The end of self-segregation?

I’ve never liked self-segregation. When my parents went to parties they would seek out the black attendees and they would link on to each other, as though any minute someone would try to force them out and they’d have to fight for their right to stay. When we moved to a new city we’d meet all kinds of people that were kind and hospitable, but we wouldn’t go to anyone’s house for dinner. Unless of course we met nice black family. Then we’d drive an hour for dinner every week.

That’s why I never considered joining any of the African American student organizations during undergrad. Our grandparents, parents, and elder siblings spent decades trying to change society so that we don’ t have to be identified by race. Why choose it?

Aside from that, it seems inherently unfair that every group on a college campus except American whites can have their own organization. The administration at Mount Holyoke College, in Massachusetts, has taken a step – however small – toward changing that.

Mount Holyoke College, which has for many years had a voluntary program for minority students in advance of the general orientation, plans this year to start a special section at the same time, also voluntary, for white students from the United States. (There is also a mandatory pre-orientation for international students.)

While this is not the step I would choose(I would prefer eliminating the minority orientation groups), it is the first time I’ve heard of an administration responding to criticism that their multicultural programs segregate students. That’s positive.

Unfortunately, it seems to be just another opportunity for “victims” to vent on their “oppressors”.

While Braun said specific plans are still being developed, she envisions that the first day of the program would have the groups in separate sessions, “exploring their own racial identity and thinking about power and privilege.”

That means the black students will get to blame a big group of white 19-year-olds for evils and oppressions they had nothing to do with, and the only acceptable response will be silence or self-flaggellation(figuratively speaking, of course).

When are we going to stop promoting these “dialogues” and organized groups for minorities, which just put a politically correct stamp on one type of racism while (rightfully) condemning another?