but that didn’t stop people from treating them harshly.
“They faced these racial inequalities simply because of who they loved and how they looked,” Williams, Austin Peay State University’s chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator, recently wrote in an essay. “Watching this struggle helped to shape my existence today…My parents were influential and loving people who raised a daughter and son to learn to speak up and stand up for what was right and fair. We watched them fight and stand up for what was right against all odds and naturally it was a part of us.”
Williams continues to follow her parents’ example, fighting for what is right, but recently she realized many of her colleagues and friends don’t know her powerful story. While reading a magazine from her hometown of Evansville, Indiana, she saw how important it is to share these neglected stories.
“The magazine recently expanded to include stories from African American/black people to share a time when they experienced racism in their lives, and how it may have transformed them or others,” she said. “I wondered, ‘Can we do something like this at Austin Peay?’”
That question led to a new campus oral history project, headed by Williams, titled “If Austin Peay Could Talk.” The title pays homage to the James Baldwin novel and recent Academy Award-nominated film, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” a love story about a couple trying to overcome society’s prevalent racism.
“The story actually shares so much more than what people actually think they will experience, it delves into real stories about real people below the surface,” she said. “It is beautifully written yet tragic. I believe that in tragedy, if it is presented beautifully, it can be transformative.”
Williams presented her idea to her colleagues at Austin Peay, asking them to contribute short essays about a time when they experienced some form of racism. They agreed to support the project, and beginning Friday, July 17, Austin Peay will present a new story each week on the University’s news page, www.apsu.edu/news. The first piece in “If Austin Peay Could Talk” will be an essay by Dannelle Whiteside, APSU vice president for legal affairs and, beginning Aug. 10, Austin Peay’s interim president.
Once several essays are published, they will be collected on a new APSU webpage. That space, Williams hopes, will be a place for the community to read and listen to the stories of their friends and neighbors.
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