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Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

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lilian
October 6, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

Last year I was extremely unhappy with the Culture Centre’s exclusive policies however, the events that happened today make me glad that there is a place like the Centre at Hampshire. It all started last night. I told my friend that I met a girl at Smith whose name was ‘Cricket’ . My friend rolled her eyes and said she would kill her self if her parents named her after an annoying insect. I laughed and said Cricket is a sport which is played all over the world except USA. She retaliated and said well then its not worth playing is it. Laughing at her remark, I responded , “ You don’t have the right to say that considering you are lead by Bush”. Her voice suddenly became harsh and she said, “ Hey! Twenty years from now it won’t matter what Bush did, so I think we are okay” .
“ Oh! So you are saying that Afghanistan and Iraq won’t matter?”
“Well ! Afghanistan is not a country really!”
"What?!?!”
“I don’t understand why you international students come here to take our education, trash our country and leave” And she left.
The following morning , I left her a note saying that what she said was very painful for me and we should talk. She never really had any problem with me being a person of colour or international before. Her response was a longer note talking about her Russian immigrant grandparents and how glad they were to be in USA and if I have such problems with USA . I should leave the country”
It was very traumatic for me to get this from a person who I considered my friend. Somebody who said that her Jewish heritage had helped her understand what it was like to be segregated and discriminated against.
I talked to her again and she said she over reacted. It was her periods she said. I forgive her because that is all I can do. I forgive cause I have a few more years in this country whose education I value and whose creative freedom I cherish. I forgive because it will help me sleep tonight.

Arpita Kumar
October 6, 2004

Forwarded from the Hampshire College forum of The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center
Date: 2004-10-07 05:10:06

well i feel like the cultural center is going about things the wrong way. it gives off this "no whites allowed" vibe, and a lot of the students of color (btw i am a student of color) adhere to that vibe. it also implies that white have no "culture." Sure most of them cant dance, but Im Mexican and I cant salsa. That is the main problem that I have with the cultural center. The first time I hung out there, 3 years ago, it was an hour of just white bashing... now i know the center itself has no control over that, since its just a building, but the students could have shifted discourse every now and then. I was also given shit for having a white girlfriend. So maybe its my personal experience blurring my judgement, but it is definitely something that bothers me. How can segregation be over if "oppressed" and "underrepresented" people just segregate themselves? This doesnt just apply to the cultural center at Hampshire.... So i just choose not to be a part of it and hang out with my cultureless friends and talk about things like mexico, zombies, and of course ATHF.

----------END OF POST----------

So why not stop by Hampshire Forum and see what all the fuss is about? Just click on the link below:

http://hampshire.dailyjolt.com/forum/read.html?id=44266

Happy Jolting,
The Daily Jolt
www.dailyjolt.com

Posted by Guest
F orwarded by plevi
October 7, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center
Date: 2004-10-07 10:48:41

But then, aren't you proof that it isn't a matter of the Cultural Center necessarilly being a bad idea. But that there are certain people who are perhaps using it in the wrong way? Wouldn't it be a mistake on the part of the average student to generalize?

I'm completely opposed to random 'white-bashing' unless there is a case in which something about this country/campus/culture that really gets to you (as many things do) that you'd just like to vent about it.

The truth of the matter is that I think segregation of this nature comes as a result of people respecting (whether they realize it or not) the people of this (US) culture.

Hence, they have the need to discuss it with people similiar to them to guard from offending someone should these concerns come across as being insulting. As democratic as this campus might profess to be, there is an overwhelming sense that 'when in Rome, (you should) do as Romans do.' And that doesn't just apply to people from other cultures, but people from different backgrounds in the US.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by Morethanalemon
Forwarded by plevi
October 7, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: [link here]
Date: 2004-10-07 14:53:39

But the thing is that I know real institutional discrimination exists. I know, I was one of five white kids at my highschool. From that experience, I feel well-quallified in saying that reverse discrimination exists. This sort of anti-white shit is being very flagrantly perpetuated by the Cultural Center in the most unproductive sort of way, and I think it's very important to notice that such a divisive thing cannot be allowed to continue if we are serious about interracial unity at this school and in the world at large.

The way to fight discrimination is by making friends, and I frankly feel that the cultural center is functioning more as a sort of clubhouse for those who hate whites and really like self-pity than a center for discourse around institutional racism out in the real world. Whites NEED to be involved in these discussions for any real sort of change to take place. Because bluntly, we cannot affect race relations in a positive way by getting a bunch of people together to talk about how much they dislike another race.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by OppressedMinority
Forwarded by plevi
October 7, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

Can somebody please explain what the point of this story is? What next? Was there a master plan, or was this just an attempt to get people's emotions boiling? If the latter is true, then you have definitely succeeded. You are right, there's a lot on this campus that is not talked about that should be. That has absolutely nothing to do with the existence of a 'closed' or 'open' cultural center. So whose responsibility is it to find ways to make sure that everyone feels 'safe' enough to talk about what's really going on in their minds? I'll tell you.... YOU!!! Quit trying to find excuses or reasons to explain the current state of affairs, and find something to do that will make a difference! If there's stuff you want to talk about, build relationships with people who you trust and who can trust you so that you can initiate those conversations. That is what COMMUNICATION is all about! If you are not able to build those relationships, then that's something to ! think about! Yes, there is a serious lack of community on this campus, but guess what, as long as you are not part of the solution, you are contributing to the problem. And here, I'm talking about everyone - you, me, and everybody on this campus. I'm going to stop now because I am livid and I feel like I'm talking to a blank screen!!!

Zawadi
October 7, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

Guest wrote:

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: [link here]
Date: 2004-10-07 18:54:29

It's so hard to be a middle-class white kid at an expensive liberal arts college! Urban African Americans have it WAY worse than you!

OppressedMinority wrote:
-------------------------------
But the thing is that I know real institutional discrimination exists. I know, I was one of five white kids at my highschool. From that experience, I feel well-quallified in saying that reverse discrimination exists. This sort of anti-white shit is being very flagrantly perpetuated by the Cultural Center in the most unproductive sort of way, and I think it's very important to notice that such a divisive thing cannot be allowed to continue if we are serious about interracial unity at this school and in the world at large.

The way to fight discrimination is by making friends, and I frankly feel that the cultural center is functioning more as a sort of clubhouse for those who hate whites and really like self-pity than a center for discourse around institutional racism out in the real world. Whites NEED to be involved in these discussions for any real sort of change to take place. Because bluntly, we cannot affect race relations in a positive way by getting a bunch of people together to talk about how much they dislike another race.

----------END OF POST----------

Forwarded by plevi
October 7, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: [link here]
Date: 2004-10-07 21:00:11

umm. look, i'm white, i've never heard of any white kids being told to piss off from the center, and i've never heard of actual cultural center events that were closed to anyone.

this mlk stuff is getting a little absurd, don't you think? i mean do you actually want to compare jim crowe laws and people getting beaten over a drink of water to a white kid feeling a little uncomfortable in one out of at least 8 underutilized student spaces?

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by bakunin661
Forwarded by plevi
October 7, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center
Date: 2004-10-08 09:21:39

Race is one of my favorite topics of disscussion on this campus because nobody is interested in actually listening to anybody else. They all just want there prejudice's confirmed. As a result you get all sorts of blabbering loudmouthing from everyone, insults flying across the room when beneath the hot air, nothing interesting is being said. But it's a blast!

Anyway, things that annoy me about race "discourse" at Hampshire:

1.) The Cultural Center. Being Imperialist (Caucasian, for those who don't understand liberal pc college speak), I see no problems with this place but please CHANGE THE NAME. "Cultural Center" is very vague and yes, it does imply that white people have no culture (haha, nice cheap shot). Honestly, when I first arrived on campus I had no idea what the place was for, I mean for all I knew it could of been a place for white people to try and peel beneath this consumer oriented society they grew up in to find some honest to god real quality culture somewhere. That it was a place for minorities to gather was probably the last thing that crossed my mind. Now to them it might mean something else sure, but people aren't going to see it, and are going to get rubbed the wrong way. If your a minority and don't want that, give the "Cultural Center" a new image, starting with a name change. If you see that as some kinda compromise that is giving into the "existing powers that be and conti nue to encourage subliminal racist behavoir", well fine, but then may I suggest you grow up and deal with the consequences aka, white people WILL resent you.

2.) Idealists. Please, shut up. Racism is prevelant in society everywhere, including here. People are not just "people", they are a set of assigned cultural values, the color of their skin being one of the most readily apparent. Certainly doesn't mean that is all they are but let's not pretend we're color blind.

3.) People who bitch about "reverse racism". Really, who cares. So the occasional minority gets special treatment, how does it effect you?

4.) People who like to stress how much "worse" black people had it in the past. Donald you normally make good posts but come on. Who cares how a black was treated in Birmingham in 1968 when it comes to race on this campus? It's important in the bigger picture, but it has nothing to do with how minorities are treated at Hampshire. Hmm, I must be treading dangerous water here, so I'll stop. OK, I'm ready to be flamed.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by hymalaia
Forwarded by plevi
October 8, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center
Date: 2004-10-08 10:08:11

I think Donald will probably point this out, too, but I think his post was much more about how racism has been moved underground but continues today than about how "some black was treated in Birmingham in 1968."

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by mrtapeworm
Forwarded by plevi
October 8, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

response: Okay, I'm a Mt Holyoke student and i find this article so ridiculous. First of all, the author's writing shows some serious racial bias. I happen to know T.. B... and take offense at the manner in which her speech was written, making her sound "ghetto" and painting her in an uncivilised manner like she's all about the cookies and milk! She may sound like that to you, but she certainly does not to me, but may be that's because i'm black! Secondly the purpose of cultural houses is for members of an oppressed group to find solace and comfort in knowing that their experiences are shared. If they were just plain old houses and not cultural houses it would be no different form the real world in which the oppressed have no where to turn to.

Aida Mbowa
October 8, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Cultural Center II
Date: 2004-10-09 01:05:37

This is to OppressedMinority:

"This school is actually full of white people who want to help you do really really cool shit."

You know, I could really make fun of that quote, but to a great degree I'm sure that's what's selling college to minorities and int'l students is all about!

First of all, we need to be honest here. I respect the fact that you and a few others may not be the 'average' white kid. i.e. One who is typically well off and can afford 'liberalism.'

It is a mistake for anyone to think that there aren't white people who are just as badly off as some minorities. However, you can't institute broad-policies based on individual (or even fairly large) exceptions. It simply isn't feasible.

The greater part of white America has it good, relative to others. As a non-resident alien, I could complain all day long about how it's annoying that my funding sources are so limited and how I'm made to go through tons and tons of needless bureacracy.

Or, I could just realize that being occupied with these silly things isn't going to make me better off. (To the contrary, it makes me worse off.)

You just have to face the statistics. The greater part of white America are far better off than minorities. That you come from a financially disadvantaged background is an unfortunate circumstance, but whining about it, and other people who are better off does not change that fact.

Your concerns remind me of the commonly used phrase, "Don't waste your food, what about all the poor people that don't have any food?"

The reality of the matter is that poor people aren't going to get that food on my plate, whether I eat it or not. The reality of this matter is that regardless of what you think about James Baldwin Scholars, if you somehow miraculously manage to shut that program down, it is not like they're going to divert all that money to you. So your intellectual pre-occupation is just making you worse off.

Moreover, look at how many opportunities there are for getting federal/private funding in this country. If you are too stupid or lazy you need to just forget about people that have it better off (white or black) and work out how you're going to make the best of the situation.

Just take your own advice: "I think that once people are here, the choice to focus on how much white people (minorities) are keeping you from doing what you want to do is not a helpful impulse."

You are correct in your point about the rage that people would express about bringing in white supremacists to talk etc... I think the same could be said about what would happen if men decided to set up a center to serve our 'real' interests. (i.e. [for the most part] alcohol, sports, hot women [sex] and meat.)

This is purely hypothetical, but it seems as though that this is the price for commiting a former injustice, i.e. that you get a little sidelined and justice might not quite seem like justice to you.

Take the analogy of the criminal who kills someone. So she may be rehabilitated in jail and then seek employment and a normal life. She may well be a new person (nothing like her old self) but society bases its judgements on her past and based on that she may never feel as though she gets her fair share of the justice pie. People are superficially nice to her, but the crime is more often that not at the back of their head. (i.e. Who is the first to be questioned as soon as a fellow employee is found in a body bag?)

The net effect is that she has killed someone earlier and jail has been an inconvenience and probably a learning experience. It by no means acquits her of the crime she has committed. So who does pay for this original sin? That she has to live with these minor inconveniences of getting a fuzzy sense of justice and is treated with an aura of suspicious is perhaps just a case of poetic justice, if not, it is just human nature.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by Morethanalemon
Forwarded by plevi
October 8, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center II
Date: 2004-10-09 12:41:42

Look kid, I passed my AP statistics exam.

I don't think that it's possible to claim that there's no disparity between the general economic standing of minorities in this country and the general economic standing of whites. It sucks. We all know this. It doesn't mean that everybody feels exactly the same way about the statistics, or that everybody thinks that the same "solution" will work.

I took issue with the patronizing way in which you dismissed a very complicated point of view. Every white kid who complains about his or her own poverty does not want to disassemble scholarships for minorities and take all the money for him or herself.
Every white kid who can't pay for college and comments "Well, I could pay for it if I were black", or who is bitter about affirmative action, even though that kid might be otherwise a bleeding heart liberal, doesn't want to shut off opportunities for minorities. Everybody wants their own fair lot in life, and they can't have it. Then there are the man-made problems that cause some people, because of their ethnic heritage, to more likely have a difficult time paying for college, or getting a job, or escaping poverty. And there's not a perfect solution to the problem.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by Guest
Forwarded by plevi
October 8, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center II
Date: 2004-10-09 15:35:59

we are once again treading on the issue never really addressed at our here college - class. I'd say issues of class are just as volatile here as issues of race and no one talks about them, except in context of race. And I'd say dear Morethanalemon, our esteemed Guest name was pretty darn right on, as a "disadvantaged white." Or for me at least. I think affirmative action and programs like the Baldwin Scholars are awesome, and should continue. It's just like damn, when are they ever going to make it so poor white kids can get a break. It comes down to, Hampshire College is much more interested in a more diversified student body than providing for everyone's financial need evenly, so it's going to be easier to get your needs met as a person of color than as a poor ass white kid. When I have to take out loan after loan after loan to come here, it is hard to not feel a little bit bitter, but that's human nature. I'm not a perfect human being who can look at the situation in an idealistic altruistic way, when I'm terrified to death at the debt I'm facing. I want it to be closer to fair, and then people of color should have advantages over that baseline level of almost fair. Basically, I want our country, our college, our whatever to not suck so much, so that everyone no matter who they are can more easily afford to go to the college of their choice. So I guess my idealism is all the more unattainable.

You quote all these statistics about the number of people of color below the poverty line, but the sad truth is there are likely few people of color (or whites for that matter) from below the poverty line who will ever get the chance to go to a college like Hampshire. Most of them will be lucky to finish high school. Same with all my home friends who for the most part ended up working low level jobs or raising babies. And this is mostly because more than that isn't expected of them, that's what they see their older siblings and parents and friends doing, why should they think they can attain more. So they don't seek it, and like hell is anyone going to hand it to them. I understand this is the point of the Baldwin Scholars, to seek those people out, which is why I personally think it's an awesome program, and a great start.

I think the the thing that upsets me most at Hampshire isn't even being able to pay for it as opposed to a person of color. It's the whole unsympathetic hardline white privilege view. While I believe white privilege exists for me (i.e., I'm sure it was easier for my struggling almost all white elementary school to get help than any other struggling almost all black elementary school in my county), I will never take it that being white has necessarily given me an easier life than the person of color from an upper middle class background. Likely fewer dirty looks. But I take that it's a class issue, as well as a race issue. When you compare that upper middle class person of color to a upper class white person, of course the white person will endure less shit. Or similarly me to a person of color from a comparable economic status. But you can't take class out of the equation, which we love to do at Hampshire.

And don't even get me started on how much I hate it when people started talking about "white trash." People don't fucking know.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by numbah two
Forwarded by plevi
October 9, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center II
Date: 2004-10-09 16:14:14

interesting point from that michigan affirmative action case- the system they were using to determine aid and such also had variables for class. so they did affirmative action for poor white kids too. not really an argument point, just something i thought was interesting.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by bakunin661
Forwarded by plevi
October 9, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center II
Date: 2004-10-10 02:12:43

Thanks for your reply, that was good stuff and I do apologize for being arrogant in some parts of my reply. That was silly of me.

Let me address a couple of your concerns:

1.) "I just want them to be offered equally to everybody who needs them, and given to the one who works the hardest."

Well, so we've established that a good number: 8.2%, of white people are just as disadvantaged as the 24.3% of black kids. Now, I suppose it is fair to say that at this point, these people are on an equal playing field. But here is where the minority takes a step down.

Recently, a couple of economists at the MIT Poverty Action Lab did this study on workplace discrimination using a method known as randomized trials. In this case, they sent a (big) bunch of CVs to employers in Boston and Chicago. The CVs contained information of candidates of similar ability but with stereotyped names which were to make their ethnicity obvious. This assumes a lot, but the skew of the results really does outweight any percentage error in the study.

Here is a summary of them, available at (http://www.povertyactionlab.com/projects/project.php?pid=3):

- Resumes with white names received 50% more callbacks than those with black names.

- There is evidence that the returns to improving credentials for whites is much higher than for blacks. Specifically, for resumes with white names, higher quality resumes received 30% more callbacks than low quality ones. For resumes with black names, the higher quality resumes did not receive significantly more callbacks.

- There were no statistically significant differences in discrimination across the tested occupations, industries, and employers. Furthermore, the level of discrimination was very similar in both cities.

- Federal contractors and employers who list "Equal Opportunity Employer" in their ad discriminate as much as other employers.

- Whites living in richer, more educated, or whiter neighborhoods have higher callback rates, but blacks do not benefit from this neighborhood effect.

- In Chicago, employers located in black neighborhoods discriminate less against blacks.

Now, this study is obviously not the end all of race politics but I think I have the right to at least make the soft claim that it lends a lot of support to the reality of institutional racism. So, given that you accept that claim, let's get back to the playing field.

So we still have our 8.2% and 24.3% of white and black poor people on the equal playing field. In light of these statistics on discrimination, which are probably not a far cry from what one would typically experience in applying for loans or grants, do you still think that people should be treated equally? Does the latter study not show that in equal treatment, blacks are still disadvantaged by the racism factor even if they're as hardworking as whites?

So what do you think should be done to alleviate this obviously unfair trend towards minorities? My solution lies in Affirmative Action-style programs. Of course, you will not always get the most deserving people from such a program and some people may abuse it. But then, help needs to begin somewhere in the face of this grand societal injustice. As you two seem to indicate, there is no 'perfect solution,' but we can surely try to approximate one.

2.) Back to earth. First of all, I would like to see how you would substantiate your claim that the Cultural Center disseminates 'anti-white propaganda.' That is a very serious claim and if this is correct, you have every right to be displeased. I would be too, but I have seen nothing of the sort. Perhaps you can prove me wrong?

Also related, who are these 'black-supremacists' you speak of? There is a fundamental difference between the KKK calling for the effective extermination of Jews, colored people etc... and a person from a minority who typically speaks about how he/she has been discriminated against in the real world and how one should be cautious of these things.

In short, minorities aren't conjuring up grand schemes on how to 'screw white people over,' they're rather trying to figure out how not to let themselves get screwed over.

3.) What is this 'cultural chasm' you speak of, and why do suppose such a chasm exists?

4.) You appear to be flip-flopping on the Baldwin Scholars issue.

First you said: "I don't want to shut down the james Baldwin Scholars. "

Then you said: "I don't want it to go away, it's just that I would like a similar deal that I could take advantage of, and if I can't get that because of my skin-tone, I kind of resent that."

And then you topped it all off with: "So I want the cultural center to change dramatically, but feel too much hostility from them to go do it myself, and I want the James Baldwin program to not exist or for everybody to get those kind of awesome benefits..."

Now, is your flip-flopping too different from what I suggest? i.e. "Why do people voice their opinion? Because they don't like it the way it is and they want it to change."

Which is pretty much what you want to do. You either want it changed, or you want it gone.

Now, doesn't that directly contradict what 'Guest name' said earlier? i.e. "Every white kid who complains about his or her own poverty does not want to disassemble scholarships for minorities and take all the money for him or herself."

Perhaps not, but you are surely one of them? We can clearly see that you are unwilling to settle for what exists at present and you would rather "shut off opportunities for minorities," as 'Guest name' put it.

So does Guest name really understand your point of view afterall?

5.) "Ok, so what I'm getting from this is a really badly articulated sense of the feeling that white people get when they are blamed for the sins of other white people in ages past."

I agree, I think it is preposterous to judge people on the basis of their ancestors. Let me make myself more clear, I think it is WRONG. This is justice, but justice requires everyone to hold the same view. But here's why we have a less perfect situation:

Why does racism towards minorities continue to exist? You cannot deny that these racist tendencies almost become ingrained in culture. In the same way, so too will the defensive mechanisms to protect themselves against this sort of racism. On the one-hand we have institutional racism which continues to this day and on the other we have affirmative action programs.

6.) Leaving the best for last, I apologize for my comments about you 'whining about your background.' That was rude and I apologize.

However, that doesn't make it wrong. (In a veridical, not an ethical manner.)

Look, so you come from a disadvantaged background. You've had to work hard to get through college. There are minorities from similar backgrounds that haven't had to work as hard as you, but have rather been offered benefits on the basis that they come from a disadvantaged demographic.

So, you're a little ticked off about all of this. Which is why you pretty much want the Baldwin Scholars program either shut down, or changed to help you as well.

If the circumstances were different and you were well off, we wouldn't be having this conversation, because you'd be happy in your idealistic bubble. (Yes, idealism is a privilege.)

Of course you're whining about your circumstances. But here's the beauty of the system. You've been able to work your way through school, and disadvantaged minorities have been able to get through school as well. The end all is that everyone receives an education. Isn't this the ultimate aim?

Finally, of course I fear racial discrimination. My 'hopes and dreams go up in smoke?' Well, for anyone who is willing to read inbetween the lines there, that is saying a lot more about you and the kind of person you are than it is about me.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by morethanalemon
Forwarded by plevi
October 10, 2004

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------
Subject: Re: Cultural Center II
Date: 2004-10-10 12:36:23

"Everyone who has invoked Martin Luther King in this thread has done so incorrectly:...."

I agree. On the last thread on this issue, I used the King reference to contrast the Fanon-esque tone of a fellow poster. King would not start a bloody race-war, nor would he sit around his appartment (or cultural center) and talk about the revolution.

Martin Luther King Jr. noted the effects of the adaptation of Fanon ideology in his autobiography. "Over cups of coffee in my home in Atlanta and my apartment in Chicago, I often talked late at night and over in the small hours of the morning with proponents of Black Power who argued passionately about the validity of violence and riots. They didn't quote Gandhi or Tolstoy. Their bible was Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. This black psychiatrist from Martinique…argued in his book…that violence is a psychologically healthy and tactically sound method for the oppressed. And so, realizing that they are a part of the vast company of the "wretched of the earth," young American Negroes, who were involved in the Black Power movement, often quoted Fanon's belief that violence is the only thing that will bring about liberation." (King 329)

What King would or would not do is irrelevant to me. King is not a force or direction in and of himself, but is recognized as a function for a method of un-building racial strife. To continue this metaphor, King is (was) not the key to the universe, but a human being credited with inventing a wheel, so to say. Why invoke King? A reasonable question which I will counter: Why reinvent the wheel?

Moving on...

Because of Fanon's Socialist ties, he is quite popular around this campus, and academia in general.

As to the charge that I am a true conservative: I plead not guilty.

I find it disgusting when people attempt to affiliate ideologicaly, racialy etc. These affiliations serve no good purpose, and instead serve to further ignorant assumptions. Why people subscribe to them of their own volition is a complex issue, and outside the scope of this post.

I will put it in a simple metaphor: You and you can continue to play cowboys and indians if it makes you feel more secure; I will continue to play the lone wolf.

The discussion of the cultural center has broadened to include among other things the Baldwin program, affirmative action, and the U.S. census. This transformation is interesting in that it follows a narrow path and avoids dangerous conversation. No, the Baldwin program will not go away, it's safe to talk about. The U.S. census is out of reach too. Exactly what is meant by affirmative action is so vague that it lends itself to amorphis discussion. Nothing so ill-defined can be debated consisely.

Here are some examples of unsafe topics: Is the Yiddish book center becoming a cultural center with a narrower focus? If so, how is it viewed by the patrons of the sanctioned multi-cultural center? If not, why are there so few minorities who go there? I am generaly against such disclaimers, but I understand that there are those among us who live to note their absence (bakunin661), so I will oblige in the interest of maintaining the focus of debate; I am not advocating any of these issues, but merely supposing that they exhist, and raising them in order to stir the pot.

I don't think the real issue lies in scholarships, or centers. In fact, I think that if a cause is identified as having a center, it serves as evidence that the cause is being corrupted. The issue is ideology. Who can you trust when you can't trust yourself?

The issue of equality is the game of musical chairs. The rougher the game, the more chairs get broken. If you build your own chair, you don' have these problems. But why build your own, when you can join the group, and take one?

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by Daveinator
Forwarded by plevi
October 10, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

I think people who are not people of color should stay the hell out of this, you have no bearing on my life and this crap is really starting to piss me off. MIND YOU OWN DAMN BUSINESS!!!! I love how white people know what is better for us than us. If you dont like what I said too damn bad. I am J.D. Melendez, if you want to discuss it, just come talk to me.

J.D.
October 12, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

I think that we should have a facilitated discussion about race and culture. I know that a lot of the racially insensitive things that are said on campus are due to people not understanding what people of color go through on a regular basis. In turn, we people of color react emotionally and out of frustration and it goes beyond class or economic status. I know people who have been through so much physical and emotional trauma because of their race and skin color that they have become anti-social. It is a real shame that someone has to live their life in constant fear of rejection because of something they cannot control.

Some of the stories that people have told me make me think that parts of the U.S. have reverted back to the 1960’s and some of the anti-racism movements are so extreme it’s counter productive. I think Hampshire has to meet some place in the middle and people of all races need to realize that all oppressions work together in creating injustice – this includes racism, homophobia, sexism and anti-semitism.

K.
October 14, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

I really feel like the authors of this article should have done some research first about race as a social construction- Werner Sollors, perhaps, or Howard Winant, or David Theo Goldberg... do your scholarship first before you attempt to engage yourself in loaded discourse and end up in way over your head.

lb
October 21, 2004

The following e mail was sent to all faculty at Hampshire College by Flavio Risech, an Associate Professor,and an Associate Dean for Multi Cultural Education at Hampshire. It was prompted by LIVING NOW's publication of "RACE?WHAT RACE"

Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 13:55:58 -0400
From: Flavio Risech <frisech@hampshire.edu>
Subject: racial discourse and controversy on campus

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to bring to your attention a situation that has developed in the wake of the publishing of a student authored article about race relations (sic) on campus. Some members of our community took exception to various aspects of the article, and there have been some heated conversations about it. In addition, there have been some postings on the Hampshire Daily Jolt that have provoked more intense reactions, especially among students of color. These anonymous commentators are seen as showing a lack of understanding of the nature of the College's mission to foster a diverse intellectual community with a strong commitment to social justice, and apparently fail to grasp the differences between class-based disadvantage and disadvantage which is based on perceived physical differences.

To some extent the article and the Jolt comments simply indicate that the Hampshire community reflects the political diversity of the larger national discourse about race. There is nothing objectionable or even surprising about the fact that some members of our community question the legitimacy of some of our diversity initiatives, and those who disagree with them should be encouraged to express their views in constructive ways conducive to dialogue and furthering mutual understanding. It should also not surprise us that some students, already feeling somewhat marginalized as members of a small minority of persons of color on campus, perceive such criticisms as attacks on the legitimacy of their own membership in our community.

The main purpose of this missive is to urge you to raise these issues in your Schools with a view toward buidling awareness on the faculty that these issues are on many students' minds and may emerge in a variety of forms in the classroom. This is less a "problem," I think, than an opportunity to engage questions creatively in the classroom that relate to multiple cultural perspectives on the subject matter at hand. It is also a challenge to all of us to be sensitive to subtle dynamics in our classrooms that may be affecting the various ways students engage in the learning process, regardless of the subject matter.

I am not exhorting us simply to be more protective of students of color. What I am suggesting is that we need to try to "read" the classroom as critically as we might read a text, to see whether and how the racial, class, gender and cultural mix in the room might be affecting the ways in which students experience the class, and to make such adjustments as we may deem necessary to make sure that all students feel valued and respected as members of a diverse and open learning community, even if there are disagreements and differences among them. Doing so is as much about teaching to non-minority students as it is about teaching to those from under-represented groups. There are no easy formulas for this; each of us needs to find ways to deal with these issues as they arise.

Those who wish to read the article, titled "Race? What Race? Race Relations at Hampshire" may find it at livingnow.hampshire.edu. I invite questions, suggestions or concerns about any of this. I look forward to hearing from you and to continued discussions of these issues in the months ahead.

Best,

Flavio
--

Flavio Risech
Associate Professor of Law and Ethnic Studies
Associate Dean of Faculty for Multicultural Education
Hampshire College
893 West Street
Amherst MA 01002-3359
413-559-5379
frisech@hampshire.edu

October 22, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

Interesting how noncommital the words "Cultural Center" are. Say I was a first-year at Hampshire; on hearing the name, what would I assume? Possibly, that it might be an area for language study, with community resources for events, internships and such. From the name, I wouldn't read into it that it's a closed community. I certainly wouldn't feel that I had no reason to be there simply because I'm not a person of color. I'm as cultural as the next guy, right?

The Center itself, though, isn't the focus here. It may have been the starting point, but the meat of the issue is that yes, racism exists here; yes, it's still uncomfortable to so much as mention; and no, most of us don't want to talk about it. It's more than troubling to me that action has been taken to reprimand the co-authors for simply collecting perspectives and pointing out the truly difficult questions.

A knee-jerk reaction to the article--an instant condemnation by way of "You just don't know what it's like"--is frustrating to the point of pain: Not knowing what it's like is what "dialogue" is all about, what controversy is all about, what the need for understanding is all about. Instead, the co-authors have been almost automatically written off as offensive, nosy, prejudiced, and, above all, white.

Please do not shoot the messengers. Please give the article another look. You'll notice that most of it is in quotes. That means people have spoken, given their opinions. All the co-authors did was notice a problem and ask questions, knowing the inherent danger of opening a controversial discussion.

Controversy isn't a bad thing, as long as it's used for understanding. Which are you more interested in--trying to make things better, or pretending the questions don't exist?

--R
October 23, 2004

Dear members of the Hampshire community,

In the past few weeks people have claimed that the Cultural Center has been under the attack by insensitive people in the Hampshire community. On Saturday October the 23, during a party sponsored by Umoja and the James Baldwin Scholars Program, a very homophobic/ hate speech song came on. The song’s name was “chi chi man” this song explicitly talks about killing gay males . The same people who are leaders of the “racism awareness”[movement] are the same people who have allowed this homophobic song to be played at a school sponsored event.

How can people of color complain that they are being mistreated when they do the same, or allow the same thing to be done to others? One of the most hurtful things about this was that it happened that at a party where most of the active people of color were in attendance-- and no one stopped dancing.The song that says:

From them a par inna chi chi man car
(from them a ride in a gay mans car)
Blaze the fire make me bun them (Bun them!!!!)
(Blaze the fire make me burn them ( burn them)
(from them a drink in a gay mans bar)
Blaze the fire make we dun them (Dun them!!!!)
(Blaze the fire make we burn them( burn them)

Every chi chi man them haffi get flat, get flat
every gay male they have to die
Me and my niggas ago make a pack
me and my friends in past made a pact
Chi chi man fi dead that's a fact
gay man is dead that is a fact

Have we as a community become so blind that we can see our own oppression, but yet we allow others in our direct community to be oppressed? Some may say that it’s "just music" and that music has no great influence on people. We are not that ignorant to believe such a lie. Music is the outpouring of our hearts through lyrics and beats.

When people say that the Cultural Center is segregating itself from the rest of the community--- that is not what they mean. What they mean to say is that *the people* in the Cultural Center are segregating *themselves* from the community as whole. The Cultural Center is just a building and thus cannot do any thing on its own. It is the people who bring it to life.

Even after being asked not to play Hate Speech music in advance, even when they could have told the D.J to cut the music, they did not,at an event that was sponsored by SOURCE groups. Why? Because being a person of color and queer for the most part does not affect them, in the same way that being a person of color does not directly affect people who are not of color...

Rasheem mcmillan
October 23, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

This story makes me feel like my four years at Hampshire were not wasted by being surrounded by people who were afriad to say anything.

Anna Murchison
October 25, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

Sigh. The Cultural Center. I tried. I tried really hard. I joined RAICES. I am a latina. I lived most of my life in Ecuador. My father is Ecuadorean. My mother is an irish-american lady. However it was never enough. I was never ethnic enough. I wasn't latina enough. Even though in some cases some of the members had not even been to a latin american country, for some reason my white skin prevented me from even being able to claim the ten plus years I lived as Latina in a Latin American country. Despite the fact that I was born and raised in Ecuador never made them happy enough. I was teased about my looks. I was questioned because I do not have an accent. They didnt like that I questioned my own Latino heritage as well as my American one. They made me try to feel ashamed of myself. Ashamed of my mother. I know the language. I know the salsa songs and dances but it never felt like a "safe space" for me. The discomfort was maddening. After a while I gave up.

One of my most favorite memories is being invited to a special woman of color/ ethnicity meeting. I know I was put on that invite list because of my last name. I also know I dont look brown enough. It was too late to catch up on my tan and I was curious and wanted some free sushi so I went with another girl who had a similar situation to mine. At the time it was a very uncomfortable meeting. I knew everyone thought I was just there to crash the party and ruin everything. But hey! I had an official invite. Its not my fault they didnt try to find my picture in the now defunct frogbook and check me off the guestlist. The organizers were the ultimate of assumption makers. After some pointed stares and gestures I left. Of course I made sure to take a vindictive helping of sushi on the way out.

You know what. I started writing for The Omen. Oddly enough The Omen allowed me to express my inner conflicts about race far more freely than I was allowed at my cultural center RAICES meetings. At Omen meetings I was able to casually talk about being bi-racial without cocked eyebrows and disbelief that I could ever understand what being "truly" latina meant. I was allowed a sense of humour.

In addition I will just mention RAICES does not celebrate Latin America as a whole and I had to sit through many mexican customs without getting to celebrate any Ecuadorean customs. Which is a shame because I wouldn't have minded even a hokey recipe exchange.

I am very happy I have graduated from Hampshire. It was a good run. But the Cultural Center needs to figure out how to treat bi-racial people.

Laura "token latina" Torres
10/25/04

Another post forwarded from The Daily Jolt...

----------START OF POST----------

Subject: Re: Wrongs Towards Minority Gropus
Date: 2004-10-26 19:31:40

I'm not a hampshire student, but I think that there is a significant issue that is being ignored here with all the knee-jerk racial tension.

People feel alienated in (or are not allowed to have access to) your cultural center. That's a problem. Maybe this is a vast misunderstanding of the purpose of said center, but it seems to me as though the cultural center is intended to be a place where students from diverse (yes, that even means WASPy) ethnic backgrounds can come to hang out, educate themselves about issues of diversity, and have civilized discourse. Am I wrong in assuming that? Just having the cultural center as a place where exclusively minority students can hang out with eachother is pretty counterproductive to those aims.

While I recognize that it is important to minority students to be able to hang out free of racial judgement, I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) that the cultural center's aims are to work to create an that environment throughout the entire campus-- and that includes incorporating white people into racial discourse. It should be a resource open to the entire community. I think this is a perfect example of how racism (no matter WHO it is perpitrated against) does nothing but breed more racism.

----------END OF POST----------

Posted by GoldenDiscord5
October 26, 2004

Reader response to RACE? WHAT RACE?

the whole world is a "white culture center." white culture pervades the whole globe and as you all should know that 85% of the globe has been colonized. Can other people, the actual majority please have a safe space to interact? Stupid thinking like this made me leave camp hamp.

naivasha-zaire salim
December 17, 2004

Wow. I think the response to this article alone is enough to signify that this is an issue that desperately needs discussion. My first year at Hampshire was probably the most open in terms of talking about race, and I think a large part of that is due to people not having been completely assimilated in Hampshire society at that point. We hadn't all acquired the fight or flight reflex to complex, sensitive issues that most of us have now. I don't think this should be a case of assigning blame, either to the students of color or white students. What's crucial is why this topic is so volatile that it cannot be so much as mentioned without inciting rage and accusations.

I've encountered many of the same issues of avoidance and isolationism in the QCA, with which I served for two years as a signer. As both a disabled and queer student, I would much rather open up Hampshire's environment to discussion then sentence everyone to silence. I get how hard and frustrating it is to try AGAIN and AGAIN to get these things across--every day I'm faced with the sort of internal, incommunicable pain that can't be translated or explained, no matter how hard someone tries to understand. And yes, often that pisses me off, and yes, it's difficult, and yes, I hate it. But I would much rather someone feel like they can talk to me about what I'm going through than be afraid to mention it, afraid to acknowledge it exists. The refusal to communicate is just another form of oppression: a defensive and retaliatory one, sure, provoked by seemingly inconquerable ignorance, but still oppression. Still silence. I understand the need for a safe space--hey, I'd love a disabled student's center, and absolutely think Hampshire should have one--but safe spaces should be welcoming to allies and, above all, dedicated to making every space a "safe" one. Without education and outreach, that just can't happen.

As for the article itself: while I think it could certainly use some expansion and explanation--particularly of the process of the co-authorship, overall I appreciated its frankness, intention, and development. Initially, I thought the use of the limited third person might have been the writer's way of avoiding some amount of responsibility, but now I actually think it works. Ideally, it gives the reader the necessary distance to take in the characters' less relatable reactions while still keeping them closely invested enough to engage with them. This piece served exactly its purpose: to expose the established dichotomy of thought regarding race at Hampshire and to begin bridging the divide of that dichotomy. Everyone's personal experience is, to some extent, incommunicable. But that doesn't mean we should all suffer alone, in silence.

Katharine Duckett
4/26/07

Read the story, Race? What Race? Race relations at Hampshire College .