Red Square to be Renamed “African American” Square in Celebration of Black History Month

Just this past week, the University of Washington has announced plans for a drastic redesign of the iconic Red Square, which includes a complete repaint of the square to black and a rename to “African American” square. 

This is all part of UW's growing history and representation initiative.These developments also include the construction of 1-to-1 scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge to make our out of state students from the Bay area feel more at home, and a dramatic reenactment of 9/11 to kick off the demolition of Mcmahon Hall.

Many ideas were tossed around to help represent the Black students in our school, who only make up about 5% of our student body. These concepts initially included scholarship opportunities and mentorship programs, but were ultimately scrapped in favor of African American Square. 

There have been many mixed opinions from our student body. Stacy Smith from ASUW had this to say. “I think it’s great we’re doing more to represent my African American Brothas and Sistas, and as a white woman I think it’s important to do more for those poor souls less fortunate than me.” When asked if she had heard any opinions from black students, she answered, “oh… well, I personally believe it’s wrong for me to intrude on the safe spaces of marginalized groups, so I have personally chosen to withdraw from interacting with any ethnicities besides caucasian. Hope this helps!”

“When's the University gonna do something for white history month, huh?” Demands Aiden Willikens, a German and history double major, “I’m tired of these hoodlums coming into our beautiful campus and ruining our heritage. I just want a school where instead of learning this DEI history, we can learn about topics like WWII and ancient Rome and-” Willikens, who self identifies as a “groyper”, went on about this for many minutes. 

Hunter Miller, a Japanese Cinema and Media major, was notably more excited. “I just can’t wait to see what they do for Japanese Heritage day, sugoi!”

Still despite this, the University of Washington plans to continue in creating more spaces for our students of color. This includes plans for various dining halls, dormitories, bathrooms, and drinking fountains, all designed for exclusive use for our “colored” students.