COLUMN: "Ebony and Ivy: Can't We All Just Live Together?"

From Jonathan Steinmetz's "Taking the Long Way Home," Fall '92 Now my hall was no cheery, everybody get along, Brady Bunch world. It was far from it. However, we all gained something by living with -- or next door to -- people from many cultures. After all, this is a "diverse" place. Whether we developed a taste for Indian food, an appreciation of Japanese music, or just had someone to help us with our Spanish homework, most of us benefited from living with a "diverse" -- I have been programmed by this University to use that word as much as possible -- group of people. Many of my classmates have told me that there were no blacks on their floors either. Obviously, many blacks choose to live in DuBois House (or "DA BOYZ" house as some whites joke) their freshman year. I don't have a problem with the concept of DuBois House, but I think that allowing first-year students to live there only perpetuates the lack of understanding that causes the racial tensions constantly gripping this campus and this nation. The only way we can diminish the hatred and bigotry in this country -- and avoid incidents like the riots in Los Angeles -- is for whites and blacks to actually get to know each other, to become friends. It is only then that we begin to see the other person as an individual, rather than as "black" or "white." I doubt that those blacks would have beaten Reginald Denny, the white truck driver, if they were friendly with white people. I surely don't think that the police would have mercilessly beaten Rodney King if their neighbors were black. Many blacks say they choose to live in DuBois House because they are tired of being in the minority and wish to live in a place where they share a common heritage and unity. I'm not suggesting we get rid of DuBois house completely. I believe it serves an important role. I just feel students should have to wait until their sophomore year to move in. Both blacks and whites benefit from living in a mixed environment for at least one year. For many of us, freshman year will be the only time in our lives that we do so. We learn things by living with other races, religions and ethnic groups that are impossible to learn solely by sharing the same classroom. Furthermore, why is it fair for blacks to specify what race they want their roommate to be, but not for whites? There is housing that is almost exclusively for white people who want to live with other white people. This is the world of fraternity and sorority houses. Yet people are not allowed to live in these houses their freshman year. Why should DuBois House be different? Jonathan Steinmetz is a Wharton sophomore from West Palm Beach, Florida. "Taking the Long Way Home" will appear alternate Fridays.