COLUMN: Moving towards xemophobia

From Shaval Shah's, "For Unlawful Common Knowledge, Fall '97 From Shaval Shah's, "For Unlawful Common Knowledge, Fall '97 I recall with some confusion last semester's brouhaha about the W.E.B. DuBois College House. If I may, I shall proffer my humble disinterested opinion on the matter should the elucidation perchance prove useful. The crux of the issue is there is a residence on campus dedicated to the housing of black students. This policy of maintaining a race-based domicile sounds dangerously close to xenophobia --any closer, and xenophobia would yell rape. Call it racial segregation, equality through separation or call it melanin-phobia, but the issue remains. The question, then, is: is this practice of a separate house justified or not? Is it xenophobia? Is it a wise, effective operation or is it the cogitative equivalent of urinating on an atomic bomb in the hope of defusing it? I was once offered the argument by a good friend of mine -- who is black, lived in DuBois and is therefore perhaps more qualified to speak than I on this matter -- that when a black individual returns home from a hard day at school, he does not want any more stress and wants to hang out with other black people where he can let his guard down. Several of these students are unaccustomed to other cultures and need an arena where they can be with their own kind, to relax, to be themselves. An entirely noble intention, superficially. But it is misleading to the point of being unjust and even damaging. Unjust because Penn is comprised of people from every conceivable culture, every minority, every socio-economic stratum. Many of these minorities are even poorer and less represented than blacks. So if the black community should receive special treatment in the form of a unique domicile, why not these other peoples? What makes the black community special as opposed to other minorities? Every minority should have the same complaints (and therefore, by the current erroneous thinking) privileges. They are also poor kids from unbeknownst regions, with unique cultures, with fears of the unknown, with a homing instinct. Yet they are not offered such a sacrosanct. And rightly so! They survive their exposure to the heterogeneous culture mix, and indeed grow from it. Why can't the black minority be as strong as the other minorities? My answer to that is: IT CAN! Black Americans are a glorious race, a proud people who have served with honor in America's wars. They are leading scholars in science and economics as well as contributors to American culture in music and the arts. It is an insult and a slap in their face to say they cannot cope with the outside world by integrating with it. The folly is also of the p.c. administration, who should know better than to stifle diversity at such crucial a stage. Why tout Penn's diversity if all they do -- actively or passively -- is allow segregation from the very get go? Integration and exploration have historically proven great strengthening factors. This country is as mighty as it is because of its unique derivative heritage. When I first came to Penn, I was placed in a dorm in Hill House, surrounded by foreigners of every description. They are now my second family. I would argue I was even more displaced when I came here than the average Black American, yet I was not offered a domicile ensconced in my own kind. And if I were, I would have refused it. Had I lived in a place surrounded by my own kind, I would have ventured little outside of my climes, instead would have ended up performing social incest (for those more puritan of you, I am referring to xenophobic activities, not unnatural sexual acts). The point to my rambling being, I learned so much by being thrown in the melting pot, and met so much of the world right in my home, that I shall cherish my freshman memories forever. I have recently been presented with a startling argument. I was told it is considered by many who choose to discriminate, that discrimination is gradual, not absolute. Meaning that among minorities, some are considered more "outside" or "lower" as it were, with blacks at the bottom of the ladder. This was quite a shock, I must admit. It seems a lot of black people feel they are discriminated against more than other minorities are, that they are least welcome, and that is why they are least inclined to mix. Well, this is indeed a shame, if it is true. Of course, all minorities claim their case has unique parameters, but I am willing to proffer the benefit of doubt. However, my argument lies in the actions of one Rosa Parks. She was also unwelcome, yet chose to exercise her rights, hoping -- with a remarkably non-myopic view -- that somehow her actions would pave the path for integration. Compared to her sacrifice that day, the contemporary Black American has much less hostility to deal with. If he stops now and hides behind his self-fashioned bubble, all the progress will come to naught. Be brave, buddy, you have much less to lose than Rosa Parks did, and just as much to gain. I know the official policy dictates DuBois is not exclusive to blacks, but just saying so doesn't make it so. Having the token white in DuBois serves no purpose. Of course, the rest of us closeting ourselves off doesn't help matters any. If the argument for a Black American house is that it will preserve the cultural identity of the black people in the face of the threat of assimilation of black kids into white culture, I retort: a culture too weak to stand on its own without protection may not be worth protecting. Remember Winston Churchill's words, "Headmasters have powers at their disposal with which Prime Ministers have never yet been invested." I implore the administration to look outward. If you throw people in the melting pot, you are apt to get burned a little, but it's the only way to make good soup.