social self segregation among students vs. breaking down barriers

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Self-segregation happens on pretty much every campus (tho, it happens less at schools w/ small enrollment or those which have a small no. of minority students).</p>

<p>For all this talk about the minorities self-segregating, white students do it also.</p>

<p>Note how usually the "token" minority is someone who is (as they say) "whitewashed" and how rarely you see a white student (or students) socializing as a minority w/in a large ethnic group.</p>

<p>Also, the minority/ethnic groups are hardly homogeneous - those who are foreign student or grew up in ethnic enclaves tend to stick together - Mexicans sticking w/ Mexicans, Dominicans sticking w/ Dominicans, Viets sticking w/ Viets, Chinese sticking w/ Chinese (can also be broken down to Cantonese, Fujianese, etc.). Even Jews segregate themselves at times (i.e. - Jewish fraternities).</p>

<p>However, at places w/ smaller minority populations, one will usually see the different ethnic groups associate more closely w/ each other (case in point, despite coming from countries w/ not so friendly relations, Indians and Pakistanis often will associate w/ each other more closely than they would otherwise due to the commonalities of their experience here in the States).</p>

<p>On the other extreme are the "whitewashed" ethnic students (personally, I prefer the term "Americanized" or "assimilated", but "whitewashed" is a term that is more commonly used, despite its somewhat negative connotations) who usually don't know or associate w/ others outside their predominantly white social group.</p>

<p>Asian-American students largely make up this group - hence, the creation and use of terms like "twinkie" and "banana" (I have to disagree w/ previous comments about how black students most commonly interact w/ whites socially; the group that does so hands down are Asian-American students; foreign Asians students, however, are a different matter).</p>

<p>(There is also the "tweener" group which can navigate the diff. social spheres effectively).</p>

<p>Anyway, this self-segregation is hardly surprising - go to Europe, S. America, Asia, etc. and American expats largely segregate themselves as well.</p>

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<p>I think the major reason people self-segregate is due to common experiences of growing up in certain places or cultures. My black friends are mostly, as you say, "whitewashed" because they grew up in predominantly white areas. The same thing for Asians who grew up in "white" areas (many of the Asian people I know like this were adopted by white families).
The black people who associate more with one another usually grew up in areas around other black people. Same for Latinos, Asians, etc. Also, many foreign students associate with one another when they come here due to the desire to feel more at home (they can use their first language with one another for example). It doesn't mean they don't want to be here or anything like that.
When I was in France, I absolutely loved it and I like the French language and speaking it, but I still liked having my American friends around where I could talk to them in English because I actually would start getting headaches from thinking so much translating in my head during my french classes (my prof. spoke only in french all day).</p>

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<p>Are there any formal efforts at any of your schools to facilitate communication between students of different ethnic backgrounds?</p>

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<p>I hate cliques. I hate it with all my might.</p>

<p>But whatever, i'mma just let them "live their life" word to rihanna.</p>

<p>People are generally very shy. They don't know how to interact w/ people outside their race, its difficult to try and create a friendship out of the blue. When you look similiar, you have a mutual feeling that they could understand you better.</p>

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<p>The reason I feel its true that a lot of minorities self-segregate is because on most campuses you have to go out of your way as a minority to only consistently hang out with other minorities and doing so alienates yourself from the rest of the campus. </p>

<p>I'm sure there are many reasons why people self-segregate or become a part of "cliques" but the bottom line is that most colleges today are diverse enough where hanging out with people of different races isn't the hardest thing in the world to do. If you choose not to intentionally because you don't want to try and see if someone of another race may have things in common with you than that's pretty sad. </p>

<p>My school doesn't spend a whole lot of time trying to facilitate inter-race relations because most students seem to be pretty good at doing it on their own, typically known as socializing.</p>

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<p>" Are there any formal efforts at any of your schools to facilitate communication between students of different ethnic backgrounds? "</p>

