Filling in the Black Hole

Unedited Version of Op-Ed in the Emory Wheel Friday April 28

The DUC’s “black hole” is an area in the lower tier of the cafeteria where black students often sit together. But it is more like the elephant in the corner of the room that everyone knows about, but no one openly discusses. Or so I thought until I read Stephen Benz’s article, “Blacks Students Discuss Roots of Race Issues” (April 21).

But before I could commend my peers for bringing the “black hole” topic to the discussion table, The Wheel acknowledged this past Tuesday to misreporting the event, mentioning self-segregation among blacks as the prevailing theme in the dialogue when it apparently was not. Through this misreporting, the original article did more than falsely tease readers with its headlines; it has left many with superficial answers for the intriguing question the article originally raised: “Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”

While I will not declare that I have all the cookie-cutter answers to such a complex question, I believe that as an Asian-American, standing in the middle of our multi-racially complicated society, I hope to offer some concepts that would be useful to understanding race. If we want to comprehend the “black hole” and other forms of self-segregation we must first have a better understanding of “double-consciousness” and “racial pride.”

Double-consciousness, a term coined by W.E.B. DuBois is used to describe an individual, most likely a person of color, whose identity is divided into two separate, contradictory identities. In The Souls of Black Folks, he writes that it is a “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of the world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.”

This concept is relevant to our discussion of the “black hole” because this grouping is all about identification and for many people of color, they begin defining themselves in terms of race. Why? Because the rest of the world does. Blacks are not seen first by their class or celebrity, but by their race. For example, Denzel Washington tells a story where a woman next to him clutches her purse in fear of theft as he is on his way to making millions of dollars in his next movie.

In the midst of all too many negative media images and messages of blacks as well as various racist encounters, many blacks self-segregate not only because they desire to protect oneself from further offense, but also to find support from their peers. By interacting with one’s racial peers, blacks find people who understand and sympathize with their struggles rather than questioning its existence.

An added bonus is that these “kids in the cafeteria” may hold the answers to questions about self-identity, something many of us often try to seek out in a university setting. Thus, the “black hole” is more than just a coping mechanism in relation to racism; it is also a tool of unlearning the internalized stereotypes about his or her own groups and redefining a positive sense of self.

Thus, I’m not sure the “black hole” is as big of a problem as people say it is, or even a problem at all.

I can already hear the shattering of our childhood dreams where hundreds of black, white, yellow, and blue children are joined by hands, singing Kumbaya. Despite my optimistic viewpoint for self-segregation, I also believe it is not contradictory to our college brochure ideals of diversity. But for genuine diversity to occur, there must also be a renewed sense of racial pride…for whites.

Though whites make up the majority on this campus, they have often been the minority in discussions similar to the one reported and in classes that discuss race relations. In Susan McMillan’s article, “Participants reflect after year of studying past racial issues” (April 25), she quotes Associate Professor of Political Science Rich Doner as saying, “…white folks, even the ones in these dialogues, are rarely ready to explore issues of racial insensitivity and racism.” In order for our community to celebrate diversity, we must collectively look at our crayon boxes and realize that white is a color as well.

Yet, it is obvious why whites do not want to be involved in discussions like this. For one thing, whites have the privilege to think of race as an intellectual exercise rather than an issue that pertains to every second of their life. For another, whites do not want to attend, and understandably so, a dialogue that identifies the victimizer as white. And while there are issues regarding white privilege and white guilt that needs to be talked about, I believe white pride needs must first be addressed.

But by this “white racial pride,” I do not mean a term created by the Ku Klux Klan or Strom Thurmond. Instead, whites must begin discovering their own identity, whether that may mean Scottish, German, New Yorker, or Southerner. They must also see their own color as essential in the overall struggle for full economic, social, and political equality.

Many racial groups advocating for black rights in the early 20^th century failed until an integrated group of whites and blacks came together to form the NAACP. Many boycotts during the civil rights movement failed until a group of black and white “freedom riders” challenged segregation through the Deep South in the 1950s.

If we want to see clear progress regarding race-relations, whites must develop their unique racial pride and join the conversation. At the same time, people of color must discover, develop, and embrace these newfound allies as well.

While my hope lingers on for a larger and more honest conversation about race, a good first step is to critique the original question at hand for it is just as easy to say “Why are all the white kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”, though we rarely comment on that. Instead, I urge us to ask a new question: “Can we sit together and talk?”