<p>Racism comes in many forms: There’s the bigotry at Bob Jones U. Then there is racism in the form of micro-aggressions that one might encounter in the East or West, i.e. the slights that leave the Person of Color asking, “Was that what I thought it was?” There is racism borne of ignorance from folks who have rarely encountered others who are unlike themselves and rather expect everyone else to behave and believe as they do – or impute the stereotypes they have learned from the media on <em>others</em>. And then there’s the well-meaning racism of white liberals who think People of Color can do no wrong.</p>
<p>Having others around at college who share a common background and experience can be a wonderful source of emotional and social support. And for African American gals, referrals to places they can have their hair done. But it can also be a source of tyranny if a student wants to cross racial lines for dating or close friendships and gets a lot of social pressure to remain within his or her group. At the other end, the student who is part of a tiny minority feels the pressure to <em>act white</em> and park by the door a piece of who he/she is in order to fit in.</p>
<p>I have no answers or solutions. Maybe a national (vs. regional) school would be more cosmopolitan since it would draw students more likely to be interested in leaving their comfort zone. I, personally, could not send my kid to a state that celebrates the Confederacy; instead we visited a couple of schools that were stops on the Underground Railroad. No place is perfect, and I don’t think that the racial fit requirements are the same for every student. JMHO.</p>
<p>I went to Penn State. There’s pretty much racism everywhere in the US, the north is just less so pronounced than the north, I’ve found, but the weird thing about life there is that there’s so many white people going there that it was rare to see a black person. I had a black friend who went there, and I don’t know how he stood it, to tell the truth it really affected him. When I read that thing about the race protests that occurred back in 2001, I was aurprised there were actually like 300 blacks at the school. But out of 40000 people, that’s a very small percentage.</p>
<p>I go to UofAlabama, and I don’t find the school racist at all. I find a lot of people accepting of other races, and personally, I have lots of friends who are Asian and Black. </p>
<p>It could be that fraternities/sororities are a bit, because they are mostly people who grew up in the South, and who’s parents are like that. I also heard there are less Black frats now than there were before, so…</p>
<p>I remember reading a study a few years ago that said that cities in the Northeast were more racially segregated on the average than cities in the Southeast.</p>
<p>My impression in the past was that there was more racism in the rural South than in the major metropolitan areas.</p>
<p>Graduation rate for black students there is abysmal (about 10%), but it is also poor for white students there (about 40%); Wayne State has the lowest overall graduation rate out of Michigan’s public universities.</p>
<p>At the moment, Wake Forest U and Purdue U seem to have racist people in it. At Purdue, a friend of a friend is having problems there as an International student from China. Reportedly, people have taken to calling him names, excluding him from social activities, and stealing his bicycle, removing the bicycle chain, and hanging his bicycle from a tree.</p>
<p>If you want to know how much racism is left in the US, read the comments on a poorly moderated local newspaper website. Those comments have caused many newspapers to eliminate their comment features, or require that people sign in with a facebook name.</p>
<p>The racists are mostly rich white kids from affluent families.</p>
<p>I’m a minority, and I’ve been called names by these mfers driving nice cars since high school. I just ride my bike across an intersection, and they would honk at me. I got really good at flipping the finger</p>
<p>Boston University is an extremely racist environment. Not only did I have to endure numerous racial slurs but I was also sexually harassed by an employee of the school. When I reported the racist comments and sexual harassment, they were not treated seriously. it was like that kind of behavior is acceptable. Beware of BU!</p>