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The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, April 3, 19915
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By Matthew Hoyt
Staff Writer
Since the end of the civil rights
- movement in the late 1960s, racism has
taken on a new guise.
Ku Klux Klan rallies, racial slurs and
defaced posters still abound, but most
of today's prejudice is subtle, even un
seen, by many not looking for it. Insti
tutionalized racism is the racist practices,
- policies and customs on all levels of
- society, from the business world to el
ementary schools, said Zenobia Hatcher
Wilson, director of the Campus Y.
"People in the '90s know better than
to practice racism in obvious ways. Now
it is more subtle and unconscious," said
( Laura Anderson, minister of information
for the Black Student Movement.
Hatcher-Wilson said that while insti
tutionalized racism was found in almost
all areas of society, it was most common
. on the scholastic and professional lev
els, where minority leaders were few
, ..and far between.
v "The heads of most schools and
, businesses represent the majority," she
.said.
Anderson agreed. "People who make
the decisions in these areas are still
. mostly white males," she said.
r, Institutionalized racism in the public
school system usually takes form in the
' curriculum and school activities that
are geared toward whites and leave little
.room for minority involvement,
Hatcher-Wilson said.
"There is a lack of attention in the
classroom given to contributions by
" minority groups, and there are few op
' - portunities for people to participate
equally in extracurricular activities."
Anderson said the biggest problem
Asians want more awareness,
understanding
By Colleen Rodite
Staff Writer
Asian students are all science or math
majors. True or false?
Many Asian students gravitate to
ward these subjects because they feel
insecure with the English language and
secure with the job market in those
fields, said Eric Henry, faculty adviser
for the Asian Students Association.
"Technology has a universal lan
guage. Asians feel more secure with
science and math because everything is
equal," Henry said. " But, even though
this stereotype may exist, I have found
that most second- and third-generation
Asian students are not bothered by
racism and really don't think about it."
Sunil Malkani, president of
SANG AM, an Asian-Indian association,
said the majority of Asian-Indians did
tend to major in science or math.
"However, we are becoming more
diversified,"he said. "There isagrowing
and upcoming trend to enter different
fields of study. More Asians are ma
joring in other things such as pre-law."
Malkani said he had never experi
enced prej udice personally. He said most
prejudice occurred against non-English
speaking Asian-Indians.
"I think that some Asian-Indians that
come directly from India do feel some
prejudice," he said. "A lot of it is because
they just don't understand English very
well. SANGAM's goal is to help to stop
these negative feelings by promoting
Asian-Indian awareness."
Kaisong Fu, a third-year public health
student from China and a member of the
Friendship Association of Chinese Stu
dents, said most people expected Asians
to excel in science and math and to be
hardworking.
"But now things are progressing dif
ferently," Fu said. "With more and more
Asians coming to the campuses, people
are recognizing that we are just normal
students with personalities and emotions
just like others."
Fu said prejudice came from a mis
understanding of different cultures.
"There is still a boundary between us
and others because of the different
backgrounds that exist."
It will take time and education for
society to culturally accept Asians, Fu
said. "The community is becoming
multi-cultural now, and the new gen
eration should be prepared.
"Education systems should help stu
dents learn how to relate to racial rela
tionships. UNC needs to educate stu
dents more so that they will be able to
adjust to other cultures better," he said.
Eugene Lao, former president of the
Asian Students Association, said he was
aware of prejudice more when a group
of Asians congregated togetherThis
usually brings about a lot of stares."
Lao also said UNC did not actively
see Asians as a minority because there
were not many minority programs that
included them. The University does not
cater to Asian needs, he said.
"This is why we have created the
Asian Students Association," Lao said.
in the lower schools was tracking, the
practice where minorities were inten
tionally steered toward certain classes
because teachers assumed they could
not handle the upper-level courses re
quired for a higher education.
"Counselors tell blacks to go to vo
cational schools. They are not told about
the college route," she said.
The same problems appear on the
university level. Anderson said the
curriculum at UNC ignored many im
portant contributions by African
Americans in history and literature.
"You have to pick a specific course
here to learn about African-American
contributions," she said.
Rosalind Fuse-Hall, associate dean
of the College of Arts and Sciences,
said the absence of black contributors
hurt minority students.
"Professors are not showing them
any role models," she said.
Many blacks agreed that problems
also existed in the University's admis
sions process and financial aid.
"Many applicants (for financial aid)
fall in a gray area. They can pay for
college on paper, but not practically,"
Fuse-Hall said.
Anderson said she would like to see
a change in present policy. "I would
love to see financial aid expanded."
