Creating an (In)clusive Environment of Racial Realities on Campus (ISCORE)

At the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity on March 6th, 2009, I attended a session called Creating an (In)clusive environment of racial realities on campus. At the beginning of the session, the speakers were walking around and talking to people. However, after they started their demonstration, I realized that the speakers were only talking to people wearing glasses, all other people were not included. Prior to their presentation, I was not even aware that people without glasses were being discriminated against, but now I am able to see that many times, it is not obvious that people are being discriminated against, either because of their skin, religion, or even appearance. These things are happening everyday in our world, but what can we do to make all people, no matter what skin color, feel included? Reginald Blockett and Brittany Johnson, second year masters candidates, informed me about a few tips to help make our world more accepting of diversity and the different types of racism that occur daily.

The first type was racial micro-aggressions, which consisted of subtle insults to those of color. For example, often times people will say, "You're not like all those blacks." This phrase subtly insults blacks in general. Though it is not obvious, it is still racism! The second type of racism was "color-blind" racism. "Color-blind" racism is when people do not pay attention to race, so patterns of social inequality result. These are just a few of the different types of racism, that are occurring daily.

As a diverse campus, it is important that all people feel equal, but how can we accomplish this goal? The easiest and most obvious way to accomplish this goal is to "treat people the way you want to be treated" or the golden rule. This means not saying things that would discriminate against any person. If all students on campus were not racist towards people of different ethnicities, then people of color would feel more included. Alls it takes is one person to make a person feel hurt. If we all respect one another, then no one will get hurt or offended. Some examples of how the university has made all types of diverse people feel welcome is by the creation of the multicultural center in the Memorial Union, learning communities, academic study halls, and even fraternities and sororities. Also there are several different organizations on campus that are aimed specifically to certain cultures of people. For example, one organization that pertains to black chemists and chemical engineers, is the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers or NOBCChE.

I believe that though racism is not as extreme as it was 100's of years ago, it is still a problem in the United States. I think we as a nation have made huge progress this year with the election of the first black president, or Barack Obama. However, there is still room for improvement. By treating everyone with respect no matter who they are and where they come from, we as nation can decrease the amount of racism in this world. We are all people and we all have feelings, whether are skin colors are the same or different, we still live in the same world . Why should one person not be granted the same respect as another person?