The other day, a friend of mine showed me a Thefacebook.com profile of a sophomore at the College which I found to be particularly offensive and inflammatory, and which I felt compelled to write about. The women had used computer graphics to paint herself black. Under Personal Info she had written, "I'm black" and under the "Favorite Book" section she wrote, "i i can't read or write" (presumably because of her alleged race).
If approached about this, the woman would almost certainly say she was not being serious. Nonetheless, the comment was still hurtful to many who saw it, and is representative of a larger problem. Though she would likely not acknowledge it, her words reflect an internalized bias against minorities, particularly black people. This woman, it seems to me, has come to associate poor education, ignorance and illiteracy with blackness. In turn, I worry that she brings these biases into the classroom and her social spaces. In a classroom setting, I find it difficult to believe that she gives equal weight to the comments, thoughts, and ideas of minority students as she does to those of white students. In social spaces, even if she does so subconsciously, I am inclined to believe that she is more dismissive of and less inclined to associate with minorities than she is with her white peers.
This problem takes a significant psychological toll on people of color. Knowing that such sentiments exist among the student body, but not knowing who possesses those sentiments, makes many of us distrustful of all persons different from ourselves. Furthermore, we are often left feeling as though we must fight for the respect that is automatically granted to others. Going through the day with this burden is wearing. It should come as no surprise that some members of the minority community turn inwards in search of solace from those who have similar experiences.
The knowledge that attitudes such as that of the aforementioned woman are present and tolerated in certain communities on campus should help to explain why minorities continue to be under-represented in certain sectors of campus -- Greek life, for instance. It should also help to explain why affinity houses (LALACS, Cutter Shabazz, the Native American House, et cetera), which often face staunch opposition from those who argue that they promote segregation, remain popular among many students. Those persons of color who do choose to join certain organizations where they are exposed to such derogatory sentiments are put in the impossible situation of having to choose between risking social acceptance, or silently suffering moral complicity.
As the leader of Mosaic, a student group dedicated to having dialogue about diversity, I have been frustrated at our inability, at times, to garner a large amount of interest in our organization. I have often wondered whether this is indicative that the student body has resolved whatever racial issues it has, or rather, whether it is a reflection of apathy, complacency and a general feeling that change cannot occur. Even when we have garnered a large group, however, I have often observed that the persons who would most benefit from honest dialogue about race and identity are conspicuously absent. It is disconcerting to think that some of America's future leaders can graduate from here with some knowledge of what is taboo and what is not, but lacking any sense of why those comments might be offensive. Just as sexual assault should not be seen exclusively as a women's issue, and homophobia cannot be seen as an issue only for the GLBTQ community, the elimination of racism at Dartmouth requires sustained dialogue in both formal and informal settings among minorities and non-minorities alike.
Undoubtedly, there will be those who dismiss my comments as "overreacting." I am confident that those who would claim such a thing have never felt discriminated against themselves. I would additionally argue that these persons are too quick to forgive the ignorance of others. It should not be presumed that the above example is unique or an isolated incident. Many people on this campus have similar stories of being exposed to hateful comments. A more common, though no less invidious example, is the persistent use of the Dartmouth Indian symbol. Even if an individual is not personally offended by the symbol, or does not understand the symbol's significance, the fact that it is common knowledge that many people in our community are deeply offended by it, and others continue to use it shows the highest disregard, in my view, on the part of the offending party for the feelings of others.
The minority community cannot and should not allow itself to be dragged down or otherwise afflicted by the hateful actions of one individual or one group of individuals. However, such ignorant comments and actions are antithetical to creating a stronger and more unified Dartmouth -- a goal we should all be pursuing.