1981_11 The Daily Collegian November 1981

              Paae 8/ November 13,1961—Dally Collegian
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Breaking the
racial barriers
Students need to be more
color blind, students
and administrators say -
'MY hope
is that the
new change
In the G.E.
requirements
will bring about
more of an
understanding'
Like oil and water, the ethnic
races of Americans at CSUF are hav¬
ing a hard time mixing.
The general consensus oi students
at CSUF said the reason blacks,
Chicanos and whites segregate them¬
selves from each other is, as one
white student said, "There really is
a difference between us."
"It's just different cultures," said
John Wells, a black senior biology
major. "I get together with whites to
study just because I don't have any
blacks   in   my  classes.   But   not   to
In 18%, black and white people
were legally separated in America,
after being customarily separated for
280 years before that. They were con¬
sidered "equal/ but separate,' as a
result of the Supreme Court case,
Plessy vs Ferguson. Separate toilets
were used, separate drinking foun¬
tains, even separate cemeteries. In
court, blacks took oaths on separate
Bibles. On the bus, they sat in the
bade,       |
'Is there a whole lot of difference
now?' asked Dr. Robert Mikell,
Black Studies coordinator at CSUF.
The laws have changed drastically,
the attitudes are changing slowly, but
the story is the same. Blacks, whites
and browns remain largely socially
mon with white people.
'If a group of blacks get together
and talk about music, we'd be talk¬
ing about Quincy Jones or some¬
one,' he said. 'When a group of
whites Ulk, it's about Pink Floyd.. *
For that reason, Goodwin said he
prefers to be around black people.
'I'm not saying it's best,* he said.
'It's just more natural.'
In the College Union or the"
cafeteria, the segregation is most
noticeable. The different colors are
grouped together and there is little
intermingling.
'It's obvious on this campus. If
you go into the cafeteria you see it
all the  time,"   said  Peter  Klassen,
they yell at each other and talk about
their mommas, but they don't get
into a fight,' he said. 'When whites
start yelling, there's going to be a
fight.*
Powell said he does not think it
is wrong to generalize like this.
*We all stereotype,' he explained.
'That's not bad. It's what we do with
that information that matters.'
Education is the key that will bring
the races together, said Powell. He
said blacks have already learned
about white people. He said white
people should learn more about
blacks.
"School is based on white middle-
class   ethics.   So   if   you   make   it
'WE all stereotype.That's
not bad. It's what we do with
that information that matters'
r of skin color,"
'It's all
said Mikell.
The three predominant races in
this country tend to go their own
ways. Some call it 'voluntary segre¬
gation' and it seems to be happening
everywhere. Even CSUF.
The reasons for the separatism
seem to be deeper than Just skin
color, however. The difference also
seems to be cultural and historical.
Some  people at  CSUF  think  the
and socially, do not dick.
time,'   said Paul   Goodwin,   a
I black   junior  chemistry   major.   'It
may be jokingly, but you get tired of
dean of the School of Social Sciences.
•Like seeks like. Blacks tend to as¬
sociate with blacks and whites do
the same. It's a matter of habit.*
One white female on campus said
the reason she thinks there is
segregation is because of the 'pre¬
judice of both groups. When you're
not in your own group, you get in¬
timidated.
*l get intimidated by blacks be¬
cause I'm not black.'
L.C. Powell, editor of the black
newspaper at CSUF, Uhuru Ni
Umeja, said he thinks the segrega¬
tion among the cultures can be at¬
tributed to the 'mating rituals' of
the different groups.
'I would not sit with a group of
white guys who were trying to im¬
press ladies who would not inter¬
est me...* said Powell. 'Every one*
in a while you see a few blacks with
some white guys, but not «ery often.'
Powell, whose roommate is white,
said there is definitely a difference
through school, you learn about white
values.'
Of approximately 16,232 students
at CSUF, 3.3 percent of them are
black. Powell blames this on the re¬
cruitment efforts of the campus ad¬
ministration.
'Of the black males here, about 75
percent of them are athletes,' he
said. 'In that department, they need
blacks. In other departments they
don't,   so  the  recruiting   isn't  as
[ blacks do not have that much "in com-
and that difference keeps them apart.
