Black students around US complain of casual, everyday racism

[webfact]

Black students around US complain of casual, everyday racism
By COLLIN BINKLEY and ERRIN HAINES WHACK

BOSTON (AP) — It's not always the slurs and the other out-and-out acts of racism. It's the casual, everyday slights and insensitivities.

Sheryce Holloway is tired of white people at Virginia Commonwealth University asking if they can touch her hair or if she knows the latest dance move. At Chicago's Loyola University, Dominick Hall says groups of white guys stop talking when he walks by, and people grip their bags a little tighter. And Katiana Roc says a white student a few seats away from her at West Virginia University got up and moved to the other side of the classroom.

As thousands of students took part in walkouts and rallies on college campuses across the country Thursday in a show of solidarity with protesters at the University of Missouri, many young black people spoke of a subtle and pervasive brand of racism that doesn't make headlines but can nevertheless have a corrosive effect.

There's even a word on campuses for that kind of low-grade insensitivity toward minorities: microaggression.

"It's more the daily microaggressions than the large situations," said Akosua Opokua-Achampong, a sophomore at Boston College. "Those also hurt."

When Opokua-Achampong tells other students that she's from New Jersey, some ask where she's REALLY from. "When you're not white, you can't just be American," she said. (She was born in the U.S. to parents from Ghana.)

Janay Williams, a senior at the University of California Los Angeles, said she is the only black person in her biology class and is routinely among the last picked for group assignments.

"Students don't want to be in the same group as you with a group project, because they're afraid you're not going to do your share," she said.

Jioni A. Lewis, a psychology professor at the University of Tennessee, said research has shown that the stresses of being a minority, on top of the usual pressures of adjusting to college, can cause some students to leave school.

Roc, a junior at West Virginia, said she can't forget the day that student moved across the room.

"He looked uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure he moved because of the color of my skin. It didn't hurt my feelings," she said. "What disappointed me was his ignorance."

She added that just being on campus can be a day-to-day struggle.

"But instead of me saying that I'll transfer where I feel more comfortable, I'd rather stick it out here," she said. "I'm not here for how people look at me; I'm here for my education."

Stories like that aren't new, students said. But many said the revolt at Missouri — and the Black Lives Matter movement that was set in motion by the shooting of a black man in Ferguson, Missouri — have finally driven them to talk about it and confront it.

On social media, students are sharing their personal experiences with racism, using the hashtag "BlackOnCampus."

Students at some colleges have also presented administrators with lists of demands in recent days, inspired by those of the protesters at Missouri, who brought down the university president and chancellor this week over what they saw as a sluggish response to racial slurs and other incidents on campus.

Among other things, the student protesters around the U.S. are calling for greater diversity on the faculty, more spending on scholarships for minorities, more instruction on tolerance and sensitivity, and more resources such as cultural centers.

University administrators have responded by hosting diversity forums in recent days, or meeting to hear demands.

Students at some schools, such as the University of Michigan, said the Missouri case has emboldened them to take a harder stance against administrators if they don't keep their promises.

Holloway, the Virginia Commonwealth student, said she used to try to ignore subtler instances of racism. But she has decided not to keep quiet anymore.

"It's hard when it's something you see every day," she said. "It's exhausting. It's fatiguing and, you know, we're frustrated."
___

Whack reported from Philadelphia.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-11-13

[ezzra]

Well, stop acting and behaving as a group of people that is being discriminating against.

stop calling each other using the N word, keep away from gang banging and illegal activities,

study harder and adopt, stop thinking like the world owes this huge debts for having you forefathers

enslaved 200 years ago, the world is sick of hearing about it, the world has learned it's lessons,

so now, move forward....

[SABloke]

"He looked uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure he moved because of the color of my skin.''

Well there you have it...the guy has been proven to be racist by the fact that this lady ''thought'' that he was racist...I mean she waa ''pretty sure'' This seems a bit like projection to me.

This reminds me of my cousin's girlfriend who is not white. Nobody gives a shit (other non-white partners in the family) but in her mind people do...she's always pointing out that they're (her and her boyfriend) are different skin tones and when people go at her (for being a bitch) she accuses them of not aprroving of the mixed relationship...no darling...you're just being a bitch.

[robblok]

"He looked uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure he moved because of the color of my skin.''

Well there you have it...the guy has been proven to be racist by the fact that this lady ''thought'' that he was racist...I mean she waa ''pretty sure'' This seems a bit like projection to me.

This reminds me of my cousin's girlfriend who is not white. Nobody gives a shit (other non-white partners in the family) but in her mind people do...she's always pointing out that they're (her and her boyfriend) are different skin tones and when people go at her (for being a bitch) she accuses them of not aprroving of the mixed relationship...no darling...you're just being a bitch.

