<p>Hi :-),
I will be attending next year and I wanted to dorm in Stevenson or Cowell but I am afraid of the racism (due to the graffiti). I am an African-American girl who grew up in a predominantly white town. I feel conflicted because I have never really gotten along with "black" people to begin with--I love them of course but most of my friends happen to be white or Asian. I also want to avoid conflict so I'm debating Oakes--even though I really do not wish to live there.</p>
<p>The location of offensive graffiti doesn’t necessarily say anything about the students living there. It says one thing, about a single person: and they might not even reside on the campus.</p>
<p>These incidents are incredibly rare. I’ve only heard of the case you’re talking about, and on other in my two years at UCSC. The vast majority of are well…intolerant toward intolerance.</p>
<p>I agree with others that UCSC is incredibly accepting. The incidents that occurred were unfortunate but are definitely not representative of normal behavior.</p>
<p>With that said, I think Stevenson and Cowell are much better choices than Oakes due to their location, the people and the quality of the facilities.</p>
<p>You can report me to oblivion, but anyone who is afraid of racism, especially in a progressive state like California, and a city like Santa Cruz, is asking for some sort of special treatment. </p>
<p>Racism is a terrible part of society, but it is in no way as big a deal as it was 20 or 30 years ago.</p>
<p>People write stupid stuff on bathroom walls all the time. Everyone in Stevenson is great and verry accepting. It’s one of the best college in my opinion. :)</p>
<p>I am a Person of Color who attended UCSC when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I never cease to be amazed that the image/reputations of the various colleges remain the same, although of course Colleges 9/10 weren’t around then. I eventually transferred from Stevenson to Merrill, basically due to the racial cluelessness of folks at Stevenson. I would never expect to see racial intolerance at UCSC. But race and racial and ethnic issues have a lot of complexity and nuance, and I never felt that Stevenson and my white friends there ever <em>got</em> it. I suppose the same could be said about LBGTQQIA issues and a number of the colleges, but since I am <em>just</em> a straight ally, I will leave others to comment.</p>
<p>zabdullah:
You must have missed the point of the question…it was just to get opinions and to see if my thoughts were rational. I am aware of how liberal California is…I’ve lived here my entire life…except for these past two years of course. And it is very ignorant of anyone to think that racism has gotten SO much better…“progressive” is a euphemism for "swept under the rug but still institutionalized. "The only kind of “special treatment” I would ever want is to be quarantined from people like to you.</p>
<p>Attacking someone you have no idea about…■■■■■■■■ much?</p>
<p>I don’t know if you notice, but this level of racism existed in the past, and is seldom seen in even the deep south. America is not past racism, but it is safe to say that hate crimes and segregation are 99% less than they were 50 years ago. </p>
<p>And to your swept under the rug; I have no idea what you are talking about, lots of people feel cooler and would jump on the opportunity of having a black friend. Discrimination exists, but unless you are a middle aged white man, you are being discriminated against.</p>
<p>And yeah thanks for proving my point, you want to be quarantined from reality.</p>
<p>First off, racism works both ways: it IS possible to be racist towards white people/non-minorities. I have heard more ‘white people’ and ‘redneck’ jokes (in public) than ‘black people’ jokes. Most white people I know take it in stride, but I can’t say the same with minorities. To be fair, its still somewhat a sensitive issue due to past injustices (especially when talking about African Americans), but logically, you can’t argue a double-standard. Somehow, I don’t think you would be as worried if your (future) colleagues made an occasional white or redneck joke…</p>
<p>And, as far as ‘institutionalized’ racism goes: what exactly do you think Affirmative Action is? I’m all for helping the downtrodden in our society, but when that help is ‘funneled’ only to people of a particular race, that sounds an awful lot like institutional racism to me.</p>
<p>If you disagree with any of these, please correct me, I would love to hear arguments.</p>
<p>I am an African American student currently attending UCSC. I am also an Oakes student.</p>
<p>Just for the record, I transferred to Porter when I was majoring in Film, but since the film classes weren’t impressing me…I’m now minoring in Film…and I major in American Studies with an Asian American Studies focus.</p>
<p>I have also experienced racism from various individuals mainly from instructors and administrators.</p>
<p>A department head (white female) who dismissed one of my complaints told me with a smile: “You probably don’t want black people coming to UCSC because of your experiences.”</p>
<p>I was yelled at by an Asian female instructor who didn’t like me writing stories about black male/Asian female relationships…yet, she is married to a white Brazilian male. (Not too mention, there are various white male/Asian female couples on campus which I’m sure she didn’t have issues with).</p>
<p>I currently have several complaints going on, against her…as well as other individuals. I plan on submitting, with the help of another UCSC administrator, complaints to the Office of Civil Rights…as well as document my experience in a blog and/or Youtube video.</p>
<p>I was also informed that not only have some African Americans been subjected to racist treatment…but I’ve been told of an experience towards a Latino student.</p>
<p>The school isn’t diverse, unfortunately. I also was speaking with a student in the Chinese/Taiwanese Union(a club I am a part of) and we discussed about how the school is majority Caucasian, and probably how that affected my experiences at the school. </p>
<p>The only reason I attended UCSC was because it was close, and the only other schools accepting applications (due to the budget crisis at the time) were UC Riverside and UC San Diego…two other schools I was also accepted to.</p>
<p>Oh wow. I hadn’t heard so much as a whisper of any of that on campus. I’m so confused by that first instructor you mentioned. That might be fair to say as a concern but why say it with a smile!? :/</p>
<p>I hope you come back to link the blog/video if you go that route.</p>
<p>I feel especially shocked because I’m a female engineering student, and I expected a lot of trouble for it. Surprisingly, that’s not been the case. I guess prejudice managed to hide elsewhere at UCSC.</p>
<p>I think it’s sad that you had to feel that your gender would be an issue in the engineering major…and I do hope things turned out better than expected.</p>