I'm a black female and nervous about going to college because of racism

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>11 steps for easy racial discussion:
by wantsbrown, your resident suburban upper-middle class white boy</p>

<ol>
<li><p>complain about racial double-standards</p></li>
<li><p>make disparaging comments about blacks/hispanics/asians</p></li>
<li><p>dump your frustrations about how society works on blacks/hispanic/asians</p></li>
<li><p>fail to acknowledge that prejudice still exists against minorities but as long as you don’t see it, it doesn’t count.</p></li>
<li><p>state that this country is equal. obama is black. that means all minorities should just get it together.</p></li>
<li><p>when convenient, and usually when in racial tug-a-war debate, state that obama is half-white, and so all black references to him are invalid and null. </p></li>
<li><p>look for a black/hispanic spokesperson. e.g. “my friend is black, and she doesn’t see racism; ergo, racism doesn’t exist”.
or
“my hispanic friend gave me permission to call him a derogatory word. so all hispanics who get mad at me, are wrong. i have permssion”
when accused of being racist, let the other party know that you know somebody who knows somebody who has a sister who has an asian mailman, so you can’t be racist.</p></li>
<li><p>when in a debate, proudly state that “reverse racism” exists and whites can be victims too. you should also state this as if you’ve personally made the discovery of the genome that allow minorities to have human-like traits that allow them to dislike people.</p></li>
<li><p>go onto wikipedia and pull up graphs and numbers to suggest that minorities are all poor and stupid.</p></li>
<li><p>and then scratch your heads and wonder why minorities aren’t too keen on you.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>scratch in a horizontal motion, east to west, with a question mark floating 2 meters above your head.
repeat as necessary.</p>

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<p>Prejudices exists everywhere. Just because you’re a minority doesn’t necessarily mean you’re at a disadvantage, though I’m not saying many aren’t very disadvantaged, which could have a ton to do with other variables (minorities tend to have lower incomes, poorer health, etc). But minorities can be racist too. I went to school with mostly blacks and latinos, and I’d be darned if a day went by when someone didn’t call me “little white girl” or “hey white girl” or make fun of the way I dressed or something. I would have been punched in the face if I called a black female “hey little black girl.” Racism, as far as I’ve seen, really depends on your location. Just town to town can be a world of difference. But pretty much everyone is judged. Overweight and obese people are also have a ton of prejudices against them and from some studies I read are less likely to get a job position.</p>

<p>But seriously, if someone is a racist towards you, they’re not worth your time. Racists are nothing more than bullys, and bullys suck.</p>

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<p>"My best friend is black and she’s never complained about being discriminated against. "</p>

<p>xAAAx, that’s because your black friend is intelligent and understands that mentioning the word “racism” to a white person might make the white person react defensively and not like her.</p>

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<p>or maybe it’s just the truth =)</p>

<p>what about discriminating against smart/stupid people. It seems that that happens much more often (on CC at least)</p>

<p>And I’m a minority myself, as a lefty which accounts for only about 10% of the population.</p>

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<p>Lmao @ Brown</p>

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<p>White people always look at me like I am out of place or something. This is everywhere I go, not just at school.</p>

<p>lol flamewar</p>

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<p>Poor OP, her thread has been completely hijacked. </p>

<p>If it’s any consollation, I don’t discriminate; I hate everybody equally.</p>

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<p>I do realize that my previous post was insensitive, but I stand by my point. I do think that some American minority populations are overly sensitive when it comes to interpreting what constitutes racism and what does not.</p>

<p>For example, compare African-American students to African students studying in the US. In my limited experience, African-American students are more hostile towards “the white majority” than international African students. But they have the same skin color - should they not be affected equally by racism? Another example: I admit that I am not always the nicest person when I am having a bad day, but I think that I am about equally rude to everybody. Being rude to a white person makes me a jerk, being rude to a black person seems to make me a racist. Come on…</p>

<p>I am not saying that racism does not exist, but not every insensitive action is racist.</p>

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<p>WantsBrown, it appears that step 11 has been fulfilled.</p>

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<p>As i knew it would be. my 11 step program never fails.</p>

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<p>Wow b@r!um it seems like you hold some type of anger towards blacks. African Americans do not complain about racism yet if you are going to hang a noose outside someone dorm room or write N*****on their wall then they have a right to stand up. It appears to me as if you harbor some type of feelings against African Americans, I bet you dont agree with affirmative action either.</p>

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<p>I’ve edited for you. Bold = fulfilled.
(I just noticed you don’t even have a step 11)</p>

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<p>i agree.
if someone’s biggest woe is not being able to insult a black person…</p>

<p>that person needs to get over themselves and find a damn hobby.</p>

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<p>I can understand some kind of resentment of fellow high school students if, for example, two students had similar profiles and the African American student was accepted, presumably based on affirmative action. I can understand how the non minority student would feel somehow cheated of their spot. However, I doubt that kind of thing would actually occur in college itself. After all, everyone there got in; why would they resent you? I don’t see athletes or legacies being persecuted.
I personally think affirmative action is legitimate- colleges have every right to create diversity on campus. However, I think socioeconomic factors are a lot more significant to actual disadvantage.</p>

