I B Wedesay Fbrar 5 204 / -heStte en Wensdy ebur 5 01 heSaemn WHA T a BLACK A THE UNIVERSITY? B Y W I L L G R E E N B E R G hen the #BBUM cam - paign gar- nered national attention in November, University administrators and stu - dents alike were caught off-guard by the raw emotion captured in 140 characters. And despite thousands of tweets, there isn't one single answer to the question 'what is being Black at the University of Michigan?' Black, brown, Afroamerican or African-American - whatever the name- it's a group that shares a trait which has enormous implications for their social and academic experi - ences: their race. And while college is a time of learning for all students, both in and outside the classroom, many Black students at the Universi - ty have an extra layer to their experi - ence: a specific racial consciousness that hangs over the community. A Cold Racial Climate and the Never Ending Question "Being Black at the University of Michigan is like an extra job," said Chris James, an LSA Junior from Flint, Mich. James is a Black man on a campus of mostly white students. Accord - ing to the most recent enrollment data, the University's undergradu - ate population is 4.65 percent Black and 72.6 percent white - a disparity that has grown since the passage of a ban on affirmative action policies in 2006. Asa member of a racial minor - ity, James said he feels the isolation of being outnumbered. He feels an additional set of burdens unique to the Black community. Others feel the same. "I never saw any racism or any - thing like that until I gotto Michigan and then I was like, 'Wow, this actu - ally happens,'" said LSA and Music, Theatre & Dance sophomore Nadia Weeks. Growing up, Weeks said she was used to being outnumbered in her school, having been one of the few Black students in her class until high school. However, only when she began her time at the University did she start to see how her race defined her to others. Weeks is one of two Black students on her dance team. As a dance major, Weeks spends the majority of her time within the dance school with a group of about a dozen other stu- dents. During one dance rehearsal, Weeks was practicing with her team when another girl's foot became lodged in Weeks' hair extensions as the two spun by each other. When the other dancer pulled her foot away, a portion of both Weeks' extensions and her natural hair went with it. When the rest of the group saw what had happened, they burst into laughter. No one asked if Weeks was all right. "The fact that I was wearing extensions - I don't know, it's just something they weren't used to," Weeks said. 'They were laughing at me and I was like, 'Wait, I actu - ally could have gotten hurt - no one hair much before and that except for maybe the one other Black student on the team, no one knew how to react. For the first part of the year, Weeks said she tried to avoid the other Black student in the class, stay - ing as far away from her as possible so her professors wouldn't mix them up. Despite her efforts, Weeks said she frequently was confused for the other girl. "This girl looks nothing like me. I wear braids; she has long, straight hair; my complexion is much darker than hers; our structure is way dif - ferent; our personalities are dif - ferent; so how could you always be calling me her name?" Weeks' experience on the dance team is emblematic of the many chal - lenges Black students at the Univer - sity face in clashing cultures with students who are not of the same background. These exchanges often or prejudice, and many times Black students attribute these incidents to misinformation or lack of under - standing. Still, many Black students are left wondering if race was an influencing factor in these encounters. Engineering senior Frankie Reed is the president of the University's National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). However, Reed said many of his peers assume he is an athlete rather than a scholar. "1 get it so much that I just tell them, 'No, I'm an electrical engi - neer,'and I guess that kind of off-sets that thought like, 'Oh, wow, real - ly?'" he said. "It just happens so much that I handle it and get through it." Like many other Black students, Reed has expe- rienced other street. At times, it is difficult to wear a hoodie without feeling like he's being viewed as a threat. For each crime alert that includes a Black male as suspect, Reed explained that essentially any Black male on campus could be target- ed. When campus crime alerts are released with a Black male described as a suspect, there is an inherent anxiety with reading "afro or bald," in the criminal description, he said. "I got pulled aside by DPS inside the cafeteria and they said, 'You fit the description of blah, blah, blah, where were you at such and such time,' and I had to explain to them,'I was in the cafeteria the whole time,'" he said. As a part of the minority, many ceived stereotypes or give further reason for discrimination. "When was the last time you were in a class and someone said, 'Why do white people do this?'" he asked. "It's pressure to make sure you're articu - late when you speak so you sound intelligent and people don't think you're an idiot." These encounters weigh heavily on many Black students. What's even more frustrating for the Black com - munity is that these incidents are not always explicitly racist or intolerant. Thus, for many students, the never ending question remains: "Would it be different if I wasn't Black?" Bait and switch The first sentence of the 'Prospec - tive Student' section on the Uni - versity's main website reads: "Welcome to an amazing place filled with unparalleled opportunities, interesting and engaged minds, and a richly diverse campus community." On the site, the University highlights the wide variety of students "from 50 states, 127 countries - nearly 1,500 interna - tional students - a campus com- prised of multiple races, cultures, languages, religions, and perspec - tives, where intellectual and cultural interaction happen." Additionally, the photographs on the page feature many students of color, a representation many see as disproportionate to the student body's actual demographics. Many Black students who are now at the University said when they saw these pictures and read these descriptions, they were under the impression that the