Sounds real familiar my brothers ex was also "black" nobody had a problem with it but in her mind everything bad that happened to her was because of her skin. Not because of how she was.

I do believe there is discrimination.. but far less as some of those like to believe.

Just like how some foreigners here think they are singled out for their skin (could be true but often it is not)

[hakuho]

they are not aware that BLACK LIES SPLATTER!

[phantomfiddler]

Before I went to America I had no racial prejudice at all. In Chatham (S.E. England) I was the only caucasian living in a huge block housing Indians, asians, jamaicans, you name it, and they were all cheerful constructive working people. 12 years in America changed all that. It,s not a case of blacks experiencing prejudice, it,s them who are prejudiced against the rest of us

[daoyai]

MICRO AGRESSION ... glad I learned about THAT... that hi-so Thai lady dint wanna sit by me MiCRO AGRESSION..where is a SJW when you need one?

[mca]

"He looked uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure he moved because of the color of my skin.''

Well there you have it...the guy has been proven to be racist by the fact that this lady ''thought'' that he was racist...I mean she waa ''pretty sure'' This seems a bit like projection to me.

This reminds me of my cousin's girlfriend who is not white. Nobody gives a shit (other non-white partners in the family) but in her mind people do...she's always pointing out that they're (her and her boyfriend) are different skin tones and when people go at her (for being a bitch) she accuses them of not aprroving of the mixed relationship...no darling...you're just being a bitch.

Sounds real familiar my brothers ex was also "black" nobody had a problem with it but in her mind everything bad that happened to her was because of her skin. Not because of how she was.

I do believe there is discrimination.. but far less as some of those like to believe.

Just like how some foreigners here think they are singled out for their skin (could be true but often it is not)

Years ago my brother was at uni in London and in the library politely asked one of his fellow students ( a British-born black girl from Hackney ) to close the door as she left to which she replied " I ain't your slave". Bemused looks all round the table until he found out she's reported him for rascism. Powers that be crapped themselves to not be accused of racism on their campus so called my brother in for a "chat" about his attitude.

He took two people from his class as witnesses ( from Ghana and Cameroon respectively) who solemly declared that my brother was one of the nicest and most resepectful people they had ever met and they believed that the girl who made the accusation had "issues". Case closed.

Sadly IMHO incidents like this regarding perceived slights etc. detract from the impact of the real abohrent rascism expereinced by many.

Edited November 13, 2015 by mca

[mca]

MICRO AGRESSION ... glad I learned about THAT... that hi-so Thai lady dint wanna sit by me MiCRO AGRESSION..

I think the HiSo Thai lady moved away from me once after I cracked a noxious fart out in Le Normandie and declared " Christ that's one for Norris McWhirter missus!"

[ggt]

Some things take time to overcome...the US has made tremendous strides to accommodate the black community...there have been instances of white people pretending to be black to receive all the black people privileges...

Yes, there are still pockets of resistance to black equality...you can not legislate human acceptance...focus on the positive...learn to endure the negative or speak up on your behalf...do not expect everyone to be happy with your protest...

Demanding to be treated as an equal...in a hollow victory...IMHO

[Expat1]

Give me a break. They are playing to the media. They have had decades to get over it. It is the media in that country that purposely keeps them divided. The media is in a great position there. The media people make stories that incite this stuff then step in and try to act as mediator and the voice of reason when it was they who instigated it. If one wanted to really stop racism in that country it is no problem. Any media person that writes or distributes a story noting racial disharmony , bam, instant prison for 10 years. Media people are like finance types, biggest cowards that there is. Show them the noose and those problems will be hugely reduced. But, that won't happen because the media and finance groups own that country outright. I truly feel for those poor bast#rds living there.

[bangkapi]

How convenient that "racism" only works in one direction.

Thanks to affirmative action and diversity programs, white men have become so marginalized.

They don't whine and complain and ask for special laws or compensation from government.

They don't hate. They just get out.

I would still be living in USA if things weren't stacked against white men.

My son is half Jamaican.. You can bet that he can have whatever he wants for free in the USA ,no questions asked.

He is puzzled by the unfair nonsense, but just enjoys it.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

Many black people are just as prejudice and racist against caucasians and other races. They play the victim card but have no problem victimizing others with the same prjudice.

It is charming and accepted for blacks to call us crackers whitey etc etc on a TV show.

They call each other the N word in an almost affectionate manner.

That squeaky wheel has gotten too much grease.

So sick of the double standard PC world we live in.

[Usernames]

When Opokua-Achampong tells other students that she's from New Jersey, some ask where she's REALLY from. "When you're not white, you can't just be American," she said. (She was born in the U.S. to parents from Ghana.)

Oprah Winfrey? Where's she REALLY from?

