Features
It matters if you’re Black or White
Posted on: May 03, 2008
The Racial spat between Democratic Presidential nominees
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama has
been upsetting the campus environment across the US, by
racial divisions.
The racial separation among college students is striking both because of the fervor for Obama and the increasing diversity
on campus.
Colleges offer a unique opportunity for students to get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere where many of the issues
that often divide blacks and whites, like income and educational levels, are minimized amid the common goals of going to class, playing sports and going to parties.
Across the country, college campuses have become hotbeds of support for Sen. Obama. Nationally, 70 percent of Democrats aged 18 to 24 supports Sen. Obama compared with 30 percent
for Hillary Clinton, according to a recent poll by Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
They comprise many famous athletes and student leaders. Even the head of graduate and professional student association is a woman belonging to African-American community.
Most of the black and white students on college campuses are going in their separate ways, living in separate dormitories,
joining separate fraternities and sororities and attending separate parties, etc.
Nearly 10 percent of the Duke students are African-American.
Like many colleges, Duke sponsors initiatives addresses race relations on campus, an effort that gained added impetus following the widely publicized incident two years ago when white lacrosse players hired a black stripper to perform at a party and the woman then falsely accused several of the students of raping her.
Some white students at Duke and other schools blame racial division on the fraternity and sorority system, which breaks down along racial lines, and the presence of “themed” housing, which allows black students to live together.
Some blacks react that black students – like all students – room with people they are comfortable with. What’s more, they say living among blacks eases some of the pressure and isolation of being a minority at a predominantly white institution.
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