@Anonymous “Until organizations, regardless of their “content,” are actively anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, and anti-oppressive, diversity will only be a lot of multiethnic students sitting at their separate tables.”

What does this even mean? I don’t understand how Alex can say that the way to have disparate peoples playing together, is for clubs to put a big sign on their doors saying that they welcome everyone.

Not that I particularly like Spec, but they have said time and time again that their board is predominantly white because a. they have very few minority writers in the first place and b. not a lot of the people from column a. step up for the positions in the first place.

The rock climbing club I started didn’t explicitly go out and make people aware that we were not homophobic, sexist, etc (well I wrote that into our constitution), but at Columbia I expect that sort of thing to be something I don’t have to go out and advertise. Our governing board was all white, except for me, does that mean anything? Not really.

Sure there are culturally and racially inclusive clubs. So what? If you were white and felt that you wanted to join the BSO, they aren’t going to say no. The problem does not rest on the shoulders of the clubs and organizations, but with the students themselves.

@You're not doing anyone a favor by forcing homogeneity on society and forcing people to be “tolerant” of one another. Because guess what, just because I “tolerate” your culture in public out of courtesy doesn’t mean I don’t go back to my house and bitch to my friends about how you are a huge motherfucking moron for doing X, eating Y and listening to music genre Z. Nothing in this world is equal or fair, so why in hell are you trying to force everyone to pretend it is?
::cut scene back to club meeting::
“I also noticed someone forgot to put their race down next to their name. Now, as we all know, it’s very impolite to assume one’s race based on one’s name, so- Mozambique Lacquana, could you please stand up so I can fill in your race here? …Ah there you are! OK, let’s see it looks like you are ‘Black’. Thanks! We’re very excited to see you here! And the tag on your chest says you were dra..brought in by Mr. Peter Smith Whittington — good work Peter! Now, are you feeling diverse? Just as soon as we’re done with the announcements, we’re going to appreciate some of your-how do you say-hip hop? I’m sure you’re very excited about that.”

@Raphael Apollo “Why Do the White Kids Sit Together?”
The answer is simple and not sinister. Most (not all) white people have cultural backgrounds that are slightly different from those of most (not all) black people. People generally prefer to spend time with those who share their cultural background. People who were part of the nerd (SF, anime, etc.) subculture before college will spend more time with others of that subculture. People from very Jewish backgrounds will tend to spend more time with Jews. And people with a typically white cultural background will tend to spend more time (and so do the same activities as) others with a typically white cultural background.

Of course, when people choose their activities and friends they aren’t entirely dependent on the culture they come from. Cultures make some activities more salient than others, but they do not rigidly determine someone’s activities. Because of this fact, it is a good idea for people from different backgrounds to interact, as various individuals may find out about activities that they enjoy which are not a big part of their own culture. For example, a Frenchman might decide that he personally prefers the longer hours and shorter holidays typical in America and try to implement such a routine himself. Or someone from a prudish background might come to think that sexual promiscuity is the preferred way of living. But while it is good to encourage people to sample from other cultures, it is unrealistic to expect that cultural backgrounds will not affect how people end up deciding how to spend their time. Even if you made every Frenchman spend a year sampling American culture (sitting at the table with Americans, joining American newspapers, being in the varsity show), I think most would still prefer more typically French activities. This would not make the Frenchmen anti-American, it would just mean that they prefer the activities that they have been brought up with.

Now, colleges can do more or less to encourage people from different cultural backgrounds to spend time together. Having Core classes that everyone has to take is surely a really positive thing; likewise having everyone live on a small, compact campus. Having lots of small communal dining halls like Harvard is better than the dining situation at Columbia in this respect. In any case, there is only so much the university can do (and small communal dining halls would do much more than “safe” spaces). Individuals can try to meet more people from different cultural backgrounds–this should be encouraged. But if, after spending time sampling the alternatives, individuals continue to prefer activities (and friends) more typical of their cultures, then it is hard to see a big problem with this.