COLUMN: White Privilege and Assigned Housing

From Jenifer Wana's "Whatever You Say, Dear," Winter '94 From Jenifer Wana's "Whatever You Say, Dear," Winter '94I admit I don't normally see people yelling "nigger" or "chink" on Locust Walk everyday. But that doesn't mean that racism doesn't exist at Penn in other forms. No, I don't mean randomized housing. I mean assigned housing -- strategically assigning minority students where to live to ensure a racially diverse mix of freshmen in University dorms. After all, minority students have other outlets to find others like themselves. What about those countless ethnic clubs? You know, the ones people deem "separatist" because there are never any whites at the functions, whether they're parties or study breaks. When told that membership is open to everyone, whites respond that they don't feel comfortable and people might look at them because they're different. Now let's talk about white privilege. How many times do whites have to confront a situation in which they are the only person of their color at a party, meeting, or rush event? When people look at academically-struggling whites, do they assume they must have gotten into college simply because of affirmative action? How often do whites have a problem with finding posters, postcards, dolls, toys, and magazines featuring people of their race? When whites fall off their bikes, do the bandages they buy clash horribly with their skin? And lastly, if assigned housing is enforced at the University, how often will white freshmen have a problem finding people of their own race to relate to? What are the chances of a white freshman not being able to find an RA of their color to talk to? How many whites will face subtle, institutional racism during the day and not be able to find people who understand what they're going through back in their dorm? I have a feeling the numbers aren't too high. We have always been taught that racism is something that puts others at a disadvantage, but we've never been taught to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts whites at an advantage. Think of whose lives assigned housing would really affect. I'll give you a hint -- not too many white freshmen are going to be upset for not being able to live in Dubois College House. I'm not saying assigned or randomized housing would be beneficial or detrimental to promoting diversity. That's something no one can really predict unless it happens. But what I am saying is that this is just another example of white privilege. If you are a white freshman, you automatically have the privilege of living with other people of your color. Picture yourself a white freshman. You wanted to live in the Quad because that's where everything happens. But because housing is assigned, for some reason you got placed in King's Court. Darn. But you learn to deal with living over on Sansom street. Either way you're with people you feel comfortable with and who share your culture. The dominant white culture. You can't help it. Whites happen to be a majority of the population. Nonetheless, you live with mostly people of your own race, one black student, one Latino, and a few Asians. Isn't this great? What a multicultural university! Now picture yourself a black freshman. For the past four years you've gone to a practically all-white high school, and thought it'd be great to live in DuBois and learn about African-American culture and explore your identity as a black person. But no, unfortunately that's not allowed, so you're placed in Hill House. But like our white freshman, you'll just have to deal. However, in this case, "dealing" means a lot more than just how big your room is or how many study lounges are available. It means being forced to live with mostly people of a different race. And since you're used to white professors, white peers, and white magazine models, your freshman dorm is just another thing to get used to. Because you are of color, you don't get this white privilege and you'll never know what it is to experience it. Some of you are thinking, "white privilege"? What new p.c. bullshit is that? It's a subject that everyone avoids or doesn't feel obliged to think about. And if these things are true, maybe it isn't such a free country after all. A lot of doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own. And with assigned housing, certain freshmen would be able to live comfortably with people like themselves, without a worry. Simply because they are the dominant culture, they are allowed many privileges which others cannot take for granted. This "privilege" is not only inherent in being white. You can even talk about East/South Asian privilege. After all, East and South Asians don't have to look outside of the curriculum to learn about their country's history and culture, unlike Southeast Asians. Many white college students think that racism doesn't affect them because they aren't people of color. They don't consider "whiteness" a racial identity. These students need to decide if they are going to use their unearned advantage to weaken invisible privilege systems, or just continue ignoring the situation. Are they going to fight against assigned housing and allow minorities to also live with people of their own color? Or are they going to advocate assigned housing, and along with the "I can live mostly with people of my own race" privilege, they can add "I'm multicultural because I know a black person" to the list? Or even worse, they could simply ignore it. Jenifer Wana is a junior Communications major from Willowbrook, Illinois. Whatever You Say, Dear appears alternate Fridays.

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