[mmh8]

I liked the Ross Kemp docum thing where he explores issues, or gangs or similar

in one s US town you've got some religious types on a corner, the interview goes to speak to them, I'm expecting a load of bible and religous nonsense isntead the vicar and other religeious ones say I - following from mmemory -

the real problem is these kids ain't taking advantage of their situation, this ain't somalia, sudan or similar, this is a more developed society, we've got opportunities people in many countries don't get. we can change our circumstances.

For some reason the blackman here has a victim mentality , instead of trying to improve he's already given up, instead of getting a job he's out there competing with other black men, making profit margins of a few cent or dollar per gram, his take home is less than what you get at mcdonalds-

There is no race war, there is a lot of fear. Some of thye people are sensible, non bigots.

then you've got the extremeists on both sides and you've got those that understand how to fan the flames.

what you've really got is a class war, you've got a shit load of white us, hispanic us living in similar poverty. race war is a dream for the disfunctional, what would be better and more likely is a revolution of the people for the people. the amount of controls and the men dressed in black, us is pretty much a communist already.

Edited November 13, 2015 by mmh8

[Humberstone]

I don't get the comments about black Amercians being gang bangers, comitting crimes, doing drugs etc. on here for this topic. The OP concerns black students at US universities, so they're hardly going to fit that cheap stereotype and also they have made good use of the education system available to them.

[shirtless]

The funny thing is they hate whites, racism is a two way street ,

[Usernames]

I don't get the comments about black Amercians being gang bangers, comitting crimes, doing drugs etc. on here for this topic. The OP concerns black students at US universities, so they're hardly going to fit that cheap stereotype and also they have made good use of the education system available to them.

Two words: Greg Hardy.

[Scott]

One post removed. Please use politician's correct names.

[gchurch259]

There is more Slavery in the World today than there ever was in the US in 16, 17, 18 hundreds in US. It is bad but still exsist, even here in Thailand.

Well, stop acting and behaving as a group of people that is being discriminating against.

stop calling each other using the N word, keep away from gang banging and illegal activities,

study harder and adopt, stop thinking like the world owes this huge debts for having you forefathers

enslaved 200 years ago, the world is sick of hearing about it, the world has learned it's lessons,

so now, move forward....

[howrub]

Well, stop acting and behaving as a group of people that is being discriminating against.

stop calling each other using the N word, keep away from gang banging and illegal activities,

study harder and adopt, stop thinking like the world owes this huge debts for having you forefathers

enslaved 200 years ago, the world is sick of hearing about it, the world has learned it's lessons,

so now, move forward....

Wake up. How do you think you'd feel if someone got up and moved to the other side of the room rather than sit near you? Was the black student sitting there in class "gang banging" or engaged in illegal activities. Was he/she not studying hard or calling someone the N word?

[Pinot]

It's interesting to see the same right wing commenters on political threads making ignorant racist comments on this thread.

[Jingthing]

Micro aggressions are like micro penises.

Much ado about NOTHING.

I just can't either seriously.

Sorry to those so afflicted.

I ordered a black coffee the other day from a cappuccino shaded barrista. She blinked her eyes a little too fast. Micro aggression! Who can I sue?

Edited November 13, 2015 by Jingthing

[Nobb]

I am a White man from the USA but black students complain about racism. A white student can not go to a black college. A white women can not enter there black miss American contest. And get robbed or mugged if they enter a black community. They have the NAACP THE WHITE PEOPLE HAVE NONE. I think America is in a reverse dicrimination mode. a BLACK GETS KILLED ALL OVER THE NEWPAPERS. a WHITE GET KILLED BY BLACKS YOU HEAR LITTLE OR NOTHING. There is racism in the US but it is against the white race who do not complain enough or have a NAWPA.

[harrry]

It is a bit strange that in her class she is picked last. I would have thought if she was the best worker in the group and really contributed next time she would be at the top of every member of that groups pick list for a member,

racism does exist and I do not agree with it but this seems a poor example.

[squarethecircle]

At the same time a crime in San Francisco has a legitimate claim of racism: the Asian Americans there claim that they are targeted by groups of young black males for robbery, and further say it is no secret in San Francisco but the authorities will not call it for what it is, ie: racially motivated crime:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/Dirty-secret-of-black-on-Asian-violence-is-out-3265760.php

Strange part is Asians - specifically east Asians - have not had the benefit of the affirmative action programs, and they are effectively treated as whites are, but have managed to do exceptionally well in the US, so well in fact that MIT actually discriminates them in admissions programs.

Not that someone as self-entitled as the students in the report would care about black-on-Asian crime.