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<p>I took my baby on a Saturday bang. “Boy is that girl with you?” Yes, we’re one and the same. Now I Believe In Miracles, and a miracle has happened tonight.</p>

<p>But, if you’re thinkin’ bout my baby, it don’t matter if you’re black or white.</p>

<p>They print my message in The Saturday Sun. I had to tell them I ain’t second to none. And I told about equality, and it’s true, either you’re wrong or you’re right. </p>

<p>But, if you’re thinkin’ bout my baby, it don’t matter if you’re black or white.</p>

<p><em>spins</em></p>

<p>HEE HEE</p>

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<p>Not to continue the derailment of the thread, but I’ve heard that white women benefit the most from Affirmative Action.
I am too lazy to Google it though.</p>

<p>In any event, I don’t see why people keep complaining about it. Nobody really knows how much race plays when an adcom considers an application. It could be a huge boost, it could be a little one. And if you’re already in college, better reason to ST.FU about it and quit beating a dead squirrel.</p>

<p>The real problem is certain students, who are already in college, have a case of elitism and want to believe certain other students didn’t earn their spot.
When certain other students start getting handed free As on their exams for their race, then I’ll be irked, until then - certain students need to get over it. They’re doing the same amount of work as the certain students and the certain other, other students and if you can keep track of which student is the certain student and which student is the certain other student, then congratulations, you’re as high as me right now.</p>

<p>(I have killer insomnia and my meds to help me sleep, have me soaring in the clouds.)</p>

<p>Any-anyway, I never felt as hostile or threatened by Affirmative Action as my peers. I figure, if you’re the best and the school really wants you, you’ll get in despite race or gender. It’s the mediocre students who may need to fret.</p>

<p>And I’m sorry, but LOL @ the people who are complaining about blacks, on a thread where the OP is worried about racism.
I’m not saying it’s racism, of course; it just makes me laugh. </p>

<p>Back to the OP’s conundrum, I would wager that the responses in this thread are likely on par with the same beliefs that your peers will hold. Some will hold a grudge, some won’t care, some will be hostile, some will be friendly, some will be high.</p>

<p>You just can’t let anybody bring you down.
I know I’ve posted this quote a million times on CC, but:</p>

<p>“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.” - Eleanor Roosevelt.</p>

<p>It’s actually kind of sad that you even need to choose a school based on how others will treat you.
I think NYU would be a good fit. Most NYC schools (excluding Fordham…) are pretty easy-going, liberal, and since NYC has some of every race, every gender (the other, other gender), every nationality, every sexual orientation. It’s unlikely you’ll run into a problem.</p>

<p>These are just my two cents. I’m not black so I can’t relate to your experiences, but racism or, as present in this thread, racial-hostility fueled by stupidity and entitlement, is a pet peeve of mine and I can’t respect anyone who displays those attributes.</p>

<p>Anyway, good luck. You might also want to apply to Columbia if you’re looking at NYC schools. I attend there and I love it. And I hate everything, so that says a lot.</p>

<p>(ETA: LOL @ my tl;dr post. I wish my meds would kick in. I want to go to sleep. :frowning: )
ETAx2: And I just missed the end of Food Network Challenge. How lame.</p>

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<p>Thank God someone else finally realizes that there is no sub-category that stratifies humans even more into the white race, black race, etc. </p>

<p>With that being said, your friend’s case by no means speaks for our entire ethnicity and she probably doesn’t believe so either. And until the day where a “black” name doesn’t bar one from employment at some companies and other circumstances are changed, yes, people of color don’t really have it all that great. I’m not saying that we seem to be the bane of existence from the majority’s view, but one really can’t say that everything is equal.</p>

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<p>You, sir, are brilliant. Be my baby’s daddy!!!</p>

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<p>Is it possible that you will run into racist people? Yes. It’s also possible that you’ll run into sexist people, and classist people, and people who just have an irrational hatred of you for no particular reason. You can’t go around feeling nervous because “omg what if a racist pops up”; that’s a terrible way to live.</p>

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<p>Quoted for truth.</p>

<p>I ran into a lot of that “you got in because you’re black” ******** right after I got into Stanford.</p>

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<p>Of course! I also love this one by Ani DiFranco. Any time you feel an ism…</p>

<p>And God help you if you are a phoenix
and you dare to rise up from the ash
a thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy
as you are just flying past</p>

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<p>"I am a white female and tired of blacks whining about racism. Just a few days ago I was riding the subway and admiring the gorgeous pattern on a backpack. Half a minute later I was called a racist for staring at a black lady.</p>

<p>But to anwer your question, I have never heard of a student at my college encountering racism due to affirmative action. "</p>

<p>I’m not even whining, wow. Get over it. Nobody cares about you and your stupid story that didn’t even make sense.</p>