PART I: BACKGROUND ON DISCRIMINATION, PREJUDICE, STEREOTYPING AND ETHNOCENTRISM
In the 1920’s, medical, anthropological, and psychological studies sought to demonstrate the superiority of White people and placed prejudices as a natural response to “backwards races” (Plous, 2003, p. 3). These ethnocentric perceptions were challenged and transformed during the Civil Rights movement, and rights once denied to people on the basis of sex, and race, were granted. The Civil Rights movement noted that while “social categories form an indispensable part of human thought, because attributes such as race, sex, and age lie along a continuum, social labels are never more than approximations” (Plous, 2003, p. 3).
Globally, right-wing authoritarianisms and extremists who desire domination have held onto rigid categorical thinking and continue to place stereotype and prejudices on people in lower statues (Plous, 2003, p. 5). Stereotypes created out of ideological trends and internalized by individuals and outlets such as education, and the media, have come to foster prejudice and discrimination of those who are deemed “different” or inferior. Most commonly, they have given power to white, upper-middle class men from Western worlds and hindered “others’” social, political and economic participation through personal and institutional policies (Plous, 2003, p. 2).
No society or nation has been immune to racism and its manifestations in society. Rather racism is deeply imbedded at the individual and institutional sectors. It is reproduced in “…everyday life on familiar ground where it is taken for granted as a ‘normal feature of the dominant culture and hardly ever questioned” (World Council of Churches, 2002, p. 4). Racism and discrimination has continued to hide itself deep in societies and institutions making it all the more necessary to confront the government for programs that will rid our country of such hatred (James, 2003, p. 130).
A major shift has occurred in the last decade, where a once visible and clear-cut White racism has turned into a “new” racism that has became increasingly disguised or apparently non-existent (World Council of Churches, 2002, p. 4). Today, we find that racism is most present in tightly controlled global infrastructures of economic, ideological and military interests (World Council of Churches, 2002, p. 5). This systemic form of racism is proving detrimental to society, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to witness and challenge individuals’ perceptions of others based on the color of their race, ethnicity, language or culture.
In structural or institutional racism, minorities are denied access to education, employment and other necessary sectors to move forward and participate in society (James, 2003, p. 135). For example, minority children, many of which live in poor communities, are forced to attend schools that lack the appropriate resources for education leading to less access to higher education or employment in the future. As minorities have lived under stereotyping, prejudice, racism and social setbacks their entire lives, many come to believe they are the root of the problem and feed into negative stereotypes of themselves (Plous, 2003, p. 15).
We cannot deny racism because it makes us uncomfortable (James, 2003, p. 155). The empowerment of minorities is a crucial step in challenging systems that continue to oppress others on the basis of power. Refuse The Silence (2008), an organization that seeks to give a voice to women of color in elite liberal arts institutions, is a good example of a grassroots organization that is doing just that. Through the process of sharing ones stories and seeing ourselves, Refuse The Silence believes academia may continue to confront racism, stereotypes and prejudices in the face and not hidden behind institutions (Refuse The Silence, 2008).
Grassroots activists and NGOs must also work to integrate all people in the public and private sectors. Moreover, corporations, and decision-making bodies (i.e. nation-states, the United Nations, etc) must hire minorities to increase minorities’ access to resources and representation and ensure that all voices are heard. Speaking the truth and breaking down the walls in which racism conceals itself and, implementing policies and legislation that require equal access to all can achieve this goal.
PART II: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ELITE LIBERAL ARTS INSTITUIONS
Pedagogy and Methodology
1. Professors should avoid all stereotypes based on gender, ethnicity, class, nationality, etc in the classroom.
2. Professors must be sensitive to the specific needs and challenges that minority communities may face within predominantly white, elite liberal arts institutions. They can begin this process by reading texts on discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes, ethnocentrisms and racism as well as by asking students in the classroom to share their own stories and experiences.
Curriculum
1. Mainstreaming: Topics on race and ethnicity should be mainstreamed in all courses, especially in the math and sciences.
2. Distribution Requirement: All students should be required to take a course that has a focus on race, racism and ethnicity in order to graduate.
3. History: All schools should restructure history courses to include the history of African American, Latinos, Asians, and so forth in the curriculum. Moreover, students should have the option to major in one of these histories that tell a story beyond the traditional ones told by those with global power.
Student Life
1. Dissecting Stereotypes and Racism Event: At the start of every school year, and in the winter prior to the exit of every school year, the campus, with the assistance of students, faculty and staff, should organized an awareness raising event focusing on racism, discrimination, prejudices, stereotyping and ethnocentrism.
2. Diverse dorm rooms: When students are not allowed or not given the space to be around people who resemble them, they can grow to feel isolated and alone especially in predominantly white institutions. With this in mind, students should have the ability to live in housing or dorm rooms that are diverse and comprised of people of similar as well as different backgrounds including, ethnicity, race, culture, etc.
3. Sorority and Fraternity Houses: Campuses and students should discourage the institution of sorority or fraternity houses which are based on the process of singling people out based on their economic status and thus race, ethnicity and cultures. Such houses only continue to divide the student body rather than bringing them together in dialogue.
Administration
1. Anti-Discrimination Policy: Colleges should be committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive campus where intolerance, discrimination and harassment are not tolerated.
2. Center for Diversity: Colleges should have a Dean of Diversity as well as a interdisciplinary academic center that is dedicated to understanding how race and ethnicity affect students lives on campus. As part of this initiative, the center should focus on academic programming for the entire community and support scholarships and research related to this area.
3. Recruitment Policy: The school should work with outside organizations (i.e. The Posse Foundation) to recruit students of color and minorities onto campuses to increase the schools diversity. Furthermore, faculty and staff from underrepresented groups should be encouraged and recruited onto campus.
4. Free speech events on campus: A few times a semester, the administration should host a free speech and expression event where students can safely express their sentiments regarding the student body, academics and issues of discrimination, segregation and so forth to all members of the community
7. Entry Requirements: All schools must acknowledge that students have different access to opportunities throughout their lives. Prospective students from lower economic backgrounds or members of minority groups may not have had access to top-notch primary and secondary education prior to applying to college or may have never had SAT testing training. Therefore, colleges must not only look at prospective students test scores or grades, but also examine the work they have done outside of the classroom and how they have overcome difficulties to reach higher education.
8. College website: College websites must accurately portray the ratio of minority students on campus and not disguise it by placing many faces of minorities on the webpage. This will provide students with an honest understanding of the level of diversity present at the schools they will attend.
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Sources
Plous, S. (2003). The psychology of prejudice: An overview. Retrieved from http://www.understandingprejudice.org/apa/english/pg.27.htm
James, C. E. (2003). Seeing Ourselves: Exploring Race, Ethnicity and Culture (3rd ed.) (pp. 129-163) Toronto: Thompson.
World Council of Churches (2002). Understanding racism today: A dossier. (pp.1-26). Retrieved from http://www.oikumene.org/fileadmin/files/wccmain/2006pdfs/racismdossier.pdf
