Forty student leaders participated in the University's second annual Day of Dialogue on Race in the Newcomb Hall South Meeting Room yesterday.
The event was intended to encourage student groups to recruit minority students, to address racial stereotypes and to give an equal voice to overlooked minority groups, Assistant Dean of Students Daisy Rodriguez said.
"Hispanic, Latino, Asian-Pacific American voices get lost at the University," she said.
At the dialogue, many students agreed that the most heated segment came with discussion of stereotypes of blacks.
Event directors attached posters to the walls of the South Meeting Room to represent various racial categories, and gave each student 20 Post-It notes upon which to write stereotypes of each group. Participants then met with other members of their self-identified race and created a presentation to address the stereotypes of their race before the audience.
Black students said they felt the stereotypes against them were more negative than for any other racial group. In what many students said was a particularly strong part of the event, the black students presented their stereotypes through a mock radio call-in show.
Rodriguez described the black student presentation as "intense."
"They were the only group without positive stereotypes," she said.
However, Rodriguez said she does not believe in creating "a hierarchy of oppression." She said Asian students frequently are victims of racism and prejudice at the University, but their plight receives limited attention.
"It's common for Asian students to be called terrorists," she said. "Or Asian women are called some term that sexualizes them."
Other stereotypes, such as excelling in math, may be more positive but are still damaging, she said.
"All stereotypes are harmful," she added.
Some student participants agreed.
"I think we all have different struggles," said Jennifer Chu, vice president of the Vietnamese Student Association.
Chu said the "model minority myth" can be harmful to Asian students, who feel stereotyped as smart and skilled in math. Chu added that many Asian parents pressure their children to study math and science because it is practical.
Chu said she believes the establishment of an independent office for Asian student affairs would be "very beneficial."
Fourth-year College student Muskaan Behl was a facilitator at the dialogue and said while he enjoyed the day, he felt there was not enough closure.
Behl said he wished the black students had used concrete evidence to disprove their stereotypes, even if they were "grossly overdone."
"Say, 'This many African-Americans are CEOs of corporations in the Fortune 500,'" he said.
Rodriguez added that, while the University sponsors an independent Office of African-American Affairs, all other minority groups operate within the Office of Student Life, which is in need of more human and financial resources.
"There's a tendency to focus on black and white issues," Rodriguez said.
Resident Staff Area Coordinator Chris Elliot conducted the Post-It activity. He said he has performed the same activity at dialogues throughout the country, and that the student response here was "typical."
At the end of the dialogue Elliot directed students to remove the Post-Its from the boards and throw them in the garbage, symbolizing the destruction of stereotypes.
"It's important to start conversations like this," he said. "It's important work, and sometimes it hurts."
-Editor-in-Chief Mike Slaven and Assistant Managing Editor Michelle Jamrisko participated in the Day of Dialogue on Race, and edited this article.
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