You are a white person. It's lunchtime and you are carrying your tray into the dining room. The only spot available is one that is crammed with a group of Asians. They notice you approaching and stare at you through narrowed eyes. "Can I sit here?" There is an awkward silence. "Yeah sure, if you want." You seat yourself timidly. Pretty soon, everyone starts talking in their native language. You grow increasingly uncomfortable and wonder if they are talking and laughing about you. You try to make conversation but no one seems interested. You wonder if this has anything to do with race.
Racism used to be about whites discriminating against minorities based on skin color. Because of the growing minority population at the College Park campus, a situation has developed in which minorities discriminate against the majority based on skin color. Technically, this subtype of racism does not exist. Christine Clark, executive director of the Office of Human Relations invalidated the term "reverse racism." "Racism requires one group to have institutional power and another group not to. 'Reverse racism' would mean a shift in institutional power, which is the same as racism." Clark said. "In a personal context, when people retaliate against whites, it's because of how they feel institutionally discriminated against; it's a response to oppression." However, for brevity of this article, The Public Asian will go ahead and refer to minority racism against whites as "reverse racism." Reverse racism and its impact on students was examined in the following areas: campus life, social life, immigrants, and dorm life.
"Racism on any level is stupid" said Steve Vigilante, a freshman Letters and Science major who identified himself as white. He chooses not to associate with members of his own race who exhibit such behavior.
c. , who identified herself as African-American sophomore international-business major, said " It's sad that, after all these different groups fought for integration, minorities are now secluding themselves."
Many minority campus students found reverse racism among their own race to be unpalatable.
"I suppose the line of thinking is, 'you guys have wronged us for years, so now it's time for us to wrong you back.' But to be honest, it only occurs with some very ignorant minorities," said David Park, who identifies himself as a Korean-American graduate student in biology.
Other students observed the scales of equality tipped slightly in favor of minorities today. "It' unfair that caucasians don't have organized associations that advocate their progress as a people, when minorities have numerous groups that advocate their rights. It's also unfair that when a minority is killed by a caucasian, it's deemed a hate crime, wheeas when a caucasian is killed by a minority, it's not." said Jackson Lee, a freshman letters and sciences major who identifies himself as Chinese-American.
Typical manifestations of reverse racism on campus are rather subtle. "Sometimes, I see a group of asians who will stare or give dirty looks to whites who come near them, " said Woo Chol Yi, a senior decision and information sciences major who identifies himself as Korean.
Some other students rejected the practice, but could understand its predilection due to past U.S. racial dynamics in the U.S.
"Whites are used to being the majority; when they're not, they feel uncomfortable," said Leah de los Reyes, a senior communications major who identified herself as Filipino-American.
Jason Mao, a junior computer science major who identified himself as Chinese, offered a possible reason for reverse racism, "Minorities feel unequally treated; that's why they exclude the people who exclude them. It's a counter-reaction."
Some students questioned the line between reverse racism and the natural rapport among people with similar backgrounds, "Is it really "wrong" to just hang out with people of your own race? It's not. People of similar cultures naturally feel a sense of brotherhood," said Alex Forero, a sophomore computer science major who identifies himself as Latino.
An Asian student who wished to remain anonymous vented, "Whites seem to be closed minded, do not care about other cultures, have a superiority complex, and are in general, very ignorant." He clarified that he was not referring to all whites.
With so much diversity on campus, one would think we'd all learn to get along. De los Reyes analyzed, "It's obvious this campus promotes lots of diversity, but they don't promote unity. It won't hurt if, say, the Asian-American and Black Student Unions throw a party together." De los Reyes testified that racial exclusion has and does occur in campus groups. She remembered that during her freshman year, the Filipino Cultural Association was exclusive and "clique-y." For those reasons, she did not join that year.
