DETROIT — There’s a road here called Alter that makes up the far northeastern border of the city. On the other side of the road lies Grosse Pointe, Mich., the epitome of suburbia, where I spent 12 years of my life.
Within three blocks of crossing Alter, you go from burnt-out bungalows that sell for less than $1,000 to Tudors that go for $600,000. You go from 90 percent black to 95 percent white. You go from total dystopia to the American dream. In high school, the only reason anybody would cross that border was to get fast food, buy drugs or booze or go off-roading in their Jeep Wrangler.
This is where I grew up. A place where people turn off their lights on Halloween at 8 p.m. because “that’s when people from Detroit show up.” A place where until the 1960s, real estate agents would decide whether people could live there based on a point system related to your race and affluence — blacks and Asians need not apply. A place where people neurotically lock their doors at night because they might cross the border and break in. A place where, after a few drinks, making jokes about black people being lazy, welfare-loving bums is socially acceptable.
Many of my fellow white suburbanites at UW-Madison from Milwaukee, Chicago or Minneapolis had similar experiences growing up. We don’t talk about it much. But we exist. There are thousands of white UW students, myself included, who have never been to a bar mitzvah, have never been to a non-Catholic mass and have no idea the ways in which Hmong people have been oppressed over the years.
There are also thousands of others from rural Wisconsin who have never seen a black ghetto, have never shopped at a gas station with bulletproof glass guarding the cashier and have never even stepped foot into a room where they’re the minority.
For us, there is a bit of a culture shock when we arrive at UW, even if we don’t admit it. I’m lucky to have been blessed with an open mind, good parents and a solid worldview. But others aren’t so lucky, and so it is up to the UW community to educate them.
This is not anybody’s fault; our culture is simply set up to make higher education the place for this learning experience. But before we try to improve relations for people of color at UW through the 2010s, let’s accept a few things.
One, it’s not about filling quotas. We should take a page from former Chancellor John Wiley’s book: This is the state school of Wisconsin, so by the nature of the state and the Midwest, it isn’t going to be as diverse as other universities and other regions of the country.
It’s about campus climate — mere numbers aren’t going to do it. In fact, I’d almost argue an increase in minority students could do more damage if we stay as socially segregated as we are. See Detroit versus Grosse Pointe.
Two, we know little of each other’s cultures when we arrive at UW. See this as a teaching and learning experience, not an unacceptable lack of knowledge. Your white floormate isn’t a bigot if he assumes you speak Spanish since you’re Hispanic and from Southern California. Your friend isn’t completely ignorant if one time he gets drunk and calls your gay housefellow a “faggot.” Your roommate from Wausau isn’t just some hick because you’re the first Jew or black man he has ever had a serious conversation with. I’m not a white elitist because most of my friends from home are White Anglo-Saxon Protestants and I laugh at Eric Cartman’s Jew jokes on South Park.
Some of us are just left misinformed or without certain experiences based on how and where we were raised. It’s our job to keep an open mind, and it’s the job of those informed of other cultures to educate your fellow student.
Three, let’s face a difficult fact: Whites hang out with whites, blacks hang out with blacks, Asians hand out with Asians, gays hang out with gays, and so on. Of course there are exceptions. But I think most will agree with this principle in general.
There are several arguments about this. Some say it’s a natural, understandable sociological tendency — you know, birds of a feather flock together. While that’s true to an extent, it’s more the result of larger socioeconomic and cultural differences. The problem is these differences may be insurmountable. Not to mention that when there are large groups of homogenous people together, inappropriate comments and jokes toward different people are regrettably inevitable — again, see Detroit versus Grosse Pointe.
Four, to the minority organizations of UW, please, for the love of God, quit using emotions that appeal to white guilt — they cause many on this campus to get defensive. Practically everybody at UW understands this is a sensitive issue. Don’t go on the attack if somebody with different views says something at a forum or writes a column for the Herald or the Cardinal. It is detrimental to the entire process and characterizes minorities as hyper reactive, single-minded whiners instead of problem solvers. Focus on the bigger picture, not the predictable hiccups along the way.
This also means broadening your membership, particularly for groups like MultiCultural Student Coalition. I say this after speaking with several friends who have felt as though their views have been squelched by MCSC and other minority efforts on campus. Minorities from the inner city of Milwaukee will always have the same opinions if you tell them what they should be thinking when they join as freshmen. Have a conversation, not an argument. Be understanding and reasonable, not reactive. Engage the campus; don’t complain about how it’s unfair to you.
In short, white students, recognize the various forms of bigotry that may have existed in your past, and be open-minded as you work to resolve them in Madison. Minority students, understand this isn’t an “us vs. them” battle, and don’t take offense if someone is ignorant about your culture or disagrees with you in a reasonable manner.
These are pretty simple concepts. But they were difficult for me to write and I’m sure they’re even harder for the rest of campus to accept. It will take the hard work of Bascom Hill administrators and the student body to recognize these truths and integrate them into plans to make UW more diverse.
There may not be much hope for Alter Road. But I have faith the Madison community can openly embrace different races and cultures better than any campus in the nation — provided we can get past the short-term quibbles.
Kevin Bargnes ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism.