school was a melting pot of cul - tures, a comfortable, inclusive racial environment. This is not the case. "When I chose the college I was thinking, 'Oh, there's going to be so much diversity, there are people from all around the world,' and when I got here it was something that was completely different," said LSA freshman Dezha Dial. Dial said she has already seen the interracial tension that comes with being a Black student. She's been called the n-word. She had a white roommate who tr dorm rooms because, from understood, she took iss with a Black woman. Dial only place she trulyfeels sa campus is alone in her room. "I don't feel like I should hate it here. I chose this school for a reason. I came here to get an education but I also came here for an amazing experience," Dial said. "College is supposed to shape you educationally but also socially and there is something socially that is lacking here." The problems persist across campus and into the city of Ann Arbor itself. Following a football- Saturday this past fall, a group of high school students was on a scaven- ger hunt in Ann Arbor. The group was from the Neu- tral Zone's Students Educating Each other about Diversity (S.E.E.D.) program - a student grot ed to discussing and lead sity education workshops. The group was walkinc the crowded streets as1 exiting the stadium ant downtown. At the corne Street and East Liberty S high school students cam small group of University One of them held up a bl of a Black woman, which I had brought along as his' men were making obsce gestures toward the doll, and confusing the S.E.E members. The S.E.E.D. group ap the University students a them why they had the dol responded with jokes a ter. Why the rushers had t ansferred all was not made apparent, but the he knows how easy it can be to dis - school is, and has watched as the what Dial impact on the S.E.E.D. group was miss race, and that often many white Black community has been forced , sue living painful. students find ways to overlook their into itself, with its members having said the "My whole group just stopped and own impact. nowhere else to go. fe now on we got closer ... when I saw (them), 'This gives another kind of play - "I feel like most of the times you are pushed away, pushed toward each other and you sort of cling to each other as sort of a way of sur- vival, a way of showing soli-,... darity," Col - tier said. Black stu - dents are frequently made to feel like outsiders both inside and outside of the class- room. During group work, Black Stu --...a dents often face difficulty having their ideas taken ALLISON FARRAND Daily seriously by Kinesiology sophomore Capri'Nara Kendall ina protest organized by the Black Student Union in front of Hill Auditorium on Janu their peers. ary 20th. Classmates often assume there was a physical, ing card like, 'I go to a diverse Uni - Black students were admitted to 'Really? Is this really versity, therefore I cannot possibly the University through affirmative happening right now? Am be racist.'ButI think that it's away to action initiatives, despite the fact up dedicat- I seeing what I'm seeing?" said Leo deflect and a way to not actually deal that such programs were banned by ling diver - Thornton, a member of the S.E.E.D. with these things that are inherently a popular statewide referendum in group. inside of us because we were brought 2006. g through S.E.E.D. Leadership Coordinator up," Frey said. "I've seen that and Collier noted that on a social level, fans were Danny Brown, an alumnus of the experienced that a lot on U of M's it is very disheartening to be a Black d heading University, said many of the students campus." student at the University. There are r of State were overcome by the incident, with often smallervenues for social events treet, the some breaking into tears. Brown said Black or Blue than other students get to use, Black ie across a that the significance of the blowup studentsareusuallyoutnumbered on students. doll was likely overlooked by the At a University where Blacks com - game day or other major University ow-up doll young men, who didn't have to think prise 4.65 percent of the undergrad - events, and rarely feel welcomed or he said he about the racial intent and power uate population, interacting with comfortable going to fraternity par - date." The they were carrying. those outside of one's demographic ties. ne, sexual "They're giving this message can be difficult. Collier told a story he had heard shocking that's saying: 'Women of color, you "It's a salad bowl," said LSA senior from a staff member of the football .D group are not people.You're objects and the Tyrell Collier. "It's not a melting team talking to a player after a big fact that we're dehumanizing you is pot." win: proached not only not serious, not only not a Collier is the speaker of the Black "She asked him, 'Did you go out nd asked concern to us, but it's funny,'" he said. Student Union and president of and party after the game?' And he 1. The men William Frey, another S.E.E.D. EnspiRED, a fashion organization was like, 'No!' She said, 'Why?' and nd laugh - staff member and University gradu - on campus. As a senior, Collier said he said, 'Because there's no place for he doll at ate student, said that as a white male, he has seen how racially divided the Black people to go.' She said, 'You Black Aq''students say they feel a responsibility to serve as a representative for the larger Black com - munity. This occurs both within the class - room, with professors sometimes tokeniz - ing students to speak for an entire race, and outside the classroom, with Black students feeling scrutinized by their peers, including students that have no experience with Black culture or Black people at all. ALLISON FARRAND/ Daily Jeremy Tyler, a fifth- Students participate ina protest organized by the Black Student Union in front of Hill Auditoriumon on January 20th. year senior and member of the cheerleading team, wants their hair pulled out.'" involve an awkward question, quick racially charged incidents. He said he feels like he can't make any Weeks said she doubted most of assumption or off-color statement. described how frightened pedes - mistakes in school. He doesn't want her team had been exposed to Black Rarely are the cases of overt racism trians sometimes avoid him on the to reinforce or confirm any precon -