A few students broke the "rules" and joined ethnic clubs on campus not specific to their own race. Pang Lin, who identified herself as a Chinese-American graduate student, involved herself in the Black and Hispanic Student Unions because, "you can meet people and learn about different cultures." Fortunately, such students reported these organizations were quite receptive to "outsiders." Campus groups as a bloc, if not individuals, receive those who take the initiative to get to know their culture.
Despite attempts to overcome racial barriers on campus, a great racial divide still exists. Last year, Art Attack provoked a large group of minorities and women to stage a silent protest against the racist, sexist, and homophobic lyrics of the music group, The Bloodhound Gang. Don Valencia, who identified himself as Filipino-American and is a junior decision information sciences/architecture major, was among the protestors. He recounts how some whites took the opportunity to express their hatred of minorities, "several white people were driving by yelling racial slurs at us in broad daylight; girls were crying."
Caitlin Carty, a junior English/women's studies major who participated in the silent protest noticed that "there were so many people who went to watch the BHG that were blatantly racist. I was so proud of the group that came together to protest, but at the same time, sad to see there was so much racism on our campus."
Another notorious incident was when a hateful email directed at the African-American community was sent to all the African-American student leaders on campus. According to , the email ranted about the individual's hatred for African-Americans "taking over", delivered a slew of racial insults and threats. stated that she and her friends were all "shocked; whoever sent it was pretty ignorant. We were more upset than angry that people could still be so ignorant in this day and age."
A cursory look around campus and its cliques may give the impression that people choose their friends based on having a similar race. The environment in which one grows up shapes one's social niche. Mao has friends primarily of his own race as a result of growing up immersed in his own cultural community. "I lived in a Chinese community, so I went to a Chinese church, and Chinese youth group. Therefore I have more Asian friends." An anonymous African-American student admits that race can make certain people reluctant to befriend other races, "I know a couple of friends within the black community who may not feel comfortable hanging with other races." However, students like Forero see nothing wrong with spending more time with people of one's own race. "I usually hang out with people of any ethnic group, but I am trying to discover my own racial identity--I wish to learn more about the Hispanic culture." Although it's easy to take one look and decide College Park is overrun by reverse racism, there are many different reasons why people seek the friendships they seek. And it's not all about race.
What about immigrants? Do they have a valid excuse for forming a majority of the language-exclusive groups on campus? Mao, who immigrated from Taiwan five years ago explains, "They don't know the [English] language well, so they tend to stick with their own race. I mean, if you just came [from a Chinese-speaking country] and you know a couple of guys who are Chinese, you hang with them." It's difficult to know what to do in this culture when you are "fresh-off-the-boat." sympathizes with immigrants who don't know how to act this society. For example, she cites that in other countries, "you say hi in the morning and people greet each other; but here, if you say hi, people just walk on by." Immigrants do have an excuse to cluster because the language and customs of this country are hard to adapt to immediately; being in the company of others in the same boat can ease the transition.
Where can reverse racism really hit home? Literally, in campus dorms where the color-blind housing plans create microcosms of diversity. Students who were paired with a white roommate had varied experiences. De los Reyes had Jewish roommates, but "everyone got along fine; we could yell "Chink" and "Jew" down the hall and it didn't matter." However, several other students felt their roommates' lifestyles cramped their own. Some common complaints were incompatible music tastes, communication problems, and feeling left out when homogeneous groups of whites crashed in the room. One Asian student's white roommate left him with a bad impression of white values. "Education was my priority, his was having fun; it wasn't so much the constant drinking, more about the 'impure things' he indulged in." Diverse dorm-arrangements sometimes backfire when attempts to impose two cultures on each other increase the premises for reverse racism.
We wondered what it felt like to be on the receiving end of reverse racism. Carty, who identified herself as white, shared her thoughts on the situation on campus. Carty has a wide palette of friends and a Cambodian boyfriend. She criticized that whites don't truly promote diversity in that they rarely join ethnic clubs, for example. "Too often, whites will have activities that were supposed to promote diversity and they expect others to go to them. Th