Nester

Dear Dlp,

There are times in life when digging in and confronting your problems, facing things and seeing them through, is character building. YOU ARE NOT IN ONE OF THOSE SITUATIONS. You are a decent young person who is being the target of ugly, soul-bruising racism in an institution that is not meeting its moral or legal obligations to you. Nobody should have to put up with what you're experiencing. This is not what college is like all over; it is not what you will have to put up with elsewhere. Please listen to Northstarmom. You do not have to stick around in hell to fight the devil.

If you want to help KSU change, which will require the administration first to recognize that they are fostering a racially hostile environment, then as soon as you are safely out of there, print up your CC posts, sign your name, and send them to the president of the university; the university chaplain; the board of trustees; the local newspaper; the local NAACP; and of course, as Westcoastmom suggests, the OCR. (Follow the link in post #59.)

The university is going to have to deal with this classroom by classroom, dorm by dorm, hall by hall, and student by student. It will probably take an outside force to get this process going. KSU already knows what's happening to you; it's easier for them to do nothing, as with your RA's, who are blithely informing you that things are ever so much better than they were long ago while twiddling their thumbs. The reason Black and White and Hispanic parents from across the country are telling you that this is not alright is that it is NOT alright. It is something that every decent parent on here has seen in his or her lifetime and has hoped and prayed and worked to put behind us -- an ugly chapter of American history that is supposed to be over.

You are an intelligent young person studying to become a physician. You deserve an education in which racism doesn't distract you, depress you, and hold you back. Pre-meds have enough on their plates. Do yourself and your future patients a favor and leave those racist you-know-what's in your dust. The fact that there are a few helpful people at KSU is heartening, but not enough to make this a wholesome, supportive, good place for you. No, you shouldn't have to leave. It's inconvenient and scary to start over. KSU should be ashamed that they've created an atmosphere that is so toxic that they lose a student like you; but lose you they should because you need and deserve better.