Stepping into University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Pioneer Student Center last Tuesday, one might think a time warp had taken place.

UW Platteville student April Fuhr, with help from the Black Student Union, organized a "Reverse Jim Crow" simulation. The demonstration aimed to make fellow students realize how discrimination felt.

Fuhr said she was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to come up with an event during Black History Month that touched on sensitive racial issues.

"Dr. King said in his letter that white people have never had to feel the pain of segregation or tell their kids they couldn't go somewhere or do something because of the color of their skin," Fuhr said. "As a white, blonde female, I realized I was one of the people he was writing about."

Fuhr set out to demonstrate that concept to UW-Platteville by reverse-mimicking racial boundaries of the 1960s. Organizers of the event estimated that about 1,500 students went through some aspect of the simulation.

Signs on doors and water fountains at the university read "Colored Only," and the dining area was split into two sections: one for whites and one for blacks.

During a performance in the dining area of the Student Center, actors played out scenes in which white students were verbally and physically attacked by black students for sitting in the "Colored Only" section.

This display was the most controversial, since it took place in the public dining hall, where many students saw it.

"We got some very interesting reactions," Fuhr said. "We had people saying that racism doesn't exist in Wisconsin. … Some students even pushed our event staff. Their actions speak volumes about how necessary simulations like these really are."

But UW-Madison political science Professor Donald Downs said the demonstration was "walking a delicate line" in staging its "in-your-face" demonstrations. He noted these events can sometimes backfire.

"It can be very effective, depending on the circumstances, but sometimes it can also alienate the very people you're trying to persuade," he said.

During the simulations, the Black Student Union also set up the three interactive rooms in the Student Center.

In one room, actors staged the lynching of a white student, while a second room displayed an imitation of the "Children's March" in Birmingham, Ala., where dogs and hoses were set on people as young as 4, according to Fuhr.

The third room was for debriefing, in which union members and counseling staff encouraged students to share their thoughts about the simulation.

Fuhr insisted the general reaction to the simulation was "incredibly positive and appreciative," but some UW-Platteville students believed otherwise.

"[The simulation had] absolutely no effect on the student body," Kenny Mika, a UW-Platteville junior, said. "Platteville is a very white-dominated school with maybe a handful of African-Americans. Many people didn't even know about it, and others didn't have any interest."

Even with the opposition, Fuhr said she and her peers remain hopeful.

"Good things are being done here," she said. "We'll be happy to take the simulation anywhere for any group that wants us."

UW-Platteville's BSU will host Ebony Weekend, an event designed to touch on similar racial-awareness goals, beginning this Friday.