FINAL DRAFT

Comfort and Ethnic Housing

     The first usage of ethnicity is attributed to the American Sociologist David Riesman in 1953. The word ethnic, however, is much older. It is derived from the Greek word ethnos, which originally meant heathen or pagan. It was used in this sense in English from the mid-14th century until the mid 19th century when it gradually began to refer to racial characterization. In the United States, “ethnics” came to be used at around Second World War as a polite way of referring to the Jews, Italian, Irish, and other people considered inferior to the dominant group of largely British descent.

     Some writers have accepted and emphasized on ethnic minority housing as being a serious global problem, many ethnic minority households are inadequately housed and some are homeless or housed at the cost of racial harassment. The ethnic minority in this research will cover mostly the Afro-Caribbean and Asians. Ethnic minority housing has been or what has come to be seen as inner city problem. “Minority ethnic groups have a high level of home ownership but this does not mean they have high employment status or better living conditions.” (Taron, 2004) 

     “At the root of this is our own discomfort with race.” (Parker, 1997) Americans are obsessed with it. We are also eager, however, to prove that we are not. In a bid to demonstrate openness to and desire for diversity, opponents of race-based housing pose misguided questions and challenges to a concept that has already been demonstrated to be successful. One such challenge is the concern that ethnic-theme houses encourage segregation rather than integration. Critics argue that students must all live together -- that minority students should be present in dorms in numbers representative of their presence on campus. It is an illogical argument, one that puts the burden of integration on minority students without addressing other ways to increase their overall numbers on campus or the quality of their experience. “We are a society made rich by our cultural enclaves, and we have been for years.” (Hill, 1996) Most cities have racial and ethnic communities that are sought after and enjoyed by their residents. We are not minimized by the existence of these communities or by the strong desire that some of us have to live in them.

Not all minority-group students want to live in theme houses focused on their culture. These students have other interests, opportunities, and priorities in their college lives. “Some students, however, are concerned about the day-to-day reality -- often different from that suggested by admissions brochures -- of life on a predominately white campus.” (Cameron, 2000)  These students know, either intuitively or because they received better information than I did at that age, that they are entering a different world. And they have the wisdom to know that they should prepare themselves for it. Different support structures should be available to them, including ethnic-theme houses. The controversy about ethnic-theme houses becomes especially heated if membership is restricted. Should these environments be limited to members of the ethnic group, as in the Cornell University experiment a few years ago, or should they be open to anyone? It depends. I believe that no student should be denied the opportunity to pursue specific intellectual interests. Furthermore, just as academically average students have benefited from living in honors houses and American students have grown tremendously in international houses, the perspectives of white students have been enhanced by their participation in ethnic houses.

     We can choose, of course, to eliminate these opportunities from our campuses. “We can define for our students which of their needs we will and will not respond to.” (Lum, 2008)  It is, after all, the prerogative of each university or college to define its culture. We are being extremely naïve if we don't realize that the potential pool of students has a few prerogatives of its own. If students do not believe a particular campus is interested in their comfort, welfare, and growth, they will elect to go to places that are interested. One might argue that a case in point is the recent drop in minority applications and admissions to both the University of Texas and the University of California systems, after court rulings and decisions by regents, respectively, barred institutions from considering race in admissions decisions.

APA Reference List

Cameron, S (2000). Ethnic Minority Housing Needs and Diversity in an Area of Low Housing Demand. Pion Ltd, 32, Retrieved 12/7/2008, from http://ideas.repec.org/a/pio/envira/v32y2000i8p1427-1444.html#author

Hill, M. J. (1996). Do theme dorms sanction self-segregation. Christian Science Mentor, 88(160). Retrieved 12/7/2008, from http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?vid=6&hid=15&sid=2ecc12aa-ce07-43c6-8960-e6fd39aff1b2%40sessionmgr9

Lum, Lydia (2008). A Space of Their Own. Diverse Online, Retrieved 12/09/2008, from http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/printer_12054.shtml