[arjunadawn]

Black students around US complain of casual, everyday racism

This is, after all, the only place left to go. After you have empowered every minority group with equality in, not opportunity, but outcomes one must turn to a corruption of blood/bill of attainder to get further blood from the Great Society stone. When the argument is asserted, then tendered, then considered, legitimacy is in this way extended to the absurd. Now, people are guilty not because of the sins of their own acts or those of their presummed anscestors but they are guilty because, ironically, of the color of their skin.

I spent a lot of time pondering the argument of "white privledge" and at some level I can see their point. I can. I then considered what my perspective/level I need to have to see their point. In order for me to see their point of view that all "white people" are inherently guilty of having advantage for no other reason then of being born I have to actually get small, very small, bitter, angry, narrow, and, in essence, see the world only through racist eyes. There is no otherway to offer this argument with legitimacy than through the eyes of a racist! The same worldview that enables me to see through their eyes also informs me the rest of the world sucks too. When I can legitimately see their point of view I want to rip my eyes out. (Here is also another trapdoor: When the point of view debate is had and all arguments fail, it is a common refrain to hear "you cannot see because you are not black." This is the "escape clause." Debate is then shut down as the white person is incapable of the dialogue. Happens all the time.

It is true some white people are racist. It is also true America has moved evermore toward being colorblind- unless you are a white male. America has done more to level the playing field than most nations. The thing is, a counter culture has grown in America with masses demanding more, and invented ever more clever ways to embrace their victimization and unique disadvantage. Being a victim in America pays well.

In my life the majority of racists I have see were a pretty even combination of overt racism, with blacks being the more surprising to me. Why? Because blacks have a highly evolved ability to act out racism under the banner of anti racism (not all, of course, but what you see on the campuses is this fact and the dhimmitude-like dolts of white kids either sympathetic or ruled by guilt concurring. I am confident we will soon see this contrived campus outrage has associations with politics- being a victim is an industry).

Over time this evolved secondary to the black militant movement's assertion that, by definition (their definition: they created this new definition then applied it to themselves) "black people in the US cannot be racist as they do not wield the levers of State." In this manner, or restraint was let loose and under the color of "I can't be racist," like an amulet, they enter protests, arguments, and even intellectual debates immune from the tragic charge of "racist." In fact, when white people say "blacks too can be racist" the response is now "this is evidence of racism against blacks." You really cannot make this stuff up. http://wwsword.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/why-black-people-cant-be-racist.html

Academia and indeed collective intellect was felled by this poison pill perscription. "Black people in the US cannot be racist."

You may not like what I am saying but this is the current debasement of the conversation in America. White people are racist because they were born and black people cannot be racist because of the same reasons that white people have priviledge. Lets say these two premises become widely accepted (they will not; 1. on their face the mere debate demands racism and self racism and 2, it is a worldview predicated entirely on hate, not problem solving); what do you think follows? The whole slipplery slope moves toward violence, not reconciliation. In any event, the goal is other peoples stuff, not actual facts.

Being a victim in America pays.

Edited November 13, 2015 by arjunadawn

[chuckd]

For anybody interested in a little touch of reality, this is the way the student who was on the hunger strike, Jonathan Butler, celebrated the end of his fasting period.

Listen closely to what the party goers were saying to him and calling him...

In case any of your missed it, here is a transcript of the celebration:

-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh shit, Jonathan’s going to take his first bite,” a friend of Butler’s is heard saying in the video, which was posted to Facebook and shared with TheDC.

“First full meal,” a man says off camera.

“Oh, shit nigga” and “Yeah, nigga.”

“The movement lives,” the videographer says.

“The movement lives,” the man repeats off camera.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/12/heres-video-of-mizzou-hunger-striker-eating-his-first-post-strike-meal-video/#ixzz3rN84zK5O

-------------------------------------------------------------------

And just for the record young Jonathan Butler comes from this family background::

"His father and mother, Eric and Cynthia Butler, are the pastor and co-pastor at Joy of Life Ministries. In addition, Eric Butler is an executive vice president of marketing and sales at Union Pacific, a major railroad corporation. His 2014 compensation was $8.4 million, according to regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission found by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/columns/joe-holleman/mizzou-hunger-strike-figure-from-omaha-son-of-top-railroad/article_20630c03-2a68-5e63-9585-edde16fe05f3.html

Edited November 13, 2015 by chuckd

[MaeJoMTB]

MICRO AGRESSION ... glad I learned about THAT... that hi-so Thai lady dint wanna sit by me MiCRO AGRESSION..where is a SJW when you need one?

Sorry, SJW aren't for white males.

[Mudcrab]

Thirty years ago nobody wanted to be 'black 'in Australia...now the whitest of the white all claim to be proudly black.

Most are 99% Irish, Scottish or British by heritage and 1% aboriginal. But it seems that's enough.