Since we’re talking race and education this month, I thought I’d direct readers to a guest post on Stuff White People Do. In it, a young, black grad student describes the alienation and marginalization she feels in one predominately white academic environment:
…You wouldn’t believe the amounts of implicit racism I’ve experienced here. Twice while coming on campus I’ve been stopped in a hostile and condescending manner by newly-hired guards who, having seen my ID, told me that I am ‘ok’ since I was a groundskeeper or a day worker for the animal facility, whose staff is mostly black and latino.
Coming to my dorm, almost every six months someone gives me a hostile look in the foyer as if I’m some intruder. When I attend lectures, I meet the same hostility until I ask a serious academic question of the lecturer.
When someone new comes to my lab, they’ll automatically either intentionally ignore me or attempt to condescend to me. Scientific sales reps will intentionally ignore me and proceed to the white guys who are also just students. Believe it or not, this one white girl who rotated in the lab would speak to me in a passive-aggressive/patronizing manner. And almost everyone in the lab, despite my being there for years and attempting to form working relationships with them, never come to me casually or attempt to have conversations (work or otherwise) with me unless I initiate the conversation, and never at the casual or intelligent level they have with each other. Read more…
A lot of schools work hard to achieve diversity. (Doesn’t sound like the school in question even does that.) But tossing a few brown folks on campus, while it may make for a more diverse space, doesn’t always make a more welcoming one. What are they keys to identifying a diverse and WELCOMING college campus? How can parents best arm students of color to survive on predominately white campuses? How can parents of white students prepare them for diverse environments? How can academic leadership pursue diversity in a way that moves beyond tokenism?
As a black student who does attend a predominately white university as well on many campuses mine included they have organizations such as NAACP or Black Student Union although I am not apart of either organization joining organizations are a great way to get involved and meet people whether its black student union or NAACP. For me what made college easier was learning to branch out because at my college blacks stick with blacks, whites with whites, etc. and in doing so and stepping out of my comfort zone I have made friends with people of many different races. My advice for those attending predominately white university’s is don’t be afraid to get involved on campus or step out of your comfort zone.
My husband is AA and attended a predominantly white university. His senior year he started a club for the black men on campus. They would get together to discuss issues, support one another, take trips, and meet with faculty about racial issues. It seemed to help them feel more supported.
As a black student at a white college I feel its helpful to have a great sense of humor.. I’ve taken it upon myself to learn to do impressions (really good by the way
)
I actually overheard a woman say at one of my shows that “He does these impressions, its almost like he’s the real person.”
That made me feel really great
keep up the good work everyone!
I think it’s hard to force a comfort level that isn’t there, for whatever reason. This particular blogger is complaining about the subtleties of human relationships. She/he feels snubbed because white students don’t talk to her on a casual level the way they do other white students, don’t automatically look at her with respect, don’t assume she should be there, etc. I don’t know why these particular people don’t befriend her. Some of them are probably just jerks. Some may be unconscious racists. Some, being scientists, may not be terribly social to begin with. I think there’s a higher degree of introversion in the science fields. Some may just not feel comfortable approaching her and could be afraid of being shot down.
What seems to work elsewhere is having a critical mass of other black students or professors on campus, preferably in the same field. When she’s not the only one, she and the white students may end up reacting differently. But if this is a field where there just aren’t a lot of other black students or professors, maybe she needs to go out and actively seek out her own group of colleagues at other universities or on-line. I think people tend to like and feel comfortable with people who share interests with them and act in similar ways. She must have other things in common with the people in the lab — intelligence, interests, field of study — that would help smooth interactions with them.
I think a lot of this has to do not just with higher ed, but specifically with the sciences. I attended a school which was science/engineering focused, and it’s … different. A lot of students drop out, and of those that stay, many drop out of the most challenging majors – the professors and many students feel that this is proof of their own intelligence and the strength of their programs. White and Asian (East and South) males are very much predominant – on campus as a whole and especially in the toughest programs. If you are female, black, and/or Latino, the attitude is that you must not be there of your own academic merit and you can’t possibly compete with them. Maybe they think you’re on an athletic scholarship, or that you’re just there to meet diversity goals. You aren’t welcome in their lab groups – you’ll bring down their grade. They don’t want to study with you – what could they possibly learn from you? If they don’t know you and you show up in an upper-level class, they’re surprised – you aren’t supposed to be there, with them. It’s just assumed that after the intro classes, you would have gone off to the “easy classes” of another major. Heaven forbid you transfer in from another school – that’s cheating. Since most of the students that do this are through a program the school has with HBCUs in the area that don’t offer some of the more specific engineering majors … Yeah. So all the female students, the black students, the Latino/a students. We’re all slacker/athlete/cheaters or something. I never could make sense of it.
