Women Who Made an Impact on Campus: Dr. Melencia Johnson
Women’s History Month is a time to honor and celebrate women who took the initiative to make a change in the world. Whether big or small, these changes affect our lives one way or the other.
Dr. Melencia Johnson, a sociology professor at USC Aiken, believes black history is an important aspect of sociology. Johnson teaches students to recognize minority groups who are underrepresented while studying society and how different racial groups interact with each other:
“One of the big things about teaching black history specifically in the context of sociology is that we recognize that there are minority groups in the United States that are fewer in numbers and also have unequal amounts of power. When we talk about Black Americans strictly in the United States . . . we know that Black Americans have been submitted to unequal treatment from very inhumane ways of enslavement all the way up to segregation . . . ” she said. “As a sociologist, I find it very important for students to have that grounding particularly when we are talking about black history.”
Johnson used to be an advisor for the NAACP chapter at USC Aiken and is still active in NAACP. She attended the silent protest against gun violence in the Black community on Feb. 28:
“I think when students see me being active, particularly the student who are already in NAACP they kind of see themselves . . . ”
NAACP provided Johnson with opportunities to bring change within the Aiken community. A few years ago NAACP, along with Johnson, worked with the city of Aiken to ban the question on job applications about previous felony convictions. She pointed out that a lot of African Americans were imprisoned during the war on drugs in the 1990s and it is difficult for them to find a job.
“People make mistakes. We do it all the time. A lot of people make mistakes and don’t get caught. Those people who don’t get caught either have the funds or the money to have lawyers to expunge their record or not serve the time at all and that shows social inequality,” she said. “Black Americans are impacted very differently by that box than white Americans, specifically men, … a white man with a criminal felony charge are more likely to get a job than a black man without a criminal felony offense.”
The NAACP’s solution to this is to release applicants from this question.
When asked how being a woman has affected her career, her response was:
“The opportunity talk to other women in USC Aiken…black women would flock to my office… some black women on campus can come and see me and talk to me about their issues on campus.”
Recently, she created an Instagram account sharing sociology content.
“I’m glad that people are seeing the content and liking it and hopefully learning from it. I’m glad that students are seeing that as making an impact,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s work here at USC Aiken has impacted students greatly. She provides them with support and knowledge about black history.
