So it appears your answer is, yes, you would consider it racist for a university to offer a whites only dorm. I do too.

 

Is the consideration that makes it okay to offer a "blacks only" dorm the fact that African-Americans are a minority group? If so, the rationale would go something like this: It is deemed appropriate to establish a segregated dorm in order to give African-American students a space where they do not have to feel like a minority and can interact with persons of similar ethnicity and culture free from the pressure of the majority culture. ("pressure" may not be the best word choice)

 

Am I getting close to understanding your position and perhaps the position of the university? Thanks for engaging in the dialogue.

So it appears your answer is, yes, you would consider it racist for a university to offer a whites only dorm. I do too.

 

Is the consideration that makes it okay to offer a "blacks only" dorm the fact that African-Americans are a minority group? If so, the rationale would go something like this: It is deemed appropriate to establish a segregated dorm in order to give African-American students a space where they do not have to feel like a minority and can interact with persons of similar ethnicity and culture free from the pressure of the majority culture. ("pressure" may not be the best word choice)

 

Am I getting close to understanding your position and perhaps the position of the university? Thanks for engaging in the dialogue.

 

 

No. I said I wouldn't consider it racist but I know others would. Many others would.

 

No. My position is that I am not bothered by them offering dorms to blacks only because I would want to stay in one if I had a choice. I went to a black university and loved it. I should have stayed there and graduated instead of transferring to UK but hindsight is 20/20.

 

I'm simply not looking into this as deeply as everyone else is because everything on the campus is equal. To me an all black dorm is the same as an all girls dorm. Nothing more nothing less. All this segregation talk doesn't make sense to me because everything on the campus is equal to everyone and not one person is being denied housing because of their skin color. If there was an empty room in the black dorm and it was the only room on campus left and a white kid was denied a chance to stay in that room so he could be on campus then I would have a problem with it. That isn't happening though and when it does then I'll join forces with everyone else in the thread. Until then I'm still going to be supportive of something I know I would participate in if given an opportunity. It would be hypocritical for me to say this is wrong but I'd go live there if I had a chance.

Edited September 9, 201610 yr by PurplePride92

I don't know about all this. It's a lot to unpack, and it does feel regressive. My life has been enriched by coming into contact with as many cultures as I possibly can. I kid you not — I've had at least a half-dozen black roommates in my day.

 

(Devil's Advocate here, and not the "White Devil")

 

I have many questions, and a chief one of them draws from the old "one drop of blood" rule. Would one now have to "pass" as black to live in this black-only dorm?

 

And in this day and age where people are identifying however they please, could the hypothetical me at 18 be able to petition for inclusion into this dorm because I dig hip-hop, soul (especially Motown and Stax/Volt) and old-school blues, and have been known to be "down with the cause?"

I don't know about all this. It's a lot to unpack, and it does feel regressive. My life has been enriched by coming into contact with as many cultures as I possibly can. I kid you not — I've had at least a half-dozen black roommates in my day.

 

(Devil's Advocate here, and not the "White Devil")

 

I have many questions, and a chief one of them draws from the old "one drop of blood" rule. Would one now have to "pass" as black to live in this black-only dorm?

 

And in this day and age where people are identifying however they please, could the hypothetical me at 18 be able to petition for inclusion into this dorm because I dig hip-hop, soul (especially Motown and Stax/Volt) and old-school blues, and have been known to be "down with the cause?"

 

Sure you could. I'd love to see what happens if a white person applies for the dorm.

Sure you could. I'd love to see what happens if a white person applies for the dorm.

 

Would that 18yo version of me be facing a psychological hell like Jackie Robinson (and would it come from both white and black camps)? Or would I have to earn trust by establishing my bona fides, as mentioned previously?

Sure you could. I'd love to see what happens if a white person applies for the dorm.

 

They ain't getting in. We know,that.

I had two dorm experiences in my late teens and early 20s.

 

One was at Marshall where I lived in the dorm that housed athletes for the most part. I was assigned a black roommate from the football team, but he stayed off campus with his GF and I saw him maybe twice in my freshman year. The rest of the floor was lilly white. The two floors above hosted mostly black athletes from the football and basketball team. I'm guessing it wasn't an accident the white athletes wanted to room with other white athletes and the black athletes wanted the same. Those Marshall teams won a LOT of games in the mid 90s for those that don't remember.

 

I also spent a decent amount of time at NKU when the mens basketball team was competing for DII titles. There was most certainly a "black" wing of their main housing complex with the rest of the facility being white kids from the frat/sorority community. The two groups mixed a little, but for the most part they each stayed on their "side" of the quad style building.

