Retail Me Not – Interrace

By Shanice Cox

If you were not at yesterday’s Interrace Forum: Retail Me Not you truly missed out on great food and even better conversation. Dr. Tonya Bradford graced us with her thought-provoking insight and down to earth spirit. We began with a clip from the episode What Would You Do- Shopping While Black and then Dr. Bradford proceeded with defining Consumerism, and the “power of the dollar”.  This discussion went from discrimination within the retail market, to understanding the value of the lives of human beings. She went on to explain that although injustice might not affect you directly, as a member of the human race we should take action in regards to retail corporations who take advantage of workers that are of a certain age, race, or gender. Furthermore, Dr. Bradford explained the differences between hyper-consumerism and hyper-loyalty, and used anecdotes of people who are racially profiled that go back to the store consecutively to prove that they do in fact belong and can afford to shop in the high-end retail markets. When the crowd got involved in the discussion, we concluded that society as a whole does not truly value human life if the issues has not affected them, and even so, no one is passionate enough about taking a stand and making a change. Overall, thumbs up MSPS. I can’t wait for the next month.

University of Notre Dame Discriminatory Harassment Reporting Procedure

MSPS seeks to provide a forum for the discussion of racial equity, on campus and beyond. What we ask of the students, faculty, and staff, is a willingness to enter into conversations that celebrate the backgrounds of all people and foster an inclusive community.

However, if you need to report an alleged incident of discrimination, there are policies and procedures in place to address these issues:

The University of Notre Dame believes in the intrinsic value of all human beings. It is, moreover, committed to the full, peaceable participation of all its members in the educational endeavor it fosters. Accordingly, the University prohibits discriminatory harassment by all administrators, faculty, staff, and students. The University is also committed to the free expression and advocacy of ideas and wishes to maintain the integrity of this commitment as well. (Office of Institutional Equity website)

♦ To see the University of Notre Dame’s reporting procedure on Discriminatory Harassment, click here.

Definition of Harassment: Harassment is any physical conduct that intentionally inflicts injury on the person or property of another, or any intentional threat of such conduct; any hostile, intentional, and persistent badgering, addressed directly at another, or group of others, that is intended to intimidate its victim(s) from any University activity; or any verbal attack, intended to provoke the victim to immediate physical retaliation.

Definition of Discriminatory Harassment: Conduct, as described above, constitutes discriminatory harassment, if it is accompanied by intentionally demeaning expressions concerning the race, gender, religion, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability of the victim(s). (Office of Institutional Equity website)

Every individual has the duty to report incidences of Discriminatory Harassment.

♦ Who Should I contact?

Students: If you need to report an alleged incident of discrimination, click here.

Faculty or Staff: Contact your manager, chair, dean, or Human Resources.

You may also report an alleged incident of discriminatory harassment to the Discriminatory Harassment Ombudsperson, Dwight King. The telephone number for the Ombudsperson is 631-3909.