African-americans self segregating at BS

nylecoj007
Sun, 16 Jan 2011 11:33:34 +0000

My son, who’s AA, has a group of friends from a wide variety of backgrounds and this seems to be the case with most kids on campus. Sounds great, right? Here’s where it gets interesting.

On Friday, GS hosted a huge party for teens of an organization in the area that promotes healthy and fun experiences for children with disabilities. Usually, campus parties are very crowded and well attended but curiously, when polled earlier about their Friday night plans, many of the usual “partygoers” had more urgent and pressing matters (I imagine them engaging in endless rounds of COD or trying out a new shampoo/conditioner). Son attended the party as did many other students and from what he tells me, ALL the kids had an amazing time. I guess the pavlovian response for most teens to techno beats and colorful lights is universal. What’s sad is that some students of color as well as some international students chose not to attend. Now, perhaps there were legitimate reasons; some may have gone home, others may have had to complete a major assignment but I think it had much more to do with issues of perceptions and identity.

Alex825mom mentioned researching many accounts of minorities in situations that are very new. I would offer that, in this instance, for many students of color and int’l students, going from historical paradigm of the “invitee” to the “inviter” is very new indeed. I think it speaks volumes about the need to identify often overlooked prejudices that remain. This is by no an attempt to minimize the issues surrounding the importance of racial and socioeconomic inclusion and engagement for students of color on BS campuses. The NAIS has a section on their website that speaks to the vital need of inclusion in private school settings, complete with its mission statement, programs, policies, events and statistics. Alex825mom also states that most minority parents don’t or aren’t able to get their teens to understand the importance of this life long skill. I would further that by saying that most parents in general don’t instill the notion that fostering cross cultural interactions is a skill to be actively cultivated. If the visitors’ perceptions were correct, how did the AA group become self-selected? Did others attempt to sit at a table in the dining hall but were immediately shooed away? Or, did they glance over at the table and immediately opt for another location?

I reminded my son that although many of the kids at the party were born with differences, theoretically, we are all one unfortunate vehicular or sports accident away from requiring the resources of this organization. I want him to understand that importance of inclusion works both ways.

So Kudos to GS for its forward thinking approach in not only encouraging its students to venture out in the community to achieve great outcomes but also for inviting the community “home.”

Shout out to the Miracle League of Bucks County, PA for encouraging its participants to accept this welcoming invitation.

And of course, big up to those wonderful GS students who attended Friday night, those who love to party and were not deterred one bit the attendee list. Whether they realized it or not, their actions demonstrated the very important understanding that whether on the dance floor or in the dining hall, tolerance and diversity are not the same thing.