College Humor?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/01/31/gangsta.parties.ap/index.html

As much as I love writing about race relations as it pertains to Asian Americans, I feel the need to branch out every once in a while with my range of topics. Hence, the link above pertains to a story that ran on CNN on January 31, 2007 regarding mostly white students at predominantly white colleges, dressing up as gangsters and hip hop icons as part of a particular theme party. Without coordination, these parties allegedly occurred on college campuses around the country - ranging from UCONN Law School to Clemson to some school in Texas.

As you may be able to imagine, these parties caused quite a stir among the public after information leaked to the major press in the country. In particular, the die hard liberals are seemingly jumped into the middle accusing everyone who attended these parties as blatant racists. As it appears, this incident is reminscant of the blackface of the early 20th century where the lack of black actors lead to white actors painting their face black to portray blacks on television. Please don't get me wrong: I am 100% against the notion of dressing up as a member of a misrepresented ethnic group. I cannot begin to fathom, in fact, how livid I would be if I were to hear about a story in which white students dressed up as their favorite Asian on TV.

Nevertheless, the tone of the article and other similar ones, is one that radiates negativity towards the college students who participated at these parties - and for good reason. America is supposed to be the paragon of educational institutions that churn out scholars in an attempt to create a more knowledgeable society. How is it that such a knowledgeable segment of the population, be so disconnected with race relations and how their actions could potentially draw a huge backlash among the liberal media channels?

As I may have mentioned before, I attended a small liberal arts college in the northeast where diversity is definitely not abundant. I have heard firsthand, the types of conversations that occur among white students when a black person may not be present. Most of the time, it's in the form of some poorly constructed ethnic stereotype joke - ones that find an audience among the un-informed college students. For the most part, these students (I am not particularly exempt) have had the liberty of living rather stable lives - away from the dangers and struggles of inner city living. In fact, their parents, much like mine, were probably consciously aware of the dangers of the inner city and thus chose to move to the suburbs.

The result is that there has been a vail pulled over their eyes and thus created a naive sense of identity. These kids, as mentioned in the article, might be inclined to listen to rap music and therefore prone to think that their dressing up as a gangster is acceptable - when in fact, the vail prevents them from seeing the repercussions of their actions. I have come to realize that these kids (white kids) rarely have had the eye-opening experience to which they discover how it must feel to be a member of a minority group. Their insistence on sticking with the majority population creates a sense of ignorance. Without an injection of diversity into the mix, I feel that these mis-interpreted party goers will end up ignoring a significant portion of the population and hence, perpetuate stereotypes that they haven't made the effort to dispel.


Regardless, I really should be making a point with this incessant ranting: To succeed in this world is to be able to play the game of life, and for the most part, the game of life, particular in this country, is one that forces us to play in the framework of a white dominated society. At the same time, it is important to stand your own grounds and protect the values of one's particular culture as a means to solidify identity. When one group crosses over and appears to be overtly mocking another group in a condescending manner (regardless of the awareness of their actions), then that should be constituted as white privilege and ignorance - and not necessarily racism. We have to keep in mind that these students are merely kids who might not have been given the opportunity to broaden their comfort zones. Can we really blame them for being ignorant as a result of their upbringings? By no means should this explanation suffice as an excuse for their actions because college students only know that these theme parties go both way (read: prep night or dress as your favorite stereotype night). But, as I am an idealist at heart - give them a few years and more interactions before we can really make the judgement that they are indeed racists. With all the coddling going on in our culture, it's hard to really pinpoint the beginning of true adulthood.

Remember: racism = hate + power.