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In the 1960s, we strove for equal rights for all people, regardless of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. However, how far have we come in the past 30 years? How do people in the United States strive for inclusiveness? How do we treat people who are different from us? How do we address issues of social justice on the campus of the University of Illinois? To get a glimpse into some of these answers, DeNeishia and I decided to approach several different groups of students at the University of Illinois Illini Union. Tape recorder in hand, we set out to record the multiracial experiences of several male and female students of varying backgrounds. We posed the following questions:
#1 - What do you feel about being [ethnicity] on this campus?
Most White and Asian-American students answered by stating they had never thought about their ethnicity. The few students who had thought about their experience had mostly positive comments:
It's been good. I haven't experienced anything bad (Indian-American female).
However, it is important to note that not all Whites and not all Asian-Americans had the same experiences as those mentioned above:
I really identify with Asians. White people really only talk to you if the need something; if they see you in need, they don't offer anything (Chinese-American female).
I guess I have a little bit of guilt issues that I hope to figure out how to address. Guilt of everything set up to be experience through eyes of "White America" (White male).
One woman, while not addressing her ethnicity directly, did summarize her experiences being female on this campus:
I think to that I would say as a woman on campus I find that this campus both in which the University structures its programs and both as individuals is very harrassing place. I was assaulted on campus my sophomore year and I found the university programs who dealt with that to be not necessarily adequate. . . In the classroom, I find it especially stifling. I find professors to be incredibly sexist and homophobic (White female).
While most of the White students could not pinpoint their experiences of being White on this campus, most African-American students were able to verbalize their experiences with ease. While each student had a different experience, the gist of the experiences can be grasped in the following quotation:
My freshman year, someone called me a "Black [expletive]." It is beyond words how upset I was. I reported it. Nothing was ever done. For someone to say that means that that person does respect me as a person for being here or see me as equal to them. (African-American female)
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