Recently in a seminar about diversity, Dr. Jamie Washington stated that America is in a period of “desegregation,” and that in order to achieve equality, we must attain a state of “total integration.” I totally agree with Dr. Washington. However, I must add that in the current state of the University of Pittsburgh, and the country for that matter, total integration is impossible.
The University is horribly littered with all sorts of “identity organizations” that emphasize students’ ethnic and cultural roots in an effort to preserve their “identities.” We have the Black Action Society, the African Students Organization, the Arab Cultural Organization, the Caribbean and Latin American Student Organization, the Chinese American Students Association, the Pan African GPSA, the Vietnamese Student Organization, and many others. These groups persist to classify themselves as “African Americans,” “Chinese Americans,” “Hispanic Americans,” “Arab Americans,” “Indian Americans,” and several other classifications. My question is why are these distinctions necessary? By continuing to make these classifications and constantly stressing that differences exist, integration cannot occur.
I bring up a lot of these same arguments in my rant about Affirmative Action, but I feel it is worth being said again. The vast majority of Pitt students are American. They were born and raised here in the United States. What is wrong with being American? I can guarantee that there would be hell to pay if I were to try and make a “Euro American Student Association” as that would be immediately dismissed as a racist, white supremacist organization. This isn’t to say that I feel the need for such an organization though. I am an American. I do not consider myself a Euro American or a German American or a White American. The only exposure I have to German culture is German class in High School and German potato salad at my Grandma’s house. I would also be willing to bet that the same is true for students of other ethnic backgrounds as well, until they came to college, that is. For some reason, people think it is important where your great grandparents from decades, maybe centuries ago immigrated to the United States from. Who cares?! I propose the immediate abolishment of all student identity organizations so that we may focus on our American culture; the culture that we all have some experience with and are a part of. There should be one student organization to cater to the needs of International students, but that is it.
The following is an excerpt from the Constitution of the Black Action Society. I am using the BAS as an example because they are without a doubt the loudest organization on campus and have the largest amount of influence on University policy.
ARTICLE III: Goals
A. To serve as the official representative organization for the concerns, needs and interests of Black students.
B. To create a positive environment for the development of Black students at the University.
C. To serve the cultural, educational, political, and social needs of Black students.
D. To inform all Black students of problems, programs and activities that affect them.
E. To maintain a working relationship with the general community in order to inform them of important issues pertaining to the Black student body, to keep the community informed of events, programs, activities and news, and to encourage active support and participation in these events.
F. To establish a symbiotic relationship with the faculty, administration and staff, and to draw upon that experience, knowledge, assistance, support and participation.
The first goal is to serve as the official representative of Black students. Why do Black students need an official representative? Like I said before, they are Americans just like the rest of us and they are Pitt students just like the rest of us. For what reasons would they need a representative separate from the rest of other Pitt students.
The second goal is to create a positive environment for Black students. Sure, that is all well and good, but why is creating a positive environment for Black students any more important or vital than creating a positive environment for any of the other Pitt students?
The third goal is to serve all the different special unique needs of Black students. I ask again; why do Black students have these special needs that are different from other students? We are all busting our asses trying to make it through college. We all have the same needs.
Goal D states that the BAS will inform all Black students of the things that affect them. We’re all young adults here and can make our own decisions. Why does any organization need to tell students anything? It is for all students individually to determine what issues and problems affect them, not some organization with issues and an agenda of its own.
Goals E and F are just stupid and I’m not even going to address them. I’ve already covered in the above paragraphs why they are unnecessary.
Last year I attended a BAS event in which Dick Gregory came to speak. I was appalled at the beginning of the event when the Black National Anthem was sung and everyone was instructed to “sing it like we’re going back to the motherland!” First of all, I don’t think I need to discuss at length why a Black National Anthem is unnecessary and destructive. All it succeeds in doing is causing more separations among people and makes integration impossible. As far as “going back to the motherland,” if that’s how you feel, be my guest! No one is forcing people to stay in this country. If it is so oppressive and horrible to be a United States citizen, please feel free to go back to “your motherland.” I’ll even pitch in for the plane ticket.
These organizations want to make you think that there is something wrong with being an American. They want you to think that you are different from everyone else. They are not trying to bring about equality and integration, they are trying to cause fights and stir up trouble. We are not going to attain integration by having scores and scores of “ethnic identity groups.” The only way we can become equals is by treating each other as such.
I have one more to add; a disclaimer if you will. I am only speaking of ethnic identity groups here. I feel that religious groups, on the other hand, are very important to the University. Spiritual identity plays a vital role in any living environment. These groups are truly open to any students and help students with a great deal of problems and issues. Ethnic organizations, however, are not open to all students. If someone wants to belong to another religion, they can convert. Anyone can convert to Judaism and join Hillel if that’s what they want to do. Not everyone can “convert” to be black and join BAS. They may claim to be open to all students, but in reality they most certainly are not. Every other line in their Constitution talks about the rights and needs of Black students. Religious groups can include anyone.
