Organizations, especially within the media, do not have perfect records. Coverage in the past has been racist, colonial and morally questionable. While the past cannot be changed, organizations can work to rectify their previous actions and work to make sure the same mistakes are not made in the future.

People and organizations should use their platforms to acknowledge their history of mistreating people of color, women and other hisorically marginalized groups. The New York Times has used its platform to recently write obituaries for women, particularly women of color, who they had not written at the time of their death. People like Ida B. Wells and Marsha P. Johnson should be written about and remembered for their contributions to society.

Wells was a former slave that was a newspaper editor, famous for her anti-lynching campaign. She traveled across the south and found that even though rape was used to justify the lynchings, in two-thirds of the cases rape was never an accusation. Wells also sued a railroad company after being forced off of a train car reserved for white women. She lost her appeal in the Tennessee Supreme Court, but encouraged African-Americans to avoid the trains. She also assisted in founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Association of Colored Women.

Marsha P. Johnson was a transgender pioneer and activist in New York City that was a central part of the gay liberation movement. She helped homeless youth ostracized by nonconforming gender ideas and was an advocate on behalf of AIDS patients.

This, however, cannot stop simply by writing obituaries for women in the past. We need to acknowledge the work that women of color are doing today and recognize their contributions, rather than congratulating people for correcting mistakes.

National Geographic wrote a story on how their coverage had been racist. The exoticization and exploitation of  people of color was wrong, and they are working to improve this. Recognizing their problematic past and how they previously restricted people of color from becoming members of National Geographic, the editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg is making sure to treat people of color equally. The National Geographic’s April edition is all about exploring race and how it can define, separate or unite people.

As a social justice newspaper, The Guilfordian will continue to work to improve our coverage of underrepresented people on and off campus. We are dedicated to continuously educating ourselves and improving our reporting. We commend The New York Times and National Geographic for their efforts toward reconciliation, but we, as the media, must continue to push for fair and accurate reporting that doesn’t dehumanize people.

Reflecting Guilford College’s core Quaker values, the topics and content of Staff Editorials are chosen through consensus of all 14 editors and one faculty adviser of The Guilfordian’s Editorial Board.