The Georgetown University group Georgetown University Pride issued an apology last weekend for the talent show presentation of Willem Miller, its representative at the Mr. Georgetown pageant.
According to The Hoya, Miller’s “talent” was a spoken word poem “in which he described his concerns about raising a black child in this country” and which “touched on the black experience amid ongoing national dialogue on police brutality.”
“What took place during the Mr. Georgetown competition was inexcusable and not the narrative we want to define us, but it has,” the group wrote in a Facebook post. “GU Pride has engaged with the topic of racial justice in a manner that has often been idle, ineffective, and offensive.”
To be clear: A gay (white) man performed a poem describing the plight of contemporary African-Americans … and his organization felt the need to say “We’re sorry.”
GU Pride also shared a Google form on the post for members of the community to provide feedback on how the group can further address issues of race in cooperation with the black community.
“Additionally, we will work on the processes by which we can hold ourselves accountable when macro and microaggressions occur,” the post wrote. “We apologize to all, especially to our Black community members, and we welcome any feedback or comments that anyone may have. …
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Scott Lowder (COL ’17), who attended Mr. Georgetown, said he felt GUPride’s message on racial issues in the United States. was accurate, but disagreed with the presentation of the issue.
“I think that while the topic is certainly something that needs to be addressed and needs to be talked about, I think the way in which it was done and the tone it was taken might’ve been problematic, and I think that’s where the issue arose,” Lowder said.
Lowder said while the message was not delivered in a considerate manner, one should still assume that Miller performed the poem with good intentions.
No good deed goes unpunished.
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