Take  intramural  sports  for ex¬
ample. When blacks play basketball,
There have been efforts ii
areas of the campus t ,_ _,	
rollment of black students at CSUF.
Recruiting recommendations were
recently presented to President
Harold Haak by members of the Black
Educators Association of Fresno. A
task force from members of that com¬
mittee presented Haak with such sug¬
gestions as developing more student
affirmative action programs on cam¬
pus, providng more financial aid for
black students and establishing
recruitment goals for 1981 through
1983.
Efforts are also being made by
the Center for Black Affairs,  ac¬
cording to Mikell. The center is lo¬
cated in the Black Studies office and
is set up to recruit more black stu¬
dents to CSUF and counsel them so
more will graduate. Blacks have the
highest drop-out rate of all the minori¬
ties.
The Educational Opportunity Pro¬
gram on campus is also increasing
efforts to recruit black students, ac¬
cording to Robert Hernandez, direc¬
tor of the program. The reason is
to reverse the decline of Black stu¬
dent applicants for admission through
EOP.
One white student said he feels
blacks segregate themselves.
"Look at all the separate pro¬
grams. There are organizations for
blacks and whites together but they
(blacks) don't use them,* he said.
Mikell said the reason there are
so many separate organizations
is simply 'they (different races)
have more things in common wfth
each other.'
He said also that, traditionally,
some 'white organizations,' like
some fraternities and sororities,
have not invited blacks to join.
'If the blacks and browns would,
have been included in these organiza¬
tions in the beginning, the separatism,
never would have existed,'he said.
The Pan African Union, an 'um¬
brella organization' for all black stu¬
dents, was formed 12 years ago.
Mikell said lb purpose then was to
give black students something to be¬
long to. At that time there were
only about eight black students on
campus.
One white student said he thinks
black students have *|ust as many, if
not more, prejudices against white
people as whites have against
blacks.
There are some blacks that say
ail whites are the same. Some say all
blacks are the same. That's like say¬
ing all people are the same. And
they're not,* he said.
Another white student, a senior,
said he does not associate wfth
many blacks because he does not
feel comfortable. He said sometimes
he feels he is being blamed for
the past.
-It's the past and the preserrt
ail molded Into one. It's always been
the whites blamed for being pre¬
judice   dominantJy   against       the    ,
blacks,* he said. *l feel uncomfort¬
able if they think I'm one of those
There are also separate organiza¬
tions for Chicanos. One organization
is MEChA (Movimiento EstudiantJl
ChicanodeAztJan).
President of MEChA, Cerardo
Conzalez, said, 'We're for social
change and that means change for
everyone. We're not separatists.'
ConzaJes said the reason there is
segregation among the students Is,
'(White) people just don't relate to
blacks or Chicanos as well.'
'I see Mexicans doing a lot of -
vandalism,' said one white female
student. 'Maybe that's a bad gen¬
eralization, but I sure see a tot of
it.
-Blacks seem to stick to them¬
selves. They don't really bother any¬
one. Chicanos seem to go out looking
to cause trouble.*
Dr. Jesus Luna, director of the La
Raza Studies Program, said there
are many negative stereotypes of
minorities like this. He said he thinks
basically though, that different inter¬
ests and peer pressure are the rea-
^Students fear being labeled If
they are seen with a group of whites,
he said. They (Chicanos) feel the
same way toward blacks.'
Luna said the minority pro¬
grams at CSUF are not really treated
individually. j    ,	
-On this campus, they tend to lump
us all together,'he said. _
Chicanos make up 9.7 perceM <*
the student population at CSUF, more
than the rest of the minorities com¬
bined. Luna said by looking at the
demographics, one would think more
emphasis would be placed on the Chi-
C*C«nzales said the Chicanos want to
retain their culture. He said that in¬
stead of a 'melting "«'«■..<"_
tures, the United States should be
likea'salad bowl,'where all themix-
tures are together but each retain¬
ing their own culture.
-It's not a melting pot. We should
not all be melted Into the Anglo oil-.