 

If black students are requesting a living situation and the folks at Cal are giving them that option, good for them. They aren't forcing black students to live there. Only giving them the option to do so if they desire. I disagree on it being less expensive unless they are putting the black students in the old, run down spot that needs to either be torn down or renovated. Give them a modern and clean option, and charge them the same as anyone else on campus.

 

Go look at 90% of the football teams in the nation. The white kids are living with the white kids and the black kids are doing the same. They all get along in the grand scheme of things, but they are comfortable with what they know.

 

We are just in an uncomfortable spot in our history where some white folks are looking to call racism at any opportunity. Mix that with a segment of black folks looking to do the same and there is an uncomfortable exchange being had in the process. Hopefully that is a good thing going forward...

Would that 18yo version of me be facing a psychological hell like Jackie Robinson (and would it come from both white and black camps)? Or would I have to earn trust by establishing my bona fides, as mentioned previously?

 

I can't imagine that there would be any hate involved in this scenario. I'm thinking you'd have it pretty easy and nothing psychological to worry about. We don't bite. Well, most of us don't.

They ain't getting in. We know,that.

 

No. You think that.

No. I said I wouldn't consider it racist but I know others would. Many others would.

 

No. My position is that I am not bothered by them offering dorms to blacks only because I would want to stay in one if I had a choice. I went to a black university and loved it. I should have stayed there and graduated instead of transferring to UK but hindsight is 20/20.

 

I'm simply not looking into this as deeply as everyone else is because everything on the campus is equal. To me an all black dorm is the same as an all girls dorm. Nothing more nothing less. All this segregation talk doesn't make sense to me because everything on the campus is equal to everyone and not one person is being denied housing because of their skin color. If there was an empty room in the black dorm and it was the only room on campus left and a white kid was denied a chance to stay in that room so he could be on campus then I would have a problem with it. That isn't happening though and when it does then I'll join forces with everyone else in the thread. Until then I'm still going to be supportive of something I know I would participate in if given an opportunity. It would be hypocritical for me to say this is wrong but I'd go live there if I had a chance.

 

Thanks for the dialogue, PP92. I appreciate your patience in answering my questions. I especially appreciate the consistency of your stance as represented in the bolded statement.

I don't know about all this. It's a lot to unpack, and it does feel regressive. My life has been enriched by coming into contact with as many cultures as I possibly can. I kid you not — I've had at least a half-dozen black roommates in my day.

 

(Devil's Advocate here, and not the "White Devil")

 

I have many questions, and a chief one of them draws from the old "one drop of blood" rule. Would one now have to "pass" as black to live in this black-only dorm?

 

And in this day and age where people are identifying however they please, could the hypothetical me at 18 be able to petition for inclusion into this dorm because I dig hip-hop, soul (especially Motown and Stax/Volt) and old-school blues, and have been known to be "down with the cause?"

 

I am with you there, Jim (see bolded statement). I am old enough to remember segregation, and then forced busing, and the phrase "separate but equal" was used by people who wanted to keep the races separated out in school and restaurants, etc. I learned that it was a racist statement. So when I see this dorm thing occurring, it seems way too similar to what we had in the 60's.

 

I am trying to understand how it can now be viewed as a good thing. Thus my attempt to find a rationale in a previous post.

 

I am very uncomfortable with it because it is a "forced" separation based on race. I cannot be sure since it is a hypothetical, but had this first been introduced as a whites only dorm... there would have been a loud outcry, as there should be. Double standards are not good. They lead to resentment, jealousy, and retaliation. IMO, it does not make for improved relations among the races.

 

This is why I am raising an issue about it. I do not care if black students prefer to live with black students and white students prefer to live with white students. Of course most people prefer to relate with others who are most like them in culture and ethnicity. But for an institution to have a policy where they seek to create a separation by race just smacks of nefarious manipulation to me. I wonder where this sort of race meddling will stop.

Thanks for the dialogue, PP92. I appreciate your patience in answering my questions. I especially appreciate the consistency of your stance as represented in the bolded statement.

 

Thank you. I'll always keep it as real as possible.

No. You think that.

 

If they are making a black only dorm, then there aint no white person getting in. But thats my opinion which is worth less than the keyboard Im typing on.

If they are making a black only dorm, then there aint no white person getting in. But thats my opinion which is worth less than the keyboard Im typing on.

 

I'm thinking people used to say the same things about black colleges/universities.

Historically Black Colleges Are Becoming More White | TIME