Racism at UNC

phonyreal98
Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:31:33 +0000

The only example of narrow mindedness that I can think of is what happened when Tom Tancredo came to speak at UNC. And that had nothing to do with race.
[Protest stops Tancredo’s UNC speech - Immigration - News & Observer](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/immigration/story/1486087.html)

Just about anywhere you go, you will run into people who believe that a certain race is superior to others. That being said, racism is probably about as nonexistent at UNC as it can be on a college campus. Something to note, Dean Smith (the revered UNC basketball coach from the 1960’s-1997, and probably the most beloved living figure in UNC history) was a staunch supporter of civil rights. One of his early claims to fame was the recruitment of Charlie Scott, one of the first black scholarship athletes in the South. Legend has it that while Charlie Scott was visiting Chapel Hill, he and Dean Smith went to a restaurant on Franklin Street for lunch. The restaurant, at the time, had a policy of only serving whites. Charlie Scott was initially refused service; at that point, Dean Smith walked up to the owner and told him, “Sir, you WILL serve this young man.” And Charlie Scott was served, and later became the first black scholarship athlete at UNC and one of the first black scholarship athletes in the south.

And for the record, I have not encountered any racism at UNC (nor has anybody I know, to the best of my knowledge), and I feel that there is very little racial tension present.