Digging Deeper… A look at Desegregation for Biracial Students
Growing up in a biracial household Miaje Hubbard, Taylor Schlopy, and Dmitri Pelaez are anything but the self described “black kid.”
Miaje Hubbard, a freshman at Tennessee State University a historically black college in Nashville, Tenn. talks about her eye- opening experiences as a freshman biracial student. One of the hardest aspects of being a biracial student is that “people don’t believe you’re black because you look white and act white.” She said dressing a certain way affects the way the rest of the students see you. “I dress ‘preppier’ than other girls at my school” and since “dressing a certain way is considered being black therefore I’m not black.”
Hubbard said at least once a day someone will tell her she’s not black.
“It’s hard because even things that I can’t help: like the darkness of my skin, or the softness of my hair affect the way the rest of the students see me.”
Dmitri Peleaz a junior transfer student at UGA talked of his first two years as a 3 sport athlete and Kappa Sai member at Tuskegee University. He said “it’s harder to fit in (at Tuskegee) because people see me and automatically notice I’m not full black.”
Taylor Schlopy, a senior softball star for UGA’s top ranked program said “most people don’t believe that I’m Black which is a little discouraging because I have to defend my ethnicity.”
Hubbard said most people don’t do it intentionally. It’s a subconscious act, a slight second where they judge you based on your appearance. I think social and economic standing also has a lot to do with what group you get categorized in, she said.
“Sadly most people assume if you’re white you have more money, therefore; it’s not just a racial division but also an economic division.”
A native of California, Schlopy said her time at Georgia has been interesting because being from Ca she never ran into people who were racist or didn’t like the idea of inter-racial couples and that “it’s heartbreaking to see that the world is still like that.”
In order to further the success of desegregation at home and in public Schlopy said, “In all honesty it comes down to how we’re raising our children and that needs to change across the entire world.”
In agreement with that statement, another California baby- Hubbard said, you see more issues with racism in the South but that ultimately it comes down to parenting. “If you put these ideas in your kids’ heads they will trickle down into the next generations.”
Peleaz said the issue goes as far to people in church. Races contrary to the accustomed race for that church are looked at differently, and he wishes “that people would be more open to different cultures.”
Regarding the institutional realm, Peleaz exposed a deeper issue with HBCU colleges as a whole. He said, although it’s neat to see other Blacks achieving, “finding a White, Asian, or Hespanic student on campus is like finding a four leaf clover.”
“This gives you a false vision of the world because you live, work and study with nothing but one race. But when you graduate and go into the real world you will be working with everybody.”
This factor makes it hard for HBCU colleges to prepare students for the real world. Compared to UGA, students have class with all different people and get an assortment of backgrounds and viewpoints.
Dmitri said segregating yourself to one race creates “an illusion of the world.”
Hubbard, Schlopy and Peleaz each expressed their own thoughts on how to better create a more desegregated campus and lifestyle.
The answer lied in two words: cultural sensitivity.
Based on their personal experiences, each gave their own definition of what those two words meant to them.
“Cultural sensitivity is seeing beyond what the eyes can see. It’s important because we must learn to look at what’s not in front of us. In order to do this we must accept other people’s culture’s and not be judgmental based on where they come from or their economic standing,” said Hubbard.
“Cultural sensitivity is not putting your own culture others them because every culture is different, and no culture is better than another. We can become more culturally sensitive by getting to know people before we pre-determine their personality. Don’t let the media decide someone’s personal traits before you even talk to them,” said Peleaz.
“Cultural sensitivity is respecting everyone’s individual culture. There shouldn’t be a set definition on what someone’s culture is. Who’s to say what I’m supposed to believe or act? We should let the world be. It’s a process of learning and trying not to judge,” said Schlopy.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of desegregation at the University of Georgia represents half a century of dedication to equality amongst its student body. Just as the university changed its policy 50 years ago, the world is changing daily as well. In order to further this successful desegregation campaign we must all fight for cultural sensitivity. There world isn’t divided by black and white. The grey area is no longer other. But the biracial world is emerging and we must learn to accept it and further more embrace it.
“I love that I am from two ethnicities. It is special to stand for something that a lot of people still don’t believe in the United States. Biracial people are making it and I want to give hope to younger generations and help show people who don’t believe that different races should come together that biracial people are beautiful and have so much to give to the world,” said Schlopy.
Miaje Hubbard is Black and White
Dmitri Peleaz is Colombian, Moroccan, and Black
Taylor Schlopy is Black and White
I think the story is really interesting, but I would maybe work on grouping the three different perspectives a little better than just running them down, one-after-the-other. Find some common themes from each and then pull quotes out to make them pop, maybe?
ReplyDelete