Recent events on campus, including the rally to support immigrant rights, the uproar over a set of satirical, but racially insensitive posters and the election of Student Body President-Elect Tim Andreadis '07 on a platform that advocated greater inclusion of minorities, show that diversity and the place that minorities have on this campus are important issues that deserve continued discussion and visibility. In addition, since May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I personally thought that it was an appropriate time to reflect on some of the struggles we as students are still facing in regards to integration, self-segregation and the ongoing efforts to create a more inclusive, pluralistic Dartmouth. In the interest of conciseness, I have made the issue of race and racial diversity the main focus of this article. I feel this is apt because race is extremely visible and often lies at the heart of debates about Dartmouth's minority populations. However, my thoughts and words extend to all minority groups, not just those defined by their race or ethnicity.
A common thread in many debates on diversity, and one with which many minority students continue to grapple, is that of assimilation. Some members of minority groups choose to check their race, sexual orientation, etc., at the door -- to play down their importance as factors in their identities in an effort to better facilitate integration into the majority community. If we all just become color-blind, some might argue, then we would eliminate race as an issue altogether, right? The problem with that is that it defeats the whole purpose of pluralism and does nothing but engender a homogeneous student body. Diversity means acknowledging the presence and importance of minority groups and working with them to create a community that has a common tradition, but also preserves the integrity and heritage of each individual group. It does not mean ignoring the reality of the differences among Dartmouth students.
At the other end of the spectrum is the phenomenon of self-segregation. Fundamental differences in cultural background and upbringing make for vastly different life experiences, which in turn make the search for commonality with people of similar background inevitable. Sometimes however, these individuals are too afraid to step out of their comfort zones, and the unfortunate consequence is that this limits the number and range of people to whom they expose themselves. This is true of minority groups who "self-segregate," but it also applies to members of the majority white community who are afraid or do not feel the need to branch out. The result is the creation of multiple enclosed enclaves of students on campus, each with its own distinctive group identity, but with little or no interaction outside the group. And in the absence of true cross-cultural and intra-communal understanding and communication, all we are left to go on is a bunch of misconceptions, generalizations and stereotypes. Most members of ethnic minorities fall somewhere in the middle, straddling the line between full integration and complete segregation, and needless to say, there are inherent challenges in the attempts to "fit in" while still retaining the vital aspects of their cultural and ethnic identities.
Arguments have also been made that claim that race and diversity are not really issues anymore because the majority of minority students are satisfied with their Dartmouth experience. But just because students are generally "satisfied" does not preclude the fact that race and diversity are still extremely relevant issues. To say that they are not is to ignore the realities of the dormant but palpable racial tensions that still linger on this campus and in the nation as a whole. I will be the first to say that I have been overwhelmingly happy with my Dartmouth experience and that I consider myself extremely lucky and privileged to be here. However, that does not mean that we as a community have reached a point where we can say that there is mutual respect and understanding between all groups and that we can lay the diversity debates to rest. The chaos that ensued after the appearance around campus of posters making light of black suffrage is a good example of how, underneath the apparent satisfaction of the student body, there still lies a bevy of misunderstanding and unresolved issues. And although it was later disclosed that the poster was a parody and that the intent behind it was not malicious, the poster nevertheless betrayed a surprising lack of tact and judgment; this would not have been a problem had the poster's creator taken the time to really think about how the black community might feel and to weigh his or her poster's political effectiveness against its potential to offend and alienate part of the community.
In the end, I feel that the largest obstacle to a truly diverse Dartmouth is the fact that, to some extent, minorities don't feel like they have a stake in the larger majority population, and vice versa. At best, that leads to apathy and a lack of communication and, at worst, mistrust when it comes to cross-cultural and cross-ethnic relations. People are driven by self-interest and take part in communities in which they feel they have a stake. That is why minority groups of all races and ethnicities flocked to the streets by the thousands to protest the contentious House immigration bill HR 4437. These people, whether they themselves were in the United States illegally or not, took action because they felt they had a direct and vested interest in the implications of this bill and in the communities for which they were fighting. In short, people care most about the things that they think will directly affect them and their interests.
But we have to realize at some point that to have a vested interest in all of Dartmouth's diverse groups, even ones to which we do not necessarily belong, is to look out for our own interests. That is what will truly enable diversity to flourish on this campus. Simply admitting more minority students is not the answer. That is not what diversity means. Rather, we must realize that regardless of whatever smaller groups or categories we may fall under -- black, white, gay, straight, progressive, conservative -- in the end we all have a stake in the larger Dartmouth community, a community that encompasses us all. The interests and concerns of minority groups should matter to the entire Dartmouth community. We should feel like we have a vested interest in them. We should make the effort to, at the minimum, check out a cultural performance once in a while or read up on minority issues. Only if we come to grasp this concept of community -- acknowledging diversity and working to establish a sense of solidarity among a diverse student body -- can we truly hope to realize the pluralistic, multicultural Dartmouth that I hope we will one day achieve.
