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Toward the end of last month, flyers featuring the hashtag #dbkgu started to appear on the campus of Georgetown University. The group responsible for the flyers revealed the meaning of the hashtag.

“Dangerous Black Kids of Georgetown University” is the latest social advocacy group seeking to call attention to race relations on college campuses. 

From The Hoya:

The Facebook page and accompanying Tumblr and Instagram featured photographs of black students on campus alongside their accomplishments and accolades.

For participants, the page creates a forum to present their identity without societal filters.

“I’m 6-foot-2, I was a football player in high school, I’ve always been really big, and I look kind of scary to some people, so the campaign was interesting because that’s been a big part of my life — trying to go past looking like a thug all the time, no matter what I’m wearing,” Itua Uduebo (SFS ’17) said.

Next to Uduebo’s photos — one in a suit and one in jeans, a hat and a hooded jacket — a short bio lists his accomplishments: high school varsity football captain, co-moderator of his high school’s diversity alliance, National Achievement Scholarship semifinalist, AP Scholar with Honors and member of the International Relations Club, Club Rugby, UNICEF and Georgetown Scholarship Program at Georgetown. Similar photos and bios accompany posts for over 100 other students.

Read more at The Hoya

By focusing on the contributions made by black students to the university, the disconnect between the phrase #dangerousblackkids is emphasized.

The campaign also features portraits of nine non-black allies without accompanying descriptions.

Earlier this week, black students at Harvard University launched the “I, Too Am Harvard” photo campaign that shed a bit of light on what it’s like to be black at Harvard.

Thoughts on the campaign and the need for its existence?

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