Bye-Bye Black Student Invitational Weekends?
I never thought I’d live to see this day.
Karla Holloway—one of 88 Duke University professors (dubbed “Group of 88″ by bloggers covering the Duke lacrosse case) who signed a statement thanking campus protesters for distributing “wanted” posters with photos of white Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of gang-raping a black stripper—supports the end of “Black Student Invitational” weekends at colleges and universities. (Source)
The English professor and former chair of the Race Subcommittee of Duke University’s Campus Cultures Initiative (CCI) is knee-deep in unrighteous indignation. She resigned CCI in protest after Duke University president Richard Brodhead lifted the suspensions of Reade Seligman and Collin Finnerty, two lacrosse players falsely accused of rape. (Source) That Holloway would come out against race-based, school-sanctioned gatherings is surprising. Then again, one of CCI’s recommendations was to discontinue the practice of assigning housing to “selective living groups and social/affinity/interest groups,” which I assume included race-based organizations.
But I digress. Holloway correctly notes that black high school students invited to Black Student Invitational gatherings are presumed to have a “shared racial identity.” Not necessarily. She writes:
“[T]here are lots of differences between these students. They have gone to private and public schools – in inner cities and outer suburbia and in counties spread across the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. Some come from countries outside of the United States.
“They have ancestors who were slaves or free people of color. Their parents are first-generation immigrants from Africa or England, or are white, Latino or Asian. They are interested in the sciences, arts and humanities. They have excelled in academic competitions, community service and sports.
“But recruitment weekends like those hosted by my own school – Duke University – erase these distinctions and signal that our motivating interest is their ethnicity. The effect of minority recruitment weekends renders all of these events as segregated as church on a Sunday morning.”
Amen. Aren’t we told, constantly, that segregation of any sort is wrong? Segregated events, even well-meaning ones, which are the result of “institutional policies” can backfire. (Shouldn’t the goal of diversity go beyond surface differences like skin color? As Holloway contends, presuming black students are all alike erases what I believe are valuable and interesting differences.)
In the context of race preferences, I’ve said many times that a government with the power to discriminate in favor of blacks can discriminate against them. The goal is to take this power away from the government and demand that all people of every color and race be treated equally.
Since Holloway believes Black Student Invitational weekends are passé, I wonder if she would apply the same reasoning to race preferences?
