Taking a magnifying glass to an issue as touchy as race relations was definitely an intriguing experience. Here are some of the things I learned I didn’t really know before:
1. Students have a lot to say – While I’ve never been a big fan of the “bother random students in the Ferg” reporting game, the method worked for this topic because a lot of different people were ready to have their voices heard on the topic. This was especially true with the natural segregation story, which everyone seemed to have an opinion on (not necessarily a negative one; many students saw no reason to fight natural tendencies). It was definitely encouraging to see students actively interested and engaged in the topic.
2. Administrators don’t really have too much to say – Faculty and staff were open and available to talk, but it was very difficult to get perspectives from UA’s top brass on race. When I finally was able to get some responses, they weren’t quite as candid as I had hoped. Maybe it was just the fact that it was the end of the year or maybe I wasn’t aggressive enough, but I hoped to get a better understanding of the institutional perspective on race relations. Admittedly there is a Strategic Diversity Plan (who knew?) which I haven’t really had a chance to look at yet. Still, it’d be nice to hear the University’s stance straight from President Witt’s mouth on a lot of the issues we brought up.
3. The undercurrent is always there – There’s an underlying tension among races, especially between whites and blacks, that flares up during volatile circumstances, such as the KA Old South parade incident at the end of the year. It’s always interesting how quickly events like that can explode into headline news. It speaks to a continual unrest teeming just below the surface of our interactions.
4. People love reading about the Greek system – Our feature on the segregated Greek system was by far our most popular story. Makes sense on a campus with such an active Greek community, I guess. The history of attempts at integrating Greek life were what I found most interesting. It’s surprising that events that caused national media to descend to campus in 2001-2003 are now completely forgotten except for in the pages of The Crimson White (and now Changing Tides). I guess oral history only last four years here.
I hope we’ll be able to tackle the next topic with even more in-depth research and interesting student and faculty perspectives.
