Thursday, October 15, 1998
Real learning means looking past race
UNITY: Prized diversity of campus is useless in face of
self-segregation
In high school, diversity was a rare commodity, and the mingling
of different ethnicities was even rarer. Just walking into the
cafeteria was like taking a step back into the Old South; there was
a "Black table," an "Asian table," a few scattered others, and
everyone else was white. It was not a melting pot. It was not a
tossed salad. It was much more like Neopolitan ice cream with
disproportionate quantities of each flavor.
In my bright-eyed naivete, I thought that college would be
radically different. I hesitate to say that I expected people of
every creed and nation to join hands and sing "Kumbaya;" however, I
did hope for ethnic mixing.
I thought that the quest for higher learning would create a
common bond and draw people together in a more general sense – as
human beings with one goal. I thought that people would find other
(more profound) bases to build relationships upon other than race.
Unfortunately, I was wrong, and to my surprise, college generally
mirrors high school segregation, just on a larger scale.
UCLA prides itself on its diversity, meaning that there is a
great variety of people on campus. There is a plethora of religious
beliefs, economic backgrounds, cultures, sexual orientations and
ethnicities all coexisting on this campus. This is perhaps the most
important opportunity for learning in college, and it doesn’t occur
in the classroom. This is a chance to gain new perspectives, see
the world through another’s eyes, and become more well-rounded
people. If we pass up the opportunity, we stand in danger of seeing
the world in one way – our way and that of those like us. As future
leaders, we can’t afford to be that narrow-minded and
one-dimensional.
Don’t pass up the chance to expand your world view. I say this
particularly for first-years who are currently building
relationships and establishing groups of friends. Don’t focus on
external commonalities when so much more lies beneath the surface.
Diversity is useless in the face of self-segregation. By choosing
to associate solely with people like ourselves we fall back into
the "separate but equal" mentality. In doing so, we’re not fair to
ourselves or others.
Just take a stroll down Bruin Walk and you’ll see what I mean.
There’s one ethnic group on the stairs in front of Kerckhoff
Coffeehouse, another at the tables by Taco Bell and another on the
wall across from Kerckhoff. All are present and accounted for in
our "diversity," but none are mingling. The same phenomenon occurs
in the dining halls. It’s the high school cafeteria all over
again.
Ethnic clubs also contribute to self-segregation in that they
focus on recruiting members of the same ethnicity. Now it may seem
that this is the premise of an ethnic club, but why not have people
of all ethnicities in an "ethnic club," learning about a given
culture? Why not educate about a culture instead of focusing on
people that already belong to the given group? Such a setup would
be much more beneficial to all involved. It would generate
awareness and combat prejudices that result from ignorance.
I feel the same way about separate graduations. Why is there a
different graduation for each ethnic group? There’s the Raza
graduation, the Asian American graduation, the African American
graduation, etc. We all go to school together. We’ve all been
through the stress, the midterms, the finals. Shouldn’t we all
share in the same graduation?
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not against ethnic pride. There is
nothing wrong with finding a common bond and forming a group. The
problem arises when these groups close in on themselves.
So the question remains as to why everyone chooses to harp on
diversity while ignoring that segregation exists. Diversity means
nothing if each group forms its own community and then closes that
community to others. It’s evident to me that there are two possible
solutions for this predicament. The first is the following: instead
of focusing on diversity or what makes us different, focus on what
make us similar to one another (excluding ethnicity).
We all look different from one another, but there are certain
shared traits that exceed exterior appearances. For example, we all
have one common goal as college students – success. Aside from
that, there are so many aspects of a person to focus on other than
ethnicity.
My view has always been that just because we share the same
heritage does not mean we have anything other than that in common.
Mainly, the point is to just look deeper. The second option is the
following: if we’re going to focus on diversity, don’t focus on it
as a barrier. What makes us different from one another shouldn’t
separate us, it should unite us. Differences are intriguing and
should be seen as such. Keep this in mind next time you find
yourself in Covel Commons at a table with people just like you.
Alicia Roca
Roca is a second-year communications studies student.
Comments, feedback, problems?
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