Fuse-Hall also said that admissions,
specifically SATs, were unfavorable
toward minority applicants.
"SATs are unduly biased," she said.
John Pope, a member of the Board of
Trustees who recently called for a
change in UNC's admissions process
by basing an applicant's candidacy
solely on his or her SAT scores, said he
thought the standardized test was com
pletely fair.
of their culture
"When we see the University overlook
ing Asians, we tackle the problem.
However, Asians are a quiet minority
and we don't search every nook and
cranny for unfair situations. We try to
promote Asian awareness and to change
things as they develop. When this is
completed, racial problems will correct
themselves."
In response to a trend to favor white
students in the admissions process in
some west coast universities, Malkani
said, "The entire program is silly. The
best-qualified students should be ad
mitted whatever their race may be. This
program is going to hurt Asian students."
This practice allows more white
students to be admitted in place of the
abundance of qualified Asians.
Fu said this tendency developed out
of a fear of other cultures. "Much of this
type of discrimination occurs because
others see Asians as a threat."
Clarrissa Del Mundo, a freshman at
Duke University, said she had not felt
any prejudice against her because of
being Asian.
"Prejudice is not that bad at Duke,"
Del Mundo said. "Even though there
are a lot of Asian students here, the
different races are not afraid to mix with
other cultures."
A pre-law major, Del Mundo said
people were surprised when they dis
covered she was not a pre-med major.
Another misconception is that, be
cause of this hardworking, science
major stereotype put on many Asians,
employers are more likely to hire Asians.
"I think that some Asian
Indians that come directly from
India do feel some prejudice."
Sunil Malkani
President of SANGAM
Henry said Asians were not con
cerned with this stereotype when apply
ing for jobs, but in many cases, the
steroetype was true.
"Many Asians are truly organized
and persistent," Henry said. 'This is
what creates success in society."
There is also a concern that some
Asians have a disadvantage in the
workplace because they do not have the
same connections that white people
have.
Marsha Harris, director of Career
Planning and Placement at UNC, said
she had not seen any advantage or dis
advantage for Asians in the job market.
"I have not heard of one single case
where an Asian has reported that he or
she has felt discriminated against."
Fu said there was some discrimina
tion present in the job market and that
because Asians were a minority, they
must work harder at their careers.
"If Asians want to have an equal
position with white people," Fu said,
"then we have to work harder and with
more effort than average."
Sunil said he believed hiring practices
were equal. "If you're good enough,
someone will hire you."
"There is no proof that SATs are
racist at all. SAT scores are about the
only objective means we have to look at
applicants," Pope said.
The problems of institutionalized
racism on the professional level also
seem to center around the assumption
by some employers that minorities are
not as capable as whites, according to
many blacks.
"It is accepted practice that blacks
are put in a position in which they can't
move up," Hatcher-Wilson said.
Fuse-Hall said blacks could see op
portunities for advancement but were
unable to reach them.
"The glass ceiling is the reality of the
business world for blacks," she said.
Hatcher-Wilson said blacks were also
frequently given "pink collar" jobs,
positions created by employers that have
little purpose and easily could be cut if
necessary.
Marcia Harris, director of University
Career Planning and Placement Ser
vices, said the best way for minorities to
stay away from pink collar jobs was by
seeking a more technical education.
'They need to choose technical ma
jors and try to go into more strictly
technical positions that can't be easily
deleted," she said.
Harris said minorities were at a dis
advantage when entering the career field
because of their lack of connections.
"Minorities usually don't have as
many contacts through family and
friends as whites," she said.
A number of groups on campus have
tried to combat institutionalized racism
on the university level, but most shy
from outright protest.
"Protests and rallies become inef
fective when they happen once a week.
We would lose our credibility with the
students on campus and end up being
like lawyers chasing ambulances,"
Anderson said.
Instead, BSM fights racism through
a program of cultural awareness, expos-
UNC-CH student population
by racial breakdown
North Carolina population
by racial breakdown
UNC's total full-time faculty by race
J "' ' ' " -II- 'T.i I W -
ing students to African-American cul
ture through programs such as the gos
pel choir and The Black Ink, the news
paper sponsored by the BSM.
UN1TAS, a program started four
years ago to ease racial tensions, seeks
to make students aware of minority
cultures by putting them in the same
White 20,091
Black 2,060
Hispanic 201
Asian 631
American Indian 142
Non-resident aliens 727
DTH Graphic
White 5,800,491
gjj Black 1,456,323
American Indian 80,155
Q Asian 52,166
Other 31,502
DTH Graphic
O White 1981
Black 62
Other 91
DTH Graphic
environment. Students from different
ethnic and racial backgrounds live to
gether in Carmichael Residence Hall ,
sharing each other's experiences.
