@CupCakeMuffins “If more African Americans are educated, debt/drug free and lucratively employed, common perceptions will change and discrimination will decrease.” This could sound like people have to meet prerequisites not to be discriminated against.
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Thank you for starting this conversation.
Well one thing on CC that can be done is when a member states to someone that their statements are perceived to be racist, maybe we should all not immediately reply with statements, statistics and links, trying to prove our position. Maybe we should PM that member and ask the question of why they thought it was racist or hurtful in someway. It seems sometimes members here have an issue with having to prove their point. So listening would lead to understanding.
Also if CC wants to help AA people then change your SEO to help attract this segment. Reach out to minority school principals and let them know this site even exists.
Our kids schools had a junior year packet at the start of the year discussing the application process from start to finish
Like what to do every month. There was a senior year packet also. Wish I kept them. Maybe we could create something as a sticky as a resource.
Not sure about a different site but a separate section might be helpful.
But those willing to help need to understand the differences that this segment might be looking at when it comes to college choices. It’s pretty easy giving advise to someone that is a 3.8 GPA with 34 Act. Much harder when the numbers are much lower.
Also… I had some great basically new Act books and wanted to send to a student in need on the site. I, of course would pay for shipping and the book was free to the student but of course I couldn’t do that on cc. I did ask. Maybe there is a way to get around this.
Just some ideas.
@CCadmin_Jon
What are the community managers of other sites saying? I’m really curious about what ideas they have come up with.
I sort of agree with this., although I think the focus should be on the original poster who made the racist statement. Perhaps PM the original poster of the racist statement, explain to them why it is racist, and give them an opportunity to edit their post so that it is not racist. (Sometimes, although not always, a poster is well-meaning but not educated in the types of racist speech.) Perhaps CC could allow more time for editing in cases like these. If the poster declines to do, then the post can be deleted.
IMHO, if CC wants to offer more support to AA students, then CC should have zero tolerance for racist speech. If CC can moderate political speech as it currently does, then it can also moderate racist speech.
If it’s reported, we will. Moderators can’t look at the thousands of posts on this site every day.
It’s discouraging to get reports that start out, “What’s wrong with you people? Why are you permitting this post to stand?” Uh, maybe because we hadn’t SEEN it?
I agree that it helps to have specific posts pointed to the mods.
On the other hand, some African-Americans may open with “What’s wrong with you people?” because some very blatant stuff gets posted on CC and remains posted. I (and most African-Americans) see some posts that are obviously racist and off topic that it’s hard to believe no mod has seen it and acted on it. For instance, in the now shuttered Race and Admissions thread, mods would post a general warning to calm down and stay on topic, so it was obvious that a mod was following the proceedings. But the warning did not specify what was the messages that led to the warning. And blatantly racist material was left posted instead of being deleted.
For those of us who notice it, it almost seemed like the warnings were directed at the people who were offended by the racist comments and who had reacted to the racist comments. It did not seem like the racist comments were problematic to the mods, but that the reactions were problematic. It could easily be construed that the thread was shut down because of the complaints about the racist messages, not the racist messages themselves. I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Please understand, I’m not pointing fingers or blaming the mods. I know you all have a tough job, not to mention unpaid. 
It’s just that what is obviously offensive to some people is not only not obvious to others, but it is seen and judged to not be offensive.
It’s tough. None of you mods want to be responsible for tackling this sort of thing. It’s probably why in the past mentions of race (specifically African-American references) were warned quickly about crossing the line – it was very clear to everyone that we should not discuss African-American topics in these forums. Everyone was warned that the only place race could be discussed was that Race and Admissions thread. Then it was shut down. Who wants to deal with where that type of discussion is going to lead, right? The problem is when African-Americans mentioned issues in the college search/application process that really affected us, non-African-Americans would say offensive things, the AAs would respond, and the warnings would fly.
@CCadmin_Jon initiated this thread and asked African-Americans what CC can do to support African-American students and families. We’re speaking up.
EDIT: I know it’s tough. The people who keep pushing the line are relentless. It makes the job of a mod very difficult. I don’t know the answers. I’m not sure if this thread will lead to real change. But I hope so. At least in some small measure.
^ ^ ^
MaineLonghorn, I did not mean this as criticism of the Moderators. at all. Clearly you folks are doing your best in a challenging CC world.
My comment is that CC should put greater emphasis on policing racist or racially sensitive posts rather than “political” posts, which for the life of me I have never really understood. I’m guessing that the prohibition of political posts is because it offends some people? Not sure.
Maybe CC could take this moment to recognize that racist speech is EXTREMELY offensive to members of this community and acts as a barrier to AA students and their families. Zero tolerance for such posts and the posters.
I promise to do better with flagging these types of posts, too.
CC doesn’t allow users to edit their posts after fifteen minutes have passed.
Reddit doesn’t even allow discussions about race. And for good reason. One “calling out” of a post, one vicious reply, and it becomes Twitter.
I suspect the help that can be directed to those that most need it will not be dependent on the forum, the decorum, or some sort of personal interaction with site visitors, but rather how quick and easy it is for a new visitor to get relevant information.
You probably are right. I agree and I withdraw that point from my suggestion!
I was just trying to find a way to educate a poster and allow them to reflect and reconsider, but perhaps there is another way CC can do that?