I believe that my having been raised in a predominately-White community was in fact the best preparation for life at a predominately-White college, and beyond. One doesn’t live the majority of her life in the company of White people, and not learn some things. Not that Whites are a monolith, because, this, too, I have learned over the course of many years. I just believe that having been socialized with Whites, it has enabled me to be far more successful in my personal and professional lives. In fact, I wrote about this very topic recently on my own blog.
That said, I believe that there are colleges where Black students simply don’t need to be. I am not saying that predominately-White colleges as a collective shouldn’t strive to achieve diversity and an anti-racist climate. It’s more to recognize that not every environment is equipped, and, that in some instances, I believe it is just moot to force the issue. I think that students of color fare much better at colleges and universities with a proven track record of successful multiculturalism.
As the Director of Intercultural Affairs at a predominantly (91%, ya’ll) white college, this is exactly what we strive to do. Though, I would extend that our work is to create/encourage/foster/support an environment that is welcoming to all students of color. We’ve done a few things that I’ll mention here:
1. We shifted from focusing on “how can we help our students of color fit in” to “how can we educate our white students to not marginalize students of color”. That was a big shift, and while we are only in Year 3 of our efforts with this focus, it certainly feels like it’s working.
2. Educating our students about why diversity (racial, in particular) is important begins now even before students select to come to our college. I’m always presenting to prospective students and emphasizing that “if you’re not down with diversity/acceptance, we’re not the school for you.” So, in a way, we weed out those who are actively choosing to be in an all white school.
3. We’ve abandoned our big programs and speakers and instead focused our efforts on smaller, intentional dialogue groups for people to explore their inner racism. These go for an entire semester rather than a 1-shot deal of a big program.
4. We’ve created leadership programs that are geared towards students of color but that actively recruit Allies, too. Then, we make them very visible. That sends a message to our community that Ally work is as important as “resource/support” work for students of color.
5. I’ve run workshops for faculty to help address “accidental racism” in the classroom — ways that our students of color are singled out, tokenised, etd.
Okay, that’s just a teaser. Happy to discuss more with folks who are in the field or who need some more solid assistance.
For students – yes, you’ve chosen a predominantly white school. Hopefully for lots of reasons, but there is growth and learning to occur socially, developmentally, etc., by being in the constant minority (eat/sleep/breathe being different). Find sanctuary groups — whether they be racial affinity groups or an interest group. Try and connect with faculty of color (if there are any!) or your multicultural office. If you feel your residence life staff isn’t culturally aware, talk to the Res Life professionals and give suggestions as to how they can make their halls more inclusive.
YOU HAVE A VOICE in college! Student interest and actions often surpass administrative actions (ie if I can’t get something done, I usually ask students to bring it to the attention of the President!), so people want to hear you.
Good luck! Hit me up for more info if you want or follow at http://www.interculturalaffairs.blogspot.com
Liza
>This particular blogger is complaining about the subtleties of human relationships. She/he feels snubbed because white students don’t talk to her on a casual level the way they do other white students, don’t automatically look at her with respect, don’t assume she should be there, etc.
But the writer is talking about things that are happening consistently, months or semesters after people should know better. There’s nothing “subtle” about it. It’s not a matter of feeling snubbed – she is being snubbed, and if her perceptions are accurate, it’s because of her skin color, and it points to systemic racism at the organizational level.
She’s not asking for “automatic” acceptance. She’s asking that the security guards use those subliminal cues of human interaction (a backpack, typical student attire or a labcoat during typical class and lab hours, lack of a jumpsuit and name tag) to recognize that she’s a student, not the janitor. She’s asking that people in her classes accept her as a regular student without staring, and that people she often works with in the labs acknowledge her presence. I’m currently going to a large university (Temple) where it’s easy to be anonymous, and I’m not even full-time, and even then I can tell the students from the non-students.
As far as solutions: schools should look at their curriculum for content and make sure that “ethnic” issues or concepts are well-integrated, and not ghettoized. They need to make sure that multiple points of view are being represented, especially in humanities and social sciences. That way they are more likely to attract the diverse student body without resorting to tokenism.
Having attended probably the whitest of schools (University of New Hampshire, which at the time was 99.1% white) I can tell you that being on a campus with so few people of color (black, asian or latino) can burn your soul a bit.
The one thing I realized, after spending what I like to call four years as a “non-paid professor” of African American history and culture, is that no matter where I was, I WAS in charge of my education and social life. I made it the best four years I could and had some wonderful and not so great times there.
This said, I really like what Liza had to say about asking the white students to make the env’t more inclusive. That would have made my collegiate experience better in so many ways if I wasn’t the only one striving to make my university a better environment for all students…