Parker, R (1997). Why Special Housing for Ethnic Students Makes Sense. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Retrieved 12/7/2008, fromhttps://netfiles.uiuc.edu/hschein/www/readings/diversity/ethnic-housing.html

Taron, D. (2004). Ethnic theme dorns hinder school diversity. Stanford Daily, 32(2). Retrieved 12/7/2008, from http://www.stanfordreview.org/Archive/Volume_XXXII/Issue_2/Opinions/Opinions5.shtml

ROUGH DRAFT

Comfort and Ethnic Housing

     The first usage of ethnicity is attributed to the American Sociologist David Riesman in 1953. The word ethnic, however, is much older. It is derived from the Greek word ethnos, which originally meant heathen or pagan. It was used in this sense in English from the mid-14th century until the mid 19th century when it gradually began to refer to racial characterization. 
In the United States, “ethnics” came to be used at around Second World War as a polite way of referring to the Jews, Italian, Irish, and other people considered inferior to the dominant group of largely British descent.  Consider combining these two paragraphs- Docraygen 12/2/08 3:46 PM 

     Some writers have accepted and emphasized on ethnic minority housing as being a serious global problem, many ethnic minority households are inadequately housed and some are homeless or housed at the cost of racial harassment. The ethnic minority in this research will cover mostly the Afro-Caribbean and Asians. Ethnic minority housing has been or what has come to be seen as inner city problem. In his findings, he stated that the minority ethnic groups have a high level of home ownership but this does not mean they have high employment status or better living conditions. 

     At the root of this is our own discomfort with race. Americans are obsessed with it. We are also eager, however, to prove that we are not. In a bid to demonstrate openness to and desire for diversity, opponents of race-based housing pose misguided questions and challenges to a concept that has already been demonstrated to be successful. One such challenge is the concern that ethnic-theme houses encourage segregation rather than integration. Critics argue that students must all live together -- that minority students should be present in dorms in numbers representative of their presence on campus. It's a very quantitative approach to a very qualitative issue.
And quite frankly, it is an illogical argument, one that puts the burden of integration on minority students without addressing other ways to increase their overall numbers on campus or the quality of their experience. We are a society made rich (in spite of our best efforts) by our cultural enclaves, and we have been for years. Most cities have racial and ethnic communities that are sought after and enjoyed by their residents. We are not minimized by the existence of these communities or by the strong desire that some of us have to live in them.
Not all minority-group students want to live in theme houses focused on their culture. These students have other interests, opportunities, and priorities in their college lives. Some students, however, are concerned about the day-to-day reality -- often different from that suggested by admissions brochures -- of life on a predominately white campus. These students know, either intuitively or because they received better information than I did at that age, that they are entering a different world. And they have the wisdom to know that they should prepare themselves for it. Different support structures should be available to them, including ethnic-theme houses.

     The controversy about ethnic-theme houses becomes especially heated if membership is restricted. Should these environments be limited to members of the ethnic group, as in the Cornell University experiment a few years ago, or should they be open to anyone? It depends. Philosophically, I am not a proponent of restricting membership, because special-interest housing serves intellectual needs as well as cultural ones, and I believe that no student should be denied the opportunity to pursue specific intellectual interests. Furthermore, just as academically average students have benefited from living in honors houses and American students have grown tremendously in international houses, the perspectives of white students have been enhanced by their participation in ethnic houses.

     We can choose, of course, to eliminate these opportunities from our campuses. We can define for our students which of their needs we will and will not respond to. It is, after all, the prerogative of each university or college to define its culture. We are being extremely naive, however, if we don't realize that the potential pool of students has a few prerogatives of its own. If students do not believe a particular campus is interested in their comfort, welfare, and growth, they will elect to go to places that are interested. One might argue that a case in point is the recent drop in minority applications and admissions to both the University of Texas and the University of California systems, after court rulings and decisions by regents, respectively, barred institutions from considering race in admissions decisions.