My son who is black, has been admitted at Duke. I would like information on the interaction among students. How do
.black students fit in? I welcome comments from parents of black/African american students. Thanks.
Your title seems to imply that there is still palpable segregation at Duke. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Although I’m not AA I never saw even a hint of racism while I was at Duke.
Did your son attend the special event for minority accepted students?
He has visited the college but not cutting minority weekend. . I am sometimes concerned( may be overly concerned) when it seems necessary to have a minority weekend. I have no prior knowledge of segregation but in reading from various posts, I worry about racial discrimination, students looked down on, equality, etc… Wonder how students are paired for rooms? Hope they don’t pair based on color but on interests, classes, etc
If your son is concerned, what I would recommend is that he call or e-mail Admissions & request contact information for a current black student at Duke. He can ask that student, what is it like there, are you happy?
As a fellow parent, I would say, respectfully, please let your son take the lead.
And, no, they do not assign freshman housing by race (I would imagine that’s illegal). Many accepted students meet future roommates through Facebook. Or they are assigned by expressed interests from a survey.
I’m not a minority, so take this at face value I suppose, but I wouldn’t say there is any real segregation here. There are special African-American themed Greek organizations, but there are African-Americans in the traditional Greek groups as well, if that is what they want. There are organizations and activities like the BSA (Black Students Association I think) which probably lead some African Americans to befriend one another and have a social group that consists of African Americans, but there are plenty of African Americans and other minority students in my own friend circle and other people’s friend circles who don’t fit into a minority group.
Thanks so much for all the contributions. I think I worry too much.
@sgopal2 When you say you never saw even a hint of racism, how about the lacrosse incident a few yrs back. Even though those boys were cleared of the sexual assault charges, they did specifically hire black strippers for their party. Not sure it is racist, but it is something. Doesn’t sit well with me.
No, there is a lot of mixing between everyone due to the social atmosphere. Also, even though Durham is in the south, the Duke campus is actually very diverse, just take a look at the class profile-- whites are in the minority at 49%
@wisteria100: I wasn’t on campus during the lax team incident. However just this past month the Duke alumni magazine wrote a good article on the issue:
Wisteria: Correction. The lacrosse players hired a stripper. A black stripper showed up. Not condoning the hiring of strippers for private parties. Suggest you and others interested in this subject watch the recent ESPN special on the matter.
Please, let’s not rehash an incident that happened 10 YEARS AGO.
For the OP, best of luck in your son choosing a college. As a parent, I have been on campus many times during the past couple of years, interacted with students and parents of all races, and it seems to be a welcoming, inclusive place. And it’s a place that encourages students to challenge their own preconceived notions in order to grow as individuals and as a community. Many students circulate in several different circles of friends: academic, social, athletic, cultural, etc.
Speaking from the outside, as a non-black person of color, Duke’s black community is fairly strong. However, for students who are not considered “black” enough, ti can be an difficult community. Racial microaggressions are common, in both social and academic spheres, including the classroom. I think that there is very real pain on campus, manifested in both big events (the noose on campus, the defacement of a Black Lives matter poster last fall) and small events (comments in classrooms and at parties). (More student voices here: http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2015/11/students-highlight-disconnect-between-discourse-administrative-action-at-open-forum-friday)
With that said, however, I have to say that there is very real black joy at Duke, and I have nothing to think that the level of systemic racism and discrimination would be the same at any elite PWI (predominately white institution). PWIs across the country have been bad at addressing race-- really, really, bad at it. Duke is not an exception. It can be a good place, but it’s also a frustrating and hard place.
The noose incident was an international student who snapchatted his friends something like “lets hang around.” After an investigation, he didn’t know that nooses were used in the US South to intimidate black people and he was cleared. I think it is a huge stretch to call this incident a race problem after the investigation that took place.
The noose incident was done by a domestic student…and the issues it raised pointed to a race problem at Duke, whether or not some folks choose to validate those experiences of trauma.