蜜桃直播

Racially charged incidents in the United States often elicit calls for a 鈥渘ational conversation鈥� on race. After the killing of Trayvon Martin or the controversial arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, politicians and pundits bemoaned the lack of substantive discourse on the color barriers that divide us.

Aside from cable T.V. shouting matches or angry online invective, do these discussions occur in any formal setting? 蜜桃直播 has a Dialogue Development Group where civil, thoughtful racial discussions do take place.

Mohammed Abu-Nimer, who teaches in the International Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) program at the School of International Service, played an integral role in establishing the dialogue program at AU.

The Dialogue Development Group is now housed in the Center for Diversity & Inclusion (CDI), part of the Office of Campus Life. IPCR closely collaborates with CDI on the program. DDG includes discussions on race, gender, civil-military relations, and other topics.

鈥淓specially with young people, I think they鈥檙e really willing to go there and talk about it,鈥� said Tracey Livingston, program coordinator for CDI. 鈥淭he dialogue is a release.鈥�

Undergraduate and graduate students, as well as alumni, gathered in late November for a DDG discussion. These participants had previously been involved with DDG, and they reflected on those earlier conversations throughout the session.

To provide some anonymity for the participants, only first names will be used in this story. Abu-Nimer moderated the forum.

DDG鈥檚 Impact

Early on, Abu-Nimer asked the participants to explain how they were influenced by their past involvement with DDG.

鈥淚 was in a room and I was with people who were going to ask me questions. And I knew I wasn鈥檛 going to be able to leave or walk away. Or just avoid the conversation as a whole. So it definitely helped me work through explaining my identity,鈥� Shannon said.

鈥淚鈥檓 half-white and I鈥檓 half-black鈥efore the dialogue, I didn鈥檛 spend as much time thinking about the other Americans,鈥� said Heather. 鈥淭here are people coming here all the time, and that updates what America鈥檚 story looks like. So it was interesting to hear more voices on the topic.鈥�

Ian said he鈥檚 already more outraged by racial animus. As he reads about racism in the news, he now has a more visceral reaction.

鈥淚 found myself identifying with them on a more personal level than I had before. So it wasn鈥檛 just offending my pluralist sensibilities. I found it more personally offensive than that,鈥� he said.

Exploring Identity

Participants weren鈥檛 afraid to examine their own racial and ethnic identities. It evoked a range of emotions, enabling people to confront how they鈥檙e perceived by the outside world.

鈥淚 grew up in South Texas, where everyone I knew was Mexican and everyone spoke Spanish and English,鈥� said Claudia. 鈥淚t was very eye opening when people would ask you, 鈥榃hat are you? Where are you from?鈥� And I would say Texas, and they would say 鈥楴o, no, no, where are you really from?鈥� And I would say I was born in Mexico. But do I really have to say that to you? I kept thinking, 鈥榃hy do you get to decide who I am? I get to decide that.鈥欌��

Several students discussed being a minority in the classroom or other settings. 鈥淚 know that most of the time I am probably the only black person in the class. I know I don鈥檛 speak up a lot because I don鈥檛 feel like defending myself and my opinion,鈥� said Rachel.

In addition, some white participants contemplated their own identity, even if it鈥檚 one of privilege. 鈥淧eople ask, 鈥榃hat are you?鈥� I can only surprise people by saying I鈥檓 from Iowa. You know, the label is already put on me as a white female,鈥� said Courtney.

A component of this dialogue is empathizing with other people鈥檚 plight. Courtney said she鈥檚 learned more about 鈥渄riving while black鈥� and law enforcement clashes with minority populations.听

Professor Abu-Nimer then followed up with a question. 鈥淗ow do you explain now that you did not hear about this before?鈥�

鈥淚 think it comes from where I grew up. It was a predominately white neighborhood. My undergraduate institution was white as well. So it鈥檚 kind of coming to this university where you have a more diverse makeup,鈥� Courtney said.

Fighting Stereotypes

But exploring identity can lead to uglier stereotypes. The participants explained how they鈥檝e had to fend off discrimination and prejudice over the years. Sometimes it鈥檚 overt, but on other occasions it鈥檚 more subtle.

Claudia explained how one of her peers thought her hometown of Brownsville was just a nickname, given its sizable Mexican-American population. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楴o, that鈥檚 actually the real name of it, we don鈥檛 call each other brown people,鈥欌�� she recalled.

Growing up biracial, Heather said people didn鈥檛 always censor themselves around her. 鈥淢ost people thought I was white. So I heard the most horrible things said about the people who would have been my family,鈥� Heather explained. 鈥淎nd then you have to make a choice about 鈥楧o I reveal that I鈥檓 biracial and have a conversation? Or do I just go home and cry?鈥欌��

Towards a Post-Racial Nation

Some participants have experienced less outright racism. 鈥淚鈥檝e never had problems. Even if someone was trying to be racial and disrespectful towards me, I don鈥檛 pick up on it,鈥� said Ibrahim, who is black and originally from Somalia.

Yet Ibrahim discovered that American-born blacks have other racial sensitivities. 鈥淚 do censor myself around African-Americans,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 asked a friend once about slavery. I said, 鈥楬ey, why is it such a big deal to you guys? Why are you guys always talking about it?鈥� And my friend was extremely offended. He was very angry鈥攈e told me so, too.鈥�

One thing was clear from the dialogue. These students had vastly different backgrounds鈥攔acial, ethnic, and geographic. Yet despite where they come from, they鈥檙e all hoping to arrive at the same place: a nation where racism is a relic of the past.

Describing a previous discussion, Shannon expressed frustration that some students鈥� families discouraged interracial marriage.

鈥淚 remember sitting there thinking, 鈥業 am a product of this.鈥� If my parents did not get married鈥 wouldn鈥檛 be here and I wouldn鈥檛 exist,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 am from one of those families where my parents would frown, and be very, very upset, if I married outside of my own culture, out of my own Indian identity,鈥� Eesha later said.

However, Eesha added that she disagrees with this belief system: 鈥淲hat if I do marry someone who鈥檚 not Indian? I don鈥檛 see that as a problem. I see that as a good thing. Maybe something new will come out of it.鈥