This is part two of a two-part Viewpoint. Part one appeared in yesterday's issue.
Racism is a system of advantage based on race that benefits the majority (white people) by disadvantaging the minority (people of color). For those of you who checked your Webster's dictionary or www.dictionary.com and came up with a different explanation, think about who is writing those dictionaries and you'll find that it's the same group of people who have written laws with the explicit purpose of oppressing and maintaining power over people of color in the United States. Some believe that people of color can be racist against one another while there are others who think that they cannot. Either way, only white people can benefit from racism.
Modern-day racism is the reason that we still need the culture houses and the special months for the populations of color. In a majority white country and on a majority white campus, these things alone create a space for underrepresented groups to have their voices heard. The same goes for the need for the Asian American Curriculum Transformation (AACT).
The lack of Asian American studies at Tufts is another example of the systemic racism that conceals itself as the norm. No, there may not be Irish American studies at Tufts, or at any other university for that matter. But the fact that Irish Americans are blended into the white category and therefore enjoy the privileges of extreme majority of the curriculum caters to white America proves the need for groups such as the AACT.
As far as the student of color organizations not opening up their events to the whole campus, well, that simply is not true. The most recent example is the Tufts Emerging Black Leaders Symposium on that took place on March 6 and March 7. If one person on Tufts' campus can claim to have not seen the flyer for this event at least once, I would be shocked. This event was so well-publicized throughout campus and beyond, that, come the weekend of the event, I was hopeful that the multitude of faces at the event would represent various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Instead, when I looked around Cabot Auditorium that Saturday, I saw very few of my white peers. Yes, there were quite a few white students who came at the end to hear the keynote speaker, Kwame Jackson, and that was wonderful. Is a celebrity what it takes to get white students at Tufts to attend an organization of color's event?
In a similar vein, at the beginning of every academic year, there is an activity fair on the campus center patio. This gives every student the opportunity to sign up to be on any organization's listserv and participate in that organization's activities and events. Is it the fault of organizations of color that the majority of white students simply choose not to sign up for the Pan-African Alliance, Asian Community at Tufts, Tufts Association of South Asians, etc.?
So why should white people care about racism? It obviously doesn't affect them. Wrong. Although racism directly and most significantly affects people of color, it also affects everyone else, regardless of race. Wouldn't the country be a better place if everyone had the same opportunities and options available to them? Race is oftentimes intrinsically linked to socioeconomic class. Wouldn't the struggling economy of the United States be much better off if people of color were given the same chance as whites so that they could receive a postsecondary education, become eligible for better-paying jobs, and positively contribute to the economy?
The majority of the white students reading this right now may be just as angry as they were when they read Alex Wessman's Viewpoint, "White People and Racism" (March 10), and that's perfectly fine. It's not every day that white people in this country wake up and discover that they are racist. But being racist does not necessarily make you a bad person. After all, we don't choose our race; we're born into it. But it is what we, people of all colors, do and the decisions that we make once we become cognizant of the system of racism that makes a difference.
Lauren R. White is a senior majoring in American studies.
