Letters to the Editor

Diversity: Strictly a minority affair?

In his Oct. 17 letter entitled "Minority Issues and Student Responsibility," Nathan Arrington '02 stated that the USG report on "Minority Issues" unknowingly "reveals an underlying problem facing diversification at Princeton: the failure of many minority students to accept personal responsibility for solving the problems." I argue that this statement of Arrington's reveals the true problem facing diversity at Princeton: the belief that diversity is strictly a minority concern. Throughout Arrington's letter, the implication is that integration is an issue that affects only minority students at Princeton. In fact, he went so far as to suggest that minority students are to blame for the present state of affairs. I contend that the it's-their-problem mentality that is so prevalent on the Princeton campus is the prime obstacle to diversity and true integration. In fact, the name of the USG study itself is offensive (USG Committee on Minority Issues), in that it makes segregation within the Princeton social scene seem to be a "minority" affair. Until we reach the point where all members of the Princeton community value varied modes of thinking and experience enough to leave their respective comfort zones, the racial disunity we encounter will not change.

Case in point: Last month a representative from the U.N. World Conference Against Racism came to speak in the Frist Multipurpose Room. As I looked around at the audience, I was surprised - and saddened - to note that the crowd was over 50 percent minority and roughly 75 percent female, statistics that are not representative of the entire Princeton community to say the least. I had to ask myself, "Are women and minorities the only people who should be concerned with global racism?" No! Yet, the audience at many of the cultural events on campus is demographically similar to the one I described, presumably because other members of the student body do not see themselves as affected by racism or sexism or because they do not see the importance of exposure to other cultures or viewpoints. This same attitude is brought into issues of diversity on campus; it seems as if we are all waiting for someone else to come and diversify our in-groups, which simply will not work if we are seriously striving for integration. And I do not mean to turn this letter into a personal criticism, but I wonder if at any point in his Princeton career Arrington has followed his own advice and walked away from his comfortable homogenous group and sat down at a table with some people he might not know. If he has not been able to consistently break through certain barriers, how and why would he expect minority students to?

This is not to suggest that no student groups are making efforts at diversity. The Sustained Dialogues group, as well as the Terrace Race Relations talks of last semester, are prime examples of students coming together in an honest effort to change the status quo. The Third World Governance Board also sponsors monthly dinners in order to foster a greater sense of community and solidarity among all Princeton students. However, unless these attempts are backed by widespread acceptance and support from the rest of the student body, they will not be enough to alter the overall racial separation experienced at Princeton. Arrington writes, "Solving most of the diversity issues at Princeton requires personal initiative, an issue the USG committee's report fails to mention and an attitude that no administration can create." I strongly agree. We as students are responsible for changing the environment in which we operate, but to place the onus for change on a minority of the campus population is, in my view, illogical and infeasible. Let me reiterate: Until individual members of the Princeton community (black, white, Latino, Asian, bi-racial, non-racial and so on) come to see diversity as their concern, something that they have a responsibility to remedy, the University will remain as segregated as ever. If any reader disagrees with any point that I have set forth in this article, I sincerely ask you to contact me so that we can discuss it. Unless the entire campus community is willing to openly confront racial disaccord at Princeton, attempts at diversity will ultimately go nowhere. Linda Boachie-Ansah '02