Racism and the UCs

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

<p>Recently, I went on a fishing expedition of sorts; utilizing a site called Cappex, I decided to enter in some of my information (GPA, extracurriculars, and my projected SAT score) just for the sake of seeing how colleges would respond. To my great surprise, I apparently snagged several UCs (UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC Riverside). Although UC Riverside is ranked near the bottom of the UC system, I must say that I was genuinely pleased to receive feedback from Santa Barbra and San Diego (numbers 4 and 3 respectively).</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I have heard several horror stories from almost all of the UCs that expressed interest in my Cappex profile. UC San Diego has had several incidents of blatant racism (nooses being hung around the campus, the infamous “Compton Cookout,” and the usage of the n-word on a campus-sponsored TV channel); UC Irvine’s issues seem to be tied to Asian fraternities (which is hardly a surprise; Asians are over-represented on the campus and tend to have anti-black attitudes); UC Santa Barbra and UC Riverside have not had any high-profile racist incidents on campus in the past decade, but many minority students allege that the administration is not concerned about their plight.</p>

<p>It seems that almost all of the UCs with the exception of UC Berkeley and UCLA have severe problems with race relations. Therefore, I must ask; as a black person, would I feel safe on the campus of any UC that is not Berkeley or UCLA?</p>

2

<p>The UC is likely the best state university system in the land. You need to separate the greatness of the system from the few narrow minds that it houses. Also I suspect that you’re a ■■■■■. A real minority who has faced down racism would not be afraid of a UC campus and a few frat boys. Also, worse than being a ■■■■■ would be a hater monger, trying to stir hate between Asians and Blacks. I suspect the worse.</p>

3

<p>I am neither a ■■■■■ or a bigot. If the issues that I have mentioned were simply isolated incidents and not worthy of concern, then why did several media outlets (specifically, the New York Times and CNN) cover the story of racism at UCSD? Why did the reagents of the University of California system issue an apology? Why did the Black Student Union hold several protests? Why was the government brought in to investigate?</p>

<p>Also, this incident occurred just a few months ago at Irvine: [UC</a> Irvine Freshman Receives Racist Note: ‘Go back 2 Africa slave’: LAist](<a href=“http://laist.com/2013/05/10/uc_irvine_student_receives_note_go.php]UC”>http://laist.com/2013/05/10/uc_irvine_student_receives_note_go.php). I’d say that this is a much greater problem than you are acknowledging; some black students say that they have been forced to move out of their dorms due to extreme racial harassment.</p>

4

<p>Also, it is not really necessary for me to “stir up” hate between Asians and blacks. Personally, I have nothing against people of Asian descent; even still, it is not wrong for me to acknowledge that two particular racial groups are often at odds with each other. The reverse of my statement (i.e. many blacks often exhibit anti-asian attitudes) is likely true as well. I was just making a sweeping generalization; I do not think that my statement is applicable in <em>all</em> cases. I was not trying to be offensive, and I apologize if my statement is too easily misinterpreted.</p>

5

<p>I recently graduated from UCSD (and was there for the events that you described), and to be honest, it was an isolated incident that was turned into something that it wasn’t. I have no idea who did it, and I didn’t even know what had happened exactly because I wasn’t involved, nor was anyone I knew involved (and this is including classmates, coworkers, friends of friends, acquaintances, etc). It wasn’t some widespread act of racism–it was a couple of kids being stupid, and because this type of story sells (and there were unrelated incidents that occurred around the same time), it blew up to be bigger than it actually was. I’m not saying it was acceptable or that it was tolerated by the staff, the professors, or the students (which it certainly wasn’t), but I don’t believe that this suggests rampant racism on campus, racial tension, or even racial intolerance. The views of the students who did whatever they did certainly do not represent the views of the institution as a whole. It caught media attention, and as such, it became a huge ordeal.</p>

<p>As someone who was there during the events and was a student there, yes, I do think you would feel very safe at UCSD as an African American person (or as any other person, really). I am not African American myself, but I have several friends, classmates, and coworkers who are and they never felt unsafe on campus, even during these events (some of them weren’t even aware of what had happened until much later). That being said, if the media stories concern you so much, don’t apply to UCSD. It’s your decision, and you should go to a school where you are comfortable.</p>

<p>Also, if you look hard enough at any school, you can find something distasteful (or prejudicial/racist/sexist/etc) that has happened before. Not all stories catch the media’s attention, which is why they don’t immediately come to mind, but they are still there. For instance, a quick google search brought up the following recent incidents for Berkeley and UCLA:</p>

<p>UCB:
[UC</a> Berkeley ‘Racist’ Bake Sale Protested (PHOTOS)](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>UC Berkeley 'Racist' Bake Sale Protested (PHOTOS) | HuffPost San Francisco)
[Racism</a> rears its head at UCB | SocialistWorker.org](<a href=“http://socialistworker.org/2012/11/21/racism-rears-its-head-at-berkeley]Racism”>Racism rears its head at UCB | SocialistWorker.org)</p>

<p>UCLA:
[At</a> UCLA, Racist, Sexist Signs Called Asian Women ‘White-Boy Worshipping Whores’ (VIDEO)](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>At UCLA, Racist, Sexist Signs Called Asian Women 'White-Boy Worshipping Whores' (VIDEO) | HuffPost Los Angeles)</p>

<p>I think you should visit the schools and make the decision yourself, whether or not you would like to attend there. Also, I would think you would want to go to a school that (as UCSD did) administer statements and hold protests against such acts, regardless of whether they were intended as racial acts or not. It demonstrates that these acts are not tolerated and that the students and faculty of the school are willing to stand up against it, rather than sweep it under the rug. In fact, most of what I learned about the event came from my professors, who took time to discuss the issue during class. However, if you don’t feel comfortable at UCSD (or UCI), don’t go there. Do I think you should base your decision on this? No, but I’m not you. Go to whatever school you like.</p>

<p>Edited to add that I am of East Asian descent, and I didn’t know any students of East Asian descent who held serious racial or prejudicial attitudes towards others of African descent, if that was your concern as well. I don’t know who you know that leads you to believe that Asians “tend to have anti-Black attitudes,” but in my experience, that isn’t the case.</p>

6

<p>There is some racism at every school (and against every race), but I highly doubt that you will feel unsafe at any UC campus. Generally, the UCs are some of the most liberal and non-elitist schools for the education quality they provide. </p>

<p>Don’t be fooled by the percentage of blacks at most of the UC campuses. First, given the size of all the UCs, the absolute numbers of blacks on most campuses are higher than at the Ivies. Berkeley in particular has a very vigorous black community, and their number exceeds that of Stanford. Second, the low percentage of blacks is not caused by them actively rejecting the UCs. It is because AA often gives blacks better options.</p>

<p>Overall, I would rate the campuses as…</p>

<p>No real active anti-racism. What I mean is that people who are racist are not necessarily immediately rejected by the community at large.
UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCSC. Mostly due to the apathy of some people at these schools. </p>

<p>Active anti-racism practiced
Berkeley, UCI, UCSB, UCR</p>

7

<p>I am really sorry that we live in a world where you have to feel cautious about applying to certain colleges because of race, nobody should have to go through that. I am not sure where you got the idea that UCLA and Berkeley don’t face the same racial issues that other UC’s do, because that is not true, most colleges nationwide have to deal with this stuff. It would be a mistake to oversimplify things to the point of saying UC-X has racism and UC-Y does not. I would advise you to apply to whichever UC’s you like, racist people are definitely a minority on campus.</p>