I found Ore’s analysis of race relations and symbolic ethnicities on college campuses quite compelling as it gave light to situations that I undoubtedly have experienced as well as many of the students in this class. Ore says that sometimes late at night, drunken groups of White students coming home from parties will yell at single Black students on the street. She goes on to explain that Black students do experience a tension and a feeling of being singled out and that it is unfair that this is part of their college experience and not that of White students. While reading this text, I thought to myself, yes, she is exactly right. I thought to myself, how could situations like these be so systemic within our Universities. As college students, we are afforded the opportunity to experience living, learning, and the exposure of culture from people of varying backgrounds. This type of situation may be representative of a so-called microcosm of the entire United States, as if a tiny group of students were plucked from varying regions of the US and all plopped down here at the U. Now, this may yield results in that these cultures will blend, learn from one another and coexist without any tensions or strife. Conversely, this tiny group or microcosm all plopped down here at the U, could also yield results in that, all the individuals from their differing regions also bring along their preconceived notions of race and this environment only perpetuates already established racial tensions that have been engrained, even before being exposed to different cultures. Unfortunately, for us, the latter exists. It exists because of the matrix of domination that Ore had touched on earlier. In our society, I have noticed that when wronged by someone, even something as trivial as talking too loud in a group setting, it is our immediate reaction to associate that wrongdoing with the person’s race. For example, “Freakin’ Asian cut me off,� its okay people, I am Asian. On the flip side, if a White person were to cut you off, you would just think they’re an idiot, which is due to them lacking noticeable physical characteristics. As bigoted as it sounds, I too, have caught myself participating in this unjust snapshot judgment. Which goes to say, that race is quite possibly the easiest way to attack and establish a sense of superiority.
As students, we all differ, in majors, races, age, etc. which all separate us into categories. It is these categories of difference, that superiority complexes are established. For example, in our society, one’s major is often an assessment of their intellectual capacity. In the Science Classroom Building commodes, I noticed someone had engraved “CLA Arts Major Degree Dispenser,� and it had an arrow pointing towards the toilet paper. In situations such as these, a degree say in Microbiology is seen as more “intelligible� than that of a Liberal Arts degree. Who’s to say which is more important, I am not here to judge, but I do believe that this just serves as another wedge to further complicate our matrix of domination.
Ore also explains, that you can see Black students coming together on campus as both an “ethnic� pull of wanting to be together to share common experiences and community, and a “racial� push of banding together defensively because of perceived rejection and tension from Whites. I believe that Ore is absolutely correct in these assumptions about race. Although Blacks are being singled out for some reason, this notion of assimilation and disbanding is universal to any minority. Therefore, when these groups are seen on campus, stereotypes and assumptions about them are only reinforced. For minorities, it is a constant struggle between being accepted by Whites, but not appearing to betray your ethnic roots. At the same time, we struggle with the assimilation of our race, but must not completely remove ourselves from other cultures by simply excluding anyone who is not of our race.