It can be pretty hard to be optimistic about the future nowadays. With war, famine, epidemics and a global economic implosion spreading pain to most corners of the world, it can take quite the keen eye to uncover some hope and confidence in humanity’s ability to resolve the present’s myriad crises. While waxing heavily toward some worn-out clich?, there are a number of older folks who are quite bullish on what people under 30 will be able to achieve in the coming decades. If the student body is representative of anything, it is that young people are who the older generations are relying on to make right on their wrongs. Students here hail predominantly from wealthy backgrounds, successful families and, as we are all well aware, are overwhelmingly white.
Honestly, that is to be expected. More than 80 percent of Wisconsinites are white and the restrictive cost of tuition prohibits those unable to secure sufficient financial aid or otherwise afford to come here. For years, there has been a discussion on this campus aimed at making the student body more representative of the larger population in the state. Goals are set and, without fail, are never met. Black and Hispanic people make up just over 11 percent of the state population (28 percent nationally) but consist of just over 6 percent of undergraduates at this university. Clearly something sinister is going on here, but the foundations for these statistics go far beyond what any university policy can reasonably address. Part of the problem is the socioeconomic abyss that separates many of the state’s African-American and Hispanic communities from a white population that has increasingly self-segregated itself into gated communities and monochromatic enclaves.
Rather, this disequilibrium will be most effectively addressed not by the university itself but by the young people passing through every four or five years. The first, most fundamental step will involve tossing out a myth widely and casually held by many Caucasians and found in varying forms in other communities. This relatively modern myth allows people to believe they live in an increasingly post-racial, “colorblind” society, one that has learned the lessons from the past, from the civil rights movement, and can interact with anyone and everyone simply on his or her individual merits.
As progressive-minded and forward-thinking as one might be, it is quite impossible to be unbiased simply by espousing one’s equanimity. Prejudice is not something that can be thought away; it is an ugly word and few people are willing to openly admit to having it influence their actions or thoughts. The inconvenient fact is that everyone has prejudices against people who are different from them. Even on this campus, students from poor backgrounds, students of color and various sexual orientations are not wholly embraced by the dominant, affluent white community. Bigoted comments and subtle prejudice at social functions on the web and even in the classroom encourage self-segregation and latent animosity.
Like a snowball rolling down a hill, lack of exposure to a variegated world aggregates into prejudice and crashes into every interaction and decision beyond one’s comfort zone. Instead of ignoring these feelings and disregarding the affect such unintentional prejudices have on our decisions and thoughts, they need to be addressed head-on and counteracted. It will require a little metacognition, but grappling with prejudice will go a long way toward “stirring the pot” and cultivating an effective dialogue about the persistent injustices that push some people down and lift others up.
Speaking of lifting others up, the specter of white privilege that encompasses this campus must be combated if minority students and faculty are ever to feel truly welcome and comfortable here. Like the subtle prejudices many of us choose to ignore, white privilege affords the Caucasian majority a substantial suite of benefits inaccessible to minority students. Some of them are nuanced, yet have a multiplicative affect in daily life.
For example, whites have an easier time distinguishing themselves and creating a unique identity while minority and LGBT students must struggle to overcome predetermined labels. Comments made and opinions held by whites aren’t taken as representative of their race; white individuality is fundamentally assumed. White students need not worry about being viewed as beneficiaries of affirmative action and are assumed to be where they are based solely upon merit. On a daily basis there are many ways in which white privilege elevates the majority group on this campus. Few efforts have been made to expose and excise an engrained social system that lifts (generally affluent) whites above their peers. In fact, most whites are credibly uncertain, if not oblivious, to their advantage. Nonetheless, it’s no feat to remain ignorant of social inequality when one is on the receiving end.
Like the subtle prejudices we all harbor, white privilege cannot function when it is exposed, either by the introspective individual or by broader community action. As up-and-coming persons of influence, it is incumbent upon us to press for equality on both fronts.
Sam Stevenson ([email protected]) is a graduate student in public health.
