Thinking outside the Princeton bubble

Often students express concern about being trapped in the "Princeton bubble." They talk a lot about concerns over whether they're completely missing out on the real world. I don't think their concern is unfounded, and I'd be the last one to discourage them from going out to have "adventures" in the real world or even talking to "real people." In the same vein, I'm glad so many students on campus advocate "awareness" of various issues plaguing the world outside our bubble. They describe this awareness as a show of concern for people around the world rather than just here on campus.

I can't deny that these awareness campaigns do some good. After all, students coming out of Princeton are poised for spearheading tomorrow's leadership efforts. They're the ones who are going to be making decisions affecting how everyone lives. They should be aware of and knowledgeable about the issues involved in their decisions. I share the concerns of activist students who worry that otherwise these people may never know about some truly important issues that ought to be attended to.

However, I worry that too many students forget that activism implies more than raising awareness. Activism implies, well, action. Yes, disseminating information and holding talks is action, but it's much more talk than walk, as it were. Where are the radicals taking over buildings, holding protests and, most unusual, actually getting involved in the problems they're talking about?

I know there are situations in which most people can't do very much, such as when many people are attending to the problem or when there isn't much anyone really can think of to do that will be effective. In cases like this, it probably is best to keep out of the way and let those who know what they're doing manage the situation. I fully concede that it's still important to be aware though idle, or relatively so.

Yet, I think that people sometimes confuse activism with awareness entirely, even in cases where they actually can do something. After all, awareness ought to prompt action, and there are certainly social concerns very much within our range of action.

Here's a good example of the mindset I worry about. During OA leader preparation this year, we watched a video about an experiment/teaching procedure where white students were subjected to similar discriminations to those black students have faced, except in a very controlled environment and only for a few hours. In the end, many of the white students were in tears, but the instructor was satisfied and hoped she had made a lasting impact.

Afterwards, we discussed the film and also more general issues of racial discrimination in our culture. In my group, we spent about 20 minutes telling anecdotes about friends' friends' friends. After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the conclusion that yes, racial discrimination does happen, even at Princeton. We had raised our level of awareness and wasn't that great?

Yet, when our group leader asked, "So what should we do about it?" There was dead silence. Sure we all had policy ideas, for or against affirmative action, suggestions of urban renewal projects, expressions of dismay that past societies have made so many problems for us. Yet, everyone in the group appeared stumped as to how they could make changes in their lives and in their peers to end racial discrimination. Though we had readily agreed that yes, racial discrimination does take place right under our noses, even at Princeton — where so many of us claimed to have seen instances — no one even had a story to tell about what they had done in the past or thought should be done in the future.

Luckily, there are students here who take action. I was really glad to see a letter to the 'Prince' a few weeks back from two sophomores who said they had heard and confronted people on a bus on the way to New York when they felt that the students were voicing racist opinions. Yet, how often does this really happen? I'm sure conversations like that happen a lot more than the response the two students gave in that particular instance.

Basically, what I want to be sure of is that we take ideas to their logical conclusions. Yes, awareness is important. We need to talk about issues to understand them. However, this isn't the end of the discussion, only the beginning. The most important question really ought to be, can we do anything, and if so what? That's not something we have to leave our bubble to change. Aileen Nielsen is a sophomore from Upper Black Eddy, Pa. She can be reached at anielsen@princeton.edu.