<p>After reading this site a bit, as well as U<em>nigo and College Prowle</em>r, it seems as if the general consensus is that if you're a minority and don't join Greek life, you're pretty much going to be relegated to hanging out with a group of people who pretty much only look like you do. I was just wondering if this was as prevalent as everyone makes it sound, or if there are more diverse groups among students on the campus? Thanks for any replies. [:</p>
<p>You will find a lot of people that mostly hang out with people that “look like” them. You’re certainly not forced to do so though. It really depends on what your interests are and who else shares those interests.</p>
<p>It is somewhat prevalent but I believe its human nature. The most apparent division is between Caucasian and Asian social groups but it would be similarly true if you were African (or any other race) as well. There are huge clusters of Africans that somehow find each other despite making up only 4% of students on campus. </p>
<p>If you’re Asian and want to hang out with Caucasians, you could go to a predominantly Caucasian university to “force” yourself into one of their social groups but I’m telling you that they will subconsciously resent you and its better just to be where you belong.</p>
<p>^ “Subconsciously” resent you? Excuse me? Are you speaking on behalf of every White person in the world? Maybe it’s just you. Racist.</p>
<p>Anyways, I have a lot of friends that tend to be asian (I myself am asian) but there are also white friends in my “clique” (if you wanna call it that). I will say more than less of my friends are asian not because simply of their race, but because I have more in common with them. If more non-asian people wanted to go shopping at 99 ranch with me and eat Korean BBQ, then I would love to have more diverse friends. You tend to be friends with people that have common interests with you.</p>
<p>If a black girl is really into anime (I know of a couple), then they may prefer talking with other people that also are really into anime. And by chance it just so happens a good amount of people I know that like anime are asian. So there you have it. Race isn’t a factor.</p>
<p>Anyways, I don’t think you tend to be friends with people who look like you. It’s more like you’ll be friends with people that act like you, which probably is a good thing because you actually want to do things you and your friends will both enjoy.</p>
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<p>“where you belong”? Seriously dude? People “belong” wherever they want to be and with whoever they want to be with. You need to seriously re-examine your views on race and interpersonal relationships if this is your thought process.</p>
<p>OP, I didn’t notice any of that, but I typically don’t pay attention to “cliques” or whatever. But as I said before, UCLA has a lot of people, so you’re bound to find a group of people you get along with and enjoy hanging out with. No one is “relegated” to anything - your group of friends and who you associate with is entirely your doing.</p>
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I’m speaking from my personal experience as an Asian American. Note my usage of the word “they” when referring to the Caucasians and not “us” or “we”. -.-</p>
<p>I’m not a proponent of political correctness. I say it like it is. “Racism” is wrong; but a minute, subconscious preference for the company of one’s kinsmen while maintaining a strong level of respect for other races is nothing wrong and the most we can ever ask for out of society. </p>
<p>You can’t control people’s emotions or force people to like you. There’s no point in pretending that individuals have no subconscious and that most, if not all people, treat all races as 100% equal.</p>
<p>I disagree with sentiment. I realize he feels like he’s not being racist and is just “telling it like it is”, but he’s actually just being racist. Most white people don’t harbor “resentment” towards asians, and will have no deep rooted spiteful feelings if hanging out with them. Your statement is ridiculous.</p>
<p>I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist. Your statement is just over the top.</p>
<p>i’d say that assuming that people have some sort of subconscious racial bias is a pretty warrantless statement. Sounds like false cause to me. UCLA definitely one of the most diverse campuses i’ve ever seen. I see women wearing hijabs there, which i never saw at my cc.</p>
<p>There is a large majority of people on campus who can’t even speak english. For those people i’d imagine it’d be pretty hard to have any form of meaningful/sophisticated conversation with anyone who doesn’t speak their language. That said, i went to a community college where a lot of people (asians, armenians, etc.) didn’t speak the best english but i still made an effort to talk to them, as did they to me.</p>
<p>i’m mexican, but i hung out with several people who weren’t (mostly classmates) and we did things like get lunch and hang out. One of my friends was also in SMC’s Rotaract club, and had lots of different race friends as well. in general i’d agree with notaznguy, your friends are usually the people you have the most in common with.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, college is what you make of it. If you come off as a nice and relaxed person, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that won’t talk to you</p>
<p>beyphy: you’re also pushing it. </p>
<p>Enough with the extremes guys. </p>
<p>Sentiment said that white people harbor resentment towards asians, while beyphy said that racial bias doesn’t exist.</p>
<p>Seriously? It’s clearly somewhere in between those extremes.</p>
<p>Truth be all is that we all do forms of discrimination. That’s the reason why we have the friends we currently have. We’ve discriminated others and chosen some to be part of one’s social life.
There been many studies of the effect social-economics that leads to segregation. People will hang out with people their familiar with. So if you grew up in a dominant black neighborhood, your friends most likely be black. Same applies to any other race/ ethnicity/ nationality. So this can later be seen as students transition to college life. Those who grew up in diversified neighborhoods will most likely have a lot of diverse friends. So those who grew up in an Asian community will most likely hang out with Asians. Obviously, this is just a generalization that describes in a crude way of describing detailed research of group psychology/sociology. Of course when taking to an individual analysis, a person has the ability to pursue outside. That’s why people would argue that it’s up to an individual to make friends and what not. So individuals have all the power. Those people don’t take into account psychology and environmental factors that condition a student entering college life.
UCLA does have segregation as does the rest of the United States. Since there are alot of Asians, you will see a lot of Asians hanging out with each other. All of this is applied to all groups.
Ultimately, diversity of race is bullocks. The most important diversity is of ideas. So hang out with people you feel comfortable around. If you truly want diverse friends, have them come from different world perspectives.</p>
<p>@OP: I would even say that you can find way more diversity outside of Greek life. (that’s a whole other scene) honestly, people are friendly here and if you’re social, you can make friends without worrying about diversity</p>
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<p>dude, you need to learn how to read better. I never said people aren’t racist, or that racism doesn’t exist. I said that there’s no evidence that people of a different race than you will “subconsciously resent you” for trying to hang out with them. Neither you nor sentiment refuted that statement, so it still stands valid.</p>
<p>you should work on your reading comprehension before you make arguments about my so-called “extreme” claims.</p>
<p>beyphy: I stand by my statement that your feelings are too extreme. Your opening sentence is “i’d say that assuming that people have some sort of subconscious racial bias is a pretty warrantless statement.”</p>
<p>I find that too extreme. My reading comprehension is fine. I believe that people have some bias, but that sentiment saying that people “resent” other races is far too extreme.</p>
<p>@arcadefire1027 i said it is a warrantless statement because it is. there’s no evidence to support that statement, and it’s really unlikely sentimentGX4 has the ability to see into people’s subconscious, even if his claims are empirical. i think my argument calling BS on his claim is valid and is not extreme.</p>
<p>i just wanted to explain my position. at the end of the day it’s your opinion and even though i obviously don’t agree with it, i respect your right to have it.</p>