Assignment 25

12 contexts.org

nuclear family that is what western litera-

ture tends to see as the current standard

family unit (often dwelling in suburbs)

is only a few decades old and already

isn’t working well with changing demo-

graphics as more women work, more

families live in cities, etc., so I don’t think

it’s realistic that the nuclear family unit

would remain unchanged over the next

century… My imagined new family unit is

the bash’ (from the Japanese ibasho, the

good place where something belongs), a

group of adults mostly between three and

12 members. …[Y]ou share a communal

house, you raise kids together, everybody

has a 20-hour work week, and those

hours align differently, so there’s always

one or two adults around where the kids

are, and domestic resources like kitchens

and cooking are shared. The bash’ forms

at campuses, which are large educational

communities with colleges and universi-

ties but also vocational schools. The bash’

forms through the friends one makes in

that coming-of-age education process,

and, as you’re finishing that process,

you and a group of friends form a bash’

together. Some bash’es continue over

time to the next generation, the new

generation will come home to the same

shared home they grew up in, sharing it

with the earlier generation and bringing

in new friends and spouses, while other

bash’es form anew with every genera-

tion, through the friends one makes in

college or college-like educational expe-

riences. Now that it’s becoming more

standard for all adults to work, a couple

living alone simply can’t care for kids

when the adults both work, but it is ten-

able when it’s a group of six adults who

take shifts with kids during the week, so

it’s a model that aligns better with cur-

rent employment and residence patterns.

Fabio Rojas is in the department of sociology at

Indiana University-Bloomington. He is the co-editor

of Contexts.

RICK COLLINS [RC]: On the morning of May 20, 2017, approximately 3:00 am,

our son was standing on the campus at

a bus stop at the University of Maryland-

College Park with two friends, and they

were waiting for an Uber. …This White

male approached them and made a state-

ment, something to the fact: “Step to the

left if you know what’s good for you.”

Our son, confused, looked at him and

said, “No.” So, he took out a knife and

stabbed our son in the heart. He died

from his injuries later at the hospital. We

were sort of thrust into this entire, for

lack of a better word, this entire night-

mare from that point on, and here we are

today, trying to make sense of the whole

circumstance.

RASHAWN RAY [RR]: You raised Lt. Collins to treat everyone equally, and

I think the race and gender of his two

friends speak to the man your son was.

DAWN COLLINS [DC]: Richard was

standing there with a lady who was Asian

and a White male. If you knew anything

about Richard, he didn’t care who you

were, as long as you were willing to have

fun. He was a young Black man, but

he played lacrosse. He played golf. He

played chess. But he would also get on

a basketball court. So, it did not matter

to him. And to say that he didn’t “see

color,” that’s wrong because he did see

color. He knew, but he didn’t care.

RR: Sean Urbanski, the man who mur- dered Lt. Collins, had ties to White

supremacist groups, and he is being

charged with a hate crime. How would

you define a “hate crime”?

RC: A hate crime is something that an individual or a group of individuals use

as a means of targeting a specific group

that is usually unlike them, and directing

their political ideology against them, and

using acts of violence because they feel

empowered, entitled, and authorized by

some illegitimate authority.

RR: I know that you all have done a lot of events in different places in terms of aim-

ing to raise awareness about hate crimes

and domestic terrorism. You all have also

been to the State House of Maryland and

Capitol Hill, speaking and meeting with

representatives, like Congresswoman

Lucy McBath, whose son Jordan Davis

was killed in a similar situation in Atlanta.

DC: Congresswoman McBath has been

hate crimes and domestic terrorism on campus by rashawn ray

Army 2nd Lieutenant Richard W. Collins III was murdered on the campus where I work. As a professor, local resident, and father to two Black boys, I was deeply troubled as the hate crime—this act of domestic terrorism—sent ripples throughout my social networks. I had the honor to interview Rick and Dawn Collins, parents of Lt. Collins (pictured on this issue’s cover), about how our social institutions’ neutrality about racism allows hate to proliferate. In response to their son’s murder, the state of Maryland established a $1 million scholarship fund for ROTC students at local historically Black colleges and universities. Still, the Collins family understandably feels both the military and the entire country have failed their son. This interview is excerpted from a much longer conversa- tion; keep an eye on contexts.org for extended video in the coming weeks.

