<p>Hotpiece: “When I see many, many groups of white kids eating together, I, and the rest of the student body in general, think nothing of it”</p>
<p>With all due respect, how do you know what the rest of the student body thinks about such things? IMHO you are prone to over-generalization.</p>
<p>Hotpiece: “But when a bunch of black or Asian kids sit together, it's called self-segregation.”</p>
<p>Perhaps someone called it by the name you mentioned, but I don’t call it that, and I bet that many other people out there think like me. Again, how can you generalize about what everyone would call something? </p>
<p>Hotpiece: “When white people sit in groups outside their dorms at night, no one says anything. But when a group of black students sit outside their dorms, the police are called for fear that these students don't go to Harvard (this has happened on numerous occasions). And my list of subtle racism at Harvard goes on and on and on. Like I said, there are certain things (whether it be lingering after dark, playing football in the Yard, or sitting together in the dining halls) that when done by white people are considered completely fine and commonplace. But as soon as black, or Asians for that fact, do it, the school is all up in arms. I'm not saying that all white people do these things or that white people are bad, I'm just stating the facts.”</p>
<p>I regret that despite my investment of time on this thread I have yet to see the “facts” of which you speak. That does not mean that I can’t imagine that racism based on skin color exists. I just don’t think that in this case your conclusion is well supported (even if some other people reached the same one). </p>
<p>How can you speak for what is considered “fine” by others when done by white people, or any people for that matter? I think that unless you have taken some kind of statistically sound and clearly anonymous survey, you do not possess that information. You did not cite any statistics, so I will assume at this point that you don’t have them. If your opinions are based on assumptions, then I have to again repeat the advice that you need to question them. Lastly, you will need to provide a list of situations, factual in nature, where the Harvard community was “up in arms”… “as soon as black, or Asians for that fact, …[are] “lingering after dark, playing football in the Yard, or sitting together in the dining halls”. </p>
<p>Hotpiece: “Being white at Harvard is much easier than being a member of any minority group.”</p>
<p>Again, this is really a generalization, and it probably is unfair. Feelings cannot really be judged, so yours are certainly valid. However, your statement implies an assumption that Caucasian students could not feel the very same way. What about a group of white males who are jocks and are assumed to be stupid, beer guzzling womanizers whose Daddy’s paid for all of their college prep? What about the Asian student who might receive the uncreative, nerd/robot label? Would a group of beautiful, blonde Caucasian girls sitting together at lunch be assumed “by all” to be superficial sorority types? Would fat students be viewed as lazy and lacking in self-control? I bet you could find people who have at one time or another felt judged by others to be a member of any of these untrue stereotypes. I could go on and on. Thirty year old women in the dating world (always out hunting for a husband?). A childless couple (must have had problems with fertility?). Assumptions, assumptions. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that while people do sometimes jump to conclusions, we all can be victims of it at one time or another. For the most part, however, most people do use their brains every day (especially at a place like Harvard), and you really cannot generalize about how everyone else feels or thinks. You need to ask them, listen to their answer, and finally (in my opinion) give them the benefit of the doubt.</p>
<p>Hotpiece: “I personally read the email communication (Harvard students can read any email over any list) and like I said in my first post on the subject, it began innocently enough. One student politely asked why there was so much noise outside. Someone responded by saying that those "young," "random," "non-Harvard" people have no respect for the schools property and are ruining the grass. (Ironically enough, the person who said this has an entire album on facebook showing him and his friends decimate that same stretch of grass). Someone else asked, "who are they?" Same person as before responded that he didn't know but we obviously didn't go to Harvard. At this point, people started getting what I like to call internet courage. Many of them made statements to the effect of "if they f--- up our grass, I'm gonna kick their a---." "They are ruining our graduation, I should go down there and give them a piece of my mind." A black resident of Cabot House responded to the emails and told everyone that we were in fact Harvard students who were not ruining the grass because we had permission to be there. Did the threats and general statements about our presence on the yard stop? No. They continued to write that we were out of place, that we didn't belong there. Once again, someone emailed the list saying that we were Harvard-sponsored groups, that everything was okay. But, the email discussion about how best to deal with the trespassers continued.”</p>
<p>I still don’t see the evidence of bigotry. How do you know that the people writing even saw the people on the lawn? How do you know they believed that they went to Harvard? Isn’t it possible that the angry writers just cared about the noise and the fact that the ceremony could be disrupted (and didn’t care about the color of anyone’s skin)?</p>
<p>Hotpiece: And, the Quad is generally out of the scope of the average Harvard tourist (it is a location that is relatively far from Harvard Yard). I have personally seen a tourist maybe sporting a Harvard hat or something, but this is all inside the Yard. I have never seen an entire group of people (not affiliated with the school) all wearing Harvard gear, especially that far from the Yard.</p>
<p>You are contradicting yourself here. You said in a prior post (#90) that (Hotpiece): “Also, white middle school and high school kids playing in the same lawn are always tolerated (they were just the day before, in fact).” Which is it? Is the quad far enough out of the way where non-Harvard people would be rare or not?</p>
<p>Hotpiece: “If you noticed in the Crimson article, we did listen to the other side of the story at a Race Relations dinner. But there argument just didn't make sense. When asked why they assumed we were out of place, many emailers responded, "I don't know, they just didn't look like Harvard students." Why don't we look like Harvard students? Because we're black.”</p>
<p>Your conclusion is still not a sound one. It seems based on emotion, as it certainly is not based on logic. I listed other possible reasons in this and my last post, but I don’t think you are open minded to them. Frankly, I don’t know anything about those Cabot students who complained. Maybe some of them do have a vein of bigotry. It’s just that there isn’t anything you have presented which would prove it.</p>
<p>Hotpiece (previous post): “And I must say that while Harvard is a great place, I sometimes wish there were more black people. Black greek life is how I hope to balance things out a little and meet black people outside of Harvard.”</p>
<p>While I think it is always fun to meet people with whom we have a lot in common, I still wish your focus was just on meeting nice people in general, and not nice people with a certain skin color. :(</p>