Eric Houck, a UNITAS leader, said
he did not consider UNITAS to be a
group of radicals. "We are not activists,
just people seeking a human approach
Low exposure creates
cultural
of Hispanic
By Eric Bolash
Staff Writer
Hispanic students and faculty are
unquestionably minorities at UNC.
Of the 23,000 students at the Uni
versity, 201 are Hispanic, and among
the 2,134 full-time faculty at the Uni
versity, 27 Hispanics hold positions.
But do they experience the same
discrimination as other minorities on
campus, such as African Americans or
Native Americans?
Seemingly not.
"I have felt very welcomed here,"
said Maria Elena Valenzuela, a visiting
professor from Chile. "Instead of racism
I have felt interest from students and
faculty to know more about Latin
America."
Valenzuela said she had not seen
examples of racism in her short visit as
a sociology instructor at UNC.
T ve seen a lot of interest from people
to know the real facts about Latin
America because there are a lot of ste
reotypes or myths about Latin-American
people," she said.
Alicia Rivero-Potter, adviser to the
UNC Hispanic Society and professor of
Portuguese and Spanish, said, "I haven't
myself experienced racism on campus.
And I have not been told by Hispanic
students whether or not they have ex
perienced any discrimination."
Rivero-Potter could only think of a
couple of places where Hispanics were
at a disadvantage. "Obviously there is a
small number of minority faculty, and I
would prefer to have a more represen
tative minority here on campus," she
said. "However, I know the University
is trying to work on this."
She also said, "There is discrimina
tion in the real world. He or she (Hispanic
graduates) might have that working
against them when they graduate, and
that's just being realistic; it's not that
that will necessarily be the case."
Senior Yadira Hurley proves that this
is not always the case. She has a
scholarship with the DuPont company
which she said she got because she was
a minority.
Hurley is a student from Mexico and
has been in the United States for four
years. One reason she said she had not
felt discriminated against was because
she had blonde hair and no real Spanish
accent.
"I really don't feel any racism because
people don't know I'm Hispanic," she
said. "I find it funny that people say,
'You're from Mexico and you have
blonde hair?'"
Hurley said aside from the fact that
she belonged to the Hispanic organiza
to combat racism."
While institutionalized racism is a
threat, many people feel optimistic about
the present quality of race relations.
"Things have gotten much better
since the '50s. In fact, comparatively,
things are wonderful today," Anderson
said.
misconceptions
community
tion CHISPA (Carolina Hispanic Asso
ciation), life for her as a Hispanic on
campus was no different from other
students.
She also said the other Hispanic stu
dents in CHISPA had not told her they
were bothered by discrimination either.
Hurley said CHISPA concentrated
on creating public cultural awareness of
Hispanics since they will be the biggest
minority by the year 2000. They try to
deal with some of the stereotypes that
Hurley spoke of, such as the fact that
Hispanics are just black-haired, dark
skinned people. She said there are His
panic students in CHISPA that are black
or have blonde hair and blue eyes.
Rivero-Potter said she had also seen
a lot of misconceptions about Hispanics
in general.
"I teach a civilization course, and I
have to debunk a lot of stereotypes that
people have about Latin America," she
said. "I think very often it's a case of
students not having been exposed to
various groups of people. I would say
that culturally the exposure one has in
this area (Chapel Hil 1) to different groups
is limited, and this can foster stereotypi
cal perceptions."
Rivero-Potter said once students were
exposed to other cultures and world
views they were usually receptive to
them.
Concerning these stereotypes,
Rivero-Potter said, "If one thinks of the
political situation in Latin America,
students think all the governments are
unstable and revolutionary."
She said countries like Costa Rica
and Mexico were examples of Hispanic
countries that were democratic and not
revolutionary. And she said there were
countries that did have unstable gov
ernments, and students needed to learn
why these governments are unstable.
Valenzuela agreed saying, "There is
an image which is not always reality.
Latin America is not all the same. You
havedifferent realities among the coun
tries such as socialpolitical and eco
nomic realities."
Rivero-Potter had some suggestions
on how to eliminate these misconcep
tions. "On campus, I think students need to
take courses that teach non-Western
perspectives if they have not had the
possibility to travel. Ideally that should
begin earlier than college so that multi
cultural exposure should be part of the
general education of students."
She also said requiring students to
study a foreign language at UNