Ethnic Housing
Ethnic housing; is it worth spending the extra money on when so many other improvements need to be made? The economy is in a recession, college tuition is rising as it is, and people are loosing jobs— would this really be a logical decision? The answer is simply “no”. First of all if this were to ever happen it would take years of planning and years of wasted time to accomplish something most people are not fond of anyway. The point of college is to experience something new, step out of the ‘comfort zone’. No one would ever be able to fully experience the joys of college if they always felt at ease and never went through the normal obstacles of finding appreciation for something out of their element. I am a strong believer of living life to the fullest and those who are simply unable to accept the world outside of their homes do not deserve to be babied in such a paternalist way. Ethnic housing on college campuses would not be worth the money or time it would take to be completed and would be antithetical to the idea that college should be a time of new experiences—not to mention the enormous set back it would create from eliminating racial prejudice. Ethnically separate dormitories actually do have the potential to bring positive attributes to different cultures; however the only problem is that college campuses fail to bring forth such factors. Robert Sargent Jr. had a good point when he said that, “many of these programs stereotype minorities. For example, at Brown University, there is a Third World Center, which represents a commitment to ‘students of color’. [These] minority publications and activities assume people of color are ‘different” (2002). What this suggests is that minorities do not receive the same types of educational advances as other races and special classes are even offered to them. The students are being catered to. Instead of giving people of culturally strong backgrounds the opportunity to learn more about where they come from the colleges are taking away individuality from the students and rewarding them for their separatist thoughts. Thor Halvorssen of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Educations truthfully stated that, “Colleges are underling the differences between students instead of building bridges. What they are doing is promoting Balkanization, not a humane environment” (Sorokin, 2002). Colleges tend to support ethnic housing for all the wrong reasons which is why it is a bad idea to spend millions of dollars to build new dorms for those select students whom feel they cannot flourish in a multiracial environment. Rebecca Lee Parker is a perfect example of what ethnic housing can do to college students. After spending high school in an environment where she was a minority she felt that she would have no trouble leaving her hometown to attend a private, predominately white college elsewhere. After arriving at her college she realized that the comfort of being able to return home every afternoon and weekend was something she had taken for granted. Miss Parker created a mind-set that she would never feel ‘home’ in her dorm with her white roommate and by her second year in college accepted an offer to live on an all-black hall. Rather then allowing her self to branch out within her campus she remained in her shell. Parker claims that she was drawn to her black friends “by the natural human tendency to seek out people in similar circumstances” (1997). That is exactly the problem. The problem which college is supposed to fix through allowing students to see a world other then the one they are accustomed to. Cultures are important and each one deserves to be acknowledged thoroughly, but what good does it do if the only culture a person examines is their own when so many others also need recognition? It is impossible to learn if a person only sticks to what they know. The only lessons such residencies teach are “stereotyping, cultural myths, and racial judgments” (Meyers, 1996). Yale University is a college which fully understands that multiracial interaction is a healthy part of growing up and has decided that it is a “necessary part of what [the Yale] diploma represents” (Davis, 1997). Although four Orthodox Jewish students sued Yale University because it failed to live up to their religious standards, Yale continued to stand its ground on account of already having a package which attempts to make Orthodox Jewish students feel comfortable. Living and appreciating the very different world which surrounds us all is an important trait everyone should acquire. College campuses should be the easiest and most welcoming place this quality. Ethnic housing would be a pointless addition to colleges. For years and years countless numbers of people fought to end segregation among races and to bring everyone together as ‘one’. The creation of ethnic housing would be nothing more then an insult to the hundreds of people that died to create the equality we have today. The only way to eliminate the awkward feelings that exist between races would be to avoid ridiculous ideas such as ethnic housing. Just as anything, after time new and strange feelings eventually become old and customary ones. Therefore, if all races are brought together permanently, then sooner or later interactions with people that are different from us will become second nature.
Reference List
Davis, D. (1997). College housing policies should avoid ethnic and religious balkanization. Patterns for college writing: a rhetorical reader and guide. Kirszner, L. & Mandell, S. (Eds.) (2001). Times. Retrieved January 3, 2009 from: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=9802E4DA1039F931A15756C0A960958260 Parker, R. (1997). Why special housing makes sense. Patterns for college writing: a rhetorical reader and guide. Kirszner, L. & Mandell, S. (Eds.) (2001). November 2, 2008 from: http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1202/1202campus.txt Sorokin, E. (2002). Study rips college minority programs; Sees ‘segregated’ campus as result. Washington Times. Retrieved January 3, 2009 from: http://www.thefire.org/pdfs/4252_2538.pdf |