^''lite^being bi-cultural...l Ill-
speaking Spanish and I  think we
  _..,.. t let If
workers speak anything but English."
Monica Delacruz, a Chicano, lives
in a suite In the CSUF dormitories.
She shares the suite with five other
girls, four of them are Chicano. She
said she would be happy Irving with
anyone whether they were Chicano or
not
'Because of their different back¬
grounds, a lot of Chicanos just want
to stay in their own group,' she said.
'A lot of it is income too. They come
from the same side of town so they
stick together.*
Chicanos, according to Luna, have
them see what black people are all
Mikell said some prejudices against
the Black Studies program have
developed out of certain attitudes
toward blacks. One incident this
semester involved a girl who was ad¬
vised not to take a Black Studies
course by her adviser in tlie His¬
tory Department.
-S^ndrit wasn't a black student of
course, it was a white student,"
said Mikell. 'That was totally dis-
Mikdl said the girl would not
tell him who the adviser was. He also
said there is no way of finding out
'SOME whites have certain
attitudes about black^and have
jbeen influenced by their parents'
the perception that the white people
do not have a good understanding
about the Chicano culture.
'My hope Is that the new change
in the Ceneral Education require¬
ments will bring about more of an un¬
derstanding,' said Luna. *l think
it's a very small step though. I
think we should do more.'
The new Ceneral Education re¬
quirement is for present freshmen.
They are required to take one dass
from an Ethnic Studies or Women s
Studies program.
Mikell said he encourages stu¬
dents to enroll in Ethnic Studies
classes, whether they are required to
"'•Some whites have certain atti¬
tudes about blacks and have been in¬
fluenced by their parents all their
lives,' said Mikell.  'By the time
how many other students are being
counseled against it.
There have been other problems on
campus with racial problems between
students and teachers.
One white Instructor Powell had for
a physical education dass would
'ignore every comment I made.'
Powell finally was transferred Into
another dass, but was forced to take
the same instructor for a dif¬
ferent class the following semester.
'When I took him for another class,
he told me,  'You won't be here
Powell believes the problems may
have been racially related.
'It's hard to describe -what it's
like when you're in a classroom
andvou're the only black,*  said
'out p_ the 750 full-lime faculty
memberTat CSUF, 100 are rrrfnori-
tJes and 143~ are women. Nineteen
of the'minoriffes are women. Seven
out of every 10 professors are white
males.
Klassen said there has been an ef¬
fort to have workshops for Instruc¬
tors in order to improve their rela¬
tionships with students of different
cultures. He said the workshops have
helped and let instructors ventilate
any negative feelings they may have
about the students or about the
Black/Ethnic Studies program.
The faculty members are now
aware that these classes are im¬
portant, that they're solid courses,
not Mickey Mouse courses,- said
Klassen.
In Mikell's opinion, the 'domi¬
nant society,' meaning white people,
has caused the separatism.
•Especially between blacks and
whites,' he said. 'Every other group
is doser to the whites. They have
ski n color closer to the whites. *
-I'm not saying we-should have
segregation, but blacks are still
making 60 to 70 percent of what
whites earn..."
Mikell's American Black Chettoes
class is made up of 48 students
and only 20 are black. He said they
discuss different issues and try to
clear up myths that white people
have about blacks. He said black stu¬
dents also begin to understand white
students.
*A lot of people think West Fresno
is a jungle, and that if they go there
they are going to get attacked."
The dass also explores black cul¬
ture and history.
'At the end of the semester, we'll
have a soul food dinner,* he said.
•We'll have mustard greens, sweet
potatopie.blackeyedpeas...'      "
There is a need for this kind of
education in the tower levels of
study, accordlngto Mikell and Luna.
-Geography, history-all those are
about white society. You open your
history book and you see very little
about blacks or any other cul¬
ture,* said Mikell. The blacks came
to the U.S. in 1619, 180 years before
this country was founded.'
Mikell said in order to dose the
gap that separates the drfferent
races, 'we need to know more
about each other.'
Cindi Hood, a Wade freshman at
CSUF, said she does not associate
wtth too many whites.
'People like to hang around with
the same kind of people. That's
the way it is. When I go out, I'm al-