Post Racial?

Highline Community College is a very diverse school. We have many international students, diverse cultures, and an open-minded administration that works to create a campus safe and equal for all students. Despite the many culture awareness programs and events, there is still a divide in the student body. It takes one trip to the balcony above the cafeteria to see the seperation. Even though there is a seperation admist the students, it does not reflect an attitude of racism. If you have taken Dr. Baugher's Psychology: Human Relations class, you would know that one of the attributes for attraction is similarity. People tend to gravitate towards others with matching traits of their own. We went around HCC asking people how they felt about racism and if they felt that our campus was "Post-Racial". We asked Yoshiko Harden, Director of Multicultural Services, if she has experienced racism here at HCC. She said,"Yes". She said she was onced stopped when she parked in the faculty parking area. She felt that the security personnel stopped her because she was a woman of color and that the individual automatically assumed she wasnt a teacher. When confronted the member of security said that he hadnt recognized the car. When Yoshiko was asked if we had a "Post-Racial" campus, she said most emphatically, No. No because racism is to dynamic. It is overt and covert. Just because it is not blaring at us in hate, it still lurks under the surface affecting us. Ranging from black to white, hispanic to asian, the general concensus we got from students was that they have not experienced racism here on campus, but they feel that there is too much diversity for us to be "Post-Racial". In general the students said that they do not feel intimidated or afraid of other races. There were a couple students who said that when they saw black men with baggy clothes or were "thugged out", they were uncomfotrtable and sometimes fearful. There were some students who even felt that some of the teachers were biased on what students they liked based on their race. They felt that special leniency was given to students with the same ethnicity as the teachers. Our campus is a good example of where our country is. We are making the right steps towards a "Post-Racial" society but we're not there yet. The nation as a whole is going through turbulent times realating to race. On one hand we have our first black President, which shows that the majority of the country agreed upon this one man to lead us. On the other hand our imigration policies are in disarray. Arizona has new laws that discriminate against individuals of Hispanic descent. Americans can be carded if they look like an illegal immigrant. Although there are new laws and new programs that provide equal opportunities for all races there still remains racism in our society and our schools. Although racism is not as overt as it used to be, it still remains as lethal as ever.