<p>I visited Duke 1 year ago and fell in love with it. I'm thinking of applying but am worried about the problems with self-segregation and other race issues (ex: town/gown relationships). I was worried about this even before the LAX controversy and am not even considering that event in my decision. If anyone can give me their own impressions that would be very helpful!</p>
<p>I'm a Chinese kid who went to a black church. Was never a problem for me.</p>
<p>it's only a problem if you make it a problem.....</p>
<p>at school there is definitely self-segregation, but this only happens if you choose it, and usually race doesn't matter as much as socioeconomic background. in regards to the town/school relations, the only people who seem to have any problem are the one's who really stick out and "flaunt" it...for example, if you're out walking around 2 am and people can tell you have money, of course you're going to get into some trouble</p>
<p>I'll have to agree with the previous poster. Race relations and town relations are only a problem if you make it so. I know that my friends are rather diverse and I've never had trouble with Durham. (though my car did get keyed when I left it at Duke over winter break, that is the total of my negative experience with Durham)</p>
<p>One way to steer clear of the self segregation thing is to be involved in activities that aren't going to separate people along racial lines. A good example is being involved in the activities of your freshman dorm. (I of course don't mean to say that one should avoid certain groups, just that if you are worried about that kind of thing you are already in a group that isn't self segregated when you get to Duke)</p>
<p>Self-segregation is not any more a problem at Duke than it is anywhere else in the nation. I personally have more Asian friends than I do white ones (I am white), some hispanic friends, and only a few black friends. This might just be purely due to numbers (there are three times as many Asians as blacks), which was augmented by the fact that I am an engineer. But that is just my personal experience, so it could differ greatly. Also, I haven't experienced much class segregation as the previous poster said - I have some friends who were millionaires while others have parents who are broke and are on essentially full rides through fin aid. In regards to town/gown, some residents resent Duke students for their perceived money/snobbiness, but I have never experienced anything overt. Just heard in the news about how Victoria Peterson hates everything Duke....I don't think it's very common for Duke students to become super friendly with Durham residents unless you live in a house off a East and need to be friendly with them when you are throwing a party so they don't call the cops on you. Duke's party scene is different from many universities because the off-campus housing is in the midst of family homes (except for apartments, which is mostly Duke students). There is no "frat row" or anything, so parties are sometimes met with resistance from the neighbors understandably because of the noise. Other universities may not have this problem b/c there is a section of housing that consists solely of students - and students don't call the cop on other students for throwing a party. So, town/gown not the greatest, but I personally haven't noticed any extreme resentment or anything like that.</p>
<p>Thank you for all these posts. They are all really helpful! I figured that the people who were complaining about these issues were the ones that made them their problem. I think I'll definitely apply now.</p>
<p>My D has a very good friend who is a minority. Her friend realized halfway through her freshman year at Duke that while she had a diverse group of friends in high school her friends at Duke were all from the same minority group as she was.</p>
<p>She decided she missed having a diverse group of friends and joined some campus organizations (which is where my D met her) so that she could meet and make friends of diverse backgrounds.</p>
<p>It's all a matter of personal choice.</p>
<p>It's really not a problem for me. It's not like the Duke social scene enforces this kind of behavior. It just happens among small pockets of people who choose to seek out members of their own race to hang out with (which I don't think of as a problem anyway. To each his own?)</p>