Abstract
In March 2016, after a series of hate crimes victimized students of color on campus, students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison started #TheRealUW movement against racism on campus. In order to exemplify racism on campus, students of color took to social media to share personal experiences and opinions on racism, affixing “#TheRealUW” to their posts. In this article, we analyze what students of color on the social media site, Twitter, spoke about and took issue against. The plurality of #TheRealUW tweets centered primarily on instances of subtle or explicit verbal racism. These experiences had impacted a variety of aspects of students of color’s lives, including mental health, housing, access to spaces, and overall quality of education. Students also discussed isolation, marginalized representation in the University’s decisions, and their relationship with authority. The many tweets clearly demonstrate the breadth of racism at predominately white institutions and indicate that inequality of peer and faculty social resources, opportunities, and experiences is a significant perpetuator of a variety of forms of racial inequality at predominately white institutions, but that racism in institutional and systemic forms is also an area of concern for students.
Highlights
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a campus of about 43,000 students, located in Madison, WI, the capital of Wisconsin, birthplace of the progressive movement, and a city of about 250,000 people.UW-Madison is approximately 75% White, 5% Asian, 5% Hispanic, 2% Black/African-American, and 9% International (Enrollment Reports 2017)
#TheRealUW was a social media campaign beginning in mid-march 2016 in which students of color at the University of Wisconsin-Madison took to social media to share their experiences of racism at the university, affixing “#TheRealUW” to their posts on various social media sites
The unique social experiences and opportunities affecting students of color are a focal point of concern for students’ dialogues. These inequalities manifest themselves in multiple aspects of the lives of students of color, including mental health, housing, access to spaces, and overall quality of education
Summary
#TheRealUW was a social media campaign beginning in mid-march 2016 in which students of color at the University of Wisconsin-Madison took to social media to share their experiences of racism at the university, affixing “#TheRealUW” to their posts on various social media sites. For students of color at this large predominately white institution, outcome disparities are quite significant. Much research has been done on the experiences of students of color at predominately white institutions, with much focus on Black students. By examining students’ experiences as exposed on the social media site, Twitter, we find that a significant source of racism is inequality of social experiences and opportunities between students of color and white students. Despite the localized context of racism, we find institutional inequalities, racially motivated misconduct of authorities, and a lack of diversity to still be significant areas of concern for students of color
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