13S U M M E R 2 0 1 9 c o n t e x t s

phenomenal. She understood the pain of

a mother. We had a forum at Bowie State

University, where our son graduated. You

were part of that panel, and it brought

to light a lot of issues. We also had a

representative from the Southern Poverty

Law Center who spoke truth to power.

Don’t want to forget Congressman

Correa of California. …[H]e actually held

our son’s picture up on the House Floor

during a Judiciary Committee. And of

course, we have our Senator Steny Hoyer

and Congressman Anthony Brown who

presented a resolution on the congres-

sional Floor. Sadly, only Democrats signed

that resolution, not one Republican. This

is not a Democrat-Republican issue. This

is a “what’s wrong with America” issue.

[Now] in the 2nd Lt. Richard W. Col-

lins III Foundation, we’re raising monies

to help someone, to educate people as to

what the ills are, and making sure that if

possible, another mom and dad doesn’t

have to sit in this chair and feel the pain

that we feel. We are on that mission and

it wasn’t something that we chose.

RC: Richard was a newly admitted com- missioned officer, and all of the speech

that you hear about “support the mili-

tary,” you wonder… here is a young man

willing to put his life on the line for the

freedom of all… and yet not one [military

representative] would step forward and

say something about this horrific inci-

dent? It’s just eye-opening for me.

RR: What has the military done to memorialize Lt. Collins, particularly since

his father and his grandfather were and

are veterans?

RC: The military… has essentially said, “We send our condolences, but there is

nothing we can do.” Though our son was

commissioned by a three-star general,

that commissioning was purely ceremo-

nial. They’re saying that our son [as a

ROTC officer] was not a member of the

United States Army. …He’s not eligible

for any of the honors or benefits that

are normally accorded a fallen service

member. So, we’re certainly not pleased

with that, of course, and we’re talking

with our representatives…

DC: Nothing has been done to honor him by the U.S. Army—something he

loved, but they didn’t love him back. Also,

University of Maryland’s ROTC cadet pro-

gram—not one time have we heard from

anyone at the higher levels of the ROTC

program. Nothing. He was commissioned

to be a chemical intelligence officer—

everyone doesn’t reach that pinnacle to

be a paratrooper and to be a chemical

intelligence officer—and nothing.

RR: What do you think that the military should do to memorialize your son?

RC: The first thing they should do is extend to him a waiver of whatever poli-

cies that caused them to deny him the

eligibility for the honors and benefits of

a service member, and also recognize the

fact that he’s officially …a commissioned

officer in the U.S. Army. …[T]here’s a very

small percentage of the population…

able to qualify to serve in that capacity, to

lead other soldiers in combat or whatever

mission they have.

DC: Something that we find ironic is that, if the reverse had happened, [if he

had killed a civilian], the military would

have court-marshaled our son. Plus, he

would’ve been tried by courts.

RR: As we talk today, on Memorial Day, what do freedom, justice, and equality

mean to you regarding the legacy of Lt.

Collins?

DC: Universities have to acknowledge that you have a problem. You can’t fix

a problem until you acknowledge that

there is a problem.

RC: We understand there are First Amendment rights [protecting the sort

of White supremacist rhetoric our son’s

murderer spread online], but there has to

be a limit as to what those First Amend-

ment rights mean when they impact the

freedoms of other individuals.

DC: We need people, America, to see this is not a Black-White issue. This is an

American issue.

RC:…I acknowledge when I hear people say, “Thank you for your service.” But, in

my mind, I’m thinking, “You have no idea

what these service members really have

to endure for you to be able to enjoy the

privilege of standing in the mall, or at a

shopping center, or at a sporting event.”

No service member that I know is doing

it to receive the accolades or the thanks.

They’re doing it because they care about

their country, their family, their neighbors.

…[T]hey’re willing to make a sacrifice. The

citizen can’t be determined by the color of

your skin, but what’s in your heart.

DC: We are American. RC: There’s nothing we can do to bring our son back. …Justice would be if Amer-

ica learned from the tragedy that has

struck our family and resolves never to

allow it to be repeated. That would be

true justice.

Rashawn Ray is in the sociology department at the

University of Maryland. He is the co-editor of Contexts.

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Contexts, Vol. 18, Issue 3, pp. 12-13. ISSN 1536-5042. © American Sociological Association. http://contexts.sagepub.com. DOI 10.1177/1536504219864952.