<p>I don't think any school does this, well not in a formal way atleast.
That kind of thing is up to the individual, if your an open minded person, you should be fine.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
but the bottom line is that most colleges today are diverse enough where hanging out with people of different races isn't the hardest thing in the world to do. If you choose not to intentionally because you don't want to try and see if someone of another race may have things in common with you than that's pretty sad.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Self-segregation has more to do w/ cultural factors/shared experiences than purely race/ethnicity.</p>

<p>That's the reason why the minorities (most commonly Asians) in largely "white" groups are basically "whitewashed" (as they say).</p>

<p>Take the same Asian, black or Hispanic person and make them more cultural similar to those who grew up in "ethnic" areas - the friendships likely wouldn't occur (they do happen, but they tend to be the exception, rather than the rule).</p>

<p>This whole talk about "diversity" and experiencing diff. races/cultures is basically a big bunch of crock (esp. w/ regard to admissions).</p>

<p>Really, there's not much difference btwn a "whitewashed" Asian friend and a white friend - other than facial features.</p>

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<p>See this:
YouTube</a> - Self-Segregation on College Campuses</p>

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<p>


You sound a little bitter :/</p>

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<p>srunni - it's not that I'm bitter, just kind of disappointed. i remember at around age 12-14 or so, I used to hear kids in my grade using those words, but no one was that stupid by the time we go to senior year...now in college, I hear some of my peers talking about each other and calling each other names like "twinkie" for daring to date a white guy - and not in a joking way, they're like "oh, ___ is such a twinkie - did you see her with that white guy at that party?" it's like, the age of segregation is over, stop being so immature. it's kind of discrimination to only expect people of your race to interact solely with your race.</p>

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<p>"Are there any formal efforts at any of your schools to facilitate communication between students of different ethnic backgrounds?" " I don't think any school does this, well not in a formal way at least. That kind of thing is up to the individual, if you are an open minded person, you should be fine."</p>

<p>Penn State, for a while at least, maybe even now, had a board made up of representatives from each student group (Black Student Society, ISA, MSA, Hillel, Asian group, Campus Crusade, Greek (as in fraternity) representative, etc.) to work on issues that came up and to try and facilitate communication, cooperation and understanding. The board met with the Dean of Student Life. A number of these groups co-sponsored campus events or projects. "Thon" is a great unifying event where the groups, and students who are not in these groups but join a "team" anyway, come together behind a common goal. "Thon" is completely student-run, but of course the administration supports it with use of facilities, etc.
Of course, Penn State pays a GREAT DEAL of attention to student life.
Are you aware of other universities that do anything like this?</p>

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<p>Bowdoin is pretty segregated. I personally never socialized with people of my own race until college where it seems almost mandatory. My friends are nice but I really don't have much in common with them except for color.</p>

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<p>^^ yes, it reveals a lot about a person's attitude towards their own race/ethnicity. Ironic that it's usually used in the guise of racial pride.</p>

<p>I find it curious that you all use the word "majority" to refer to whites and "minorities" for everyone else. This will definitely change within your lifetime. Hasn't it already changed on some campuses? (I mean in numbers represented.)</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I find it curious that you all use the word "majority" to refer to whites and "minorities" for everyone else. This will definitely change within your lifetime. Hasn't it already changed on some campuses? (I mean in numbers represented

[/quote]
No, because 75% of this country is white, and over-represented (in proportion of how much of the population they make up) groups like Asians make up about 4% of the popular, I doubt they will ever be the majority on most college campuses (CalTech lol). there's nothing wrong with calling non-whites minorities, since, well, we simply are. unless you're suggesting whites will become minorities in this country soon, which I doubt will happen. sure, the percentage of minorities, especially asians/hispanics will increase, but not by so much that they will outnumber the caucasian population.</p>

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<p>^ Actually, in our lifetime, no one group will form a majority in the US.</p>

<p>As for the make-up of the student body at college campuses, the change will come even quicker.</p>

<p>In many areas, minority students (at the K thru 12 level) already make up the majority and this is expected to hold true for the entire country in 14 yrs.</p>

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<p>It seems like many of the highly rated Universities in California already are fairly diverse and whites are becoming the minorities. This is apparent at UCs (The highest white % is 55% or something at UCSB), Caltech and some others.</p>