The Race and Admissions thread has been closed for awhile because it was too hard to moderate. It was very fast-moving and long. We would act on SPECIFIC posts that were reported. We did not look at other posts. So if you saw a post that was problematic it did not mean that a moderator looked at it and ignored it.
ONCE AGAIN, if you think a post violates the Terms of Service, report it. It is NOT FAIR to blame moderators for “ignoring” posts. There are only a handful of us and we can’t babysit CC 24/7.
@EconPop I do not see that you have received any warnings. If you can give me specific examples in which you think users have received inappropriate warnings, it would be helpful. Thanks!
There’s an old joke that Harvard is really just a $40B+ hedge fund with a university attached on the side. In a similar vein, we can think of the current CC as largely a parents discussion forum (and mostly moms at that) with a small number of prospective college students on the side. The most popular threads used to be “flip this house”, with more recent ones being “<user’s> baby on the way”, and of course now COVID-19.</user’s>
And that’s a shame, because there are many parents who have gone through the college process but don’t contribute useful advice to prospective students. While they generate clicks and therefore revenue for CC, they don’t contribute to making CC the one-stop spot for prospective college students. It shows in your demographics and traffic.
But I think many would help if asked, so that CC can better address college students of all types, whether they be first gen, URM, B-students, elite college students, etc. Setup a poll for people when they login, asking whether they are students or parents, and what college topics they are specifically interested in. And then, periodically, follow up with emails for threads that match their interests. You should highlight both threads that are “hot”, as well as threads that don’t have responses yet.
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It would be great if someone from CC could give an explanation of the Terms of Service with respect to racist or racially insensitive posts and how they should be handled by other posters and moderators. I have looked at the TofS and it isn’t clear to me. Not everyone is a lawyer.
Perhaps the TofS could be modified to provide greater clarity on this issue?
I did not say specific people received inappropriate warnings. I was trying to say vague warnings have been issued.
For instance, in the thread about George Floyd, a warning was recently issued that said simply that CC was not a debating forum. It would have been more helpful to identify which post(s) caused that warning to be issued. One person might have assumed post A was the reason, while another person might assume post B was the reason, while another person might assume post C was the reason.
That sort of vague warning can result in neither party feeling warned (because all parties assume the other party was the one warned) and the true offender keeps posting and the rhetoric rises.
It would help everyone to know specifically which person and which post caused the warning to be issued.
This thread was created by CC to ask what CC could do to be more supportive of African-American students AND families.
It’s a shame that people keep trying to take the focus off what was a very welcome attempt to help make the CC experience more comfortable and effective for African-Americans.
I would love to hear your ideas for how CC can improve the African-American experience.
I guess we really do have to get blunt.
In this very thread, some of the same people who post off topic barely-veiled offensive comments in other threads are at it again. Yet, not surprisingly, the first warnings was directed at someone who posted to support African-Americans and that user was reminded to stay on topic.
Let’s mention names.
OhioBro attempted to take the thread off topic by talking about helping not African-Americans but “a lot of other kids and parents.” No warning issued.
Roethlisburger did a drive-by to attack me, but offered nothing substantive to the topic at hand. No warning issued.
Then there was a flare up caused by the usual suspects and posts were cleaned up by moderation.
OhioBro posts another off-topic post about Reddit. No warning issued.
HeBeGeBe attempts to take the thread off topic by not discussing the intended target of African-Americans, but “college students of all types.”
It is obvious which people seem to have a problem with doing things to make the African-American experience on CC more welcoming. And it is obvious that a huge blind spot exists for those who manage CC.
This thread is a microcosm of what makes the CC experience so frustrating for African-Americans. We’re trying to tell you what’s wrong, the evidence is right here on this thread, and no one apparently sees anything.
And of course, I’m sure I’m going to be called out for naming names and pointing out what every African-American reading this thread has noticed. And I’m sure this post is going to be edited. But, fire away, cause this is really too frustrating to keep dancing around it.
Do something or just say nothing is going to be done.
It’s interesting to me that the same battle that’s taking place on college campuses is taking place here at college confidential. There’s a tension between the classic liberal values of free speech and the newer progressive values that seek to silence views that conflict with their world view.
That being said, I don’t think we can solve that issue in this thread. So I offer you this:
I think this site is a powerful tool, but more so if it is discovered early on. If you set up some mechanism for out reach to young URM in the 7th and 8th grade, and a funding mechanism for that outreach, I would I donate to it.
I may even turn off my ad-block 
You could even offer some flair for donating, so I could signal my virtue to all othe CC posters. That’s the best idea I can think of right now.
I’ll jump into your distraction.
This is not about free speech. CC has a policy of keeping threads ON TOPIC. This thread was created by a CC employee to ask African-Americans how the CC experience might be made better. African-Americans responded.
This thread is not about YOUR free speech rights. It is about helping African-Americans. What about helping African-Americans offends you so much?
If you have something ON TOPIC to add about how the African-American experience can be improved on CC, please please please tell us. Otherwise, you are blatantly and intentionally off topic.
MODS: I ask you not clean up this mess. This should stay up a while so we can all see what happens here and who does it.
It would help if we could identify which problem we are trying to address. Is it high performing URMs not applying to Ivies? Insufficient consideration of HBCU? Overcommitment on student loans? Dropping out of college, or dropping out of high school? Insufficient counseling, or mentorship?
@Econpop, did you report any of the posts you mention? Please report them so we can flag them to the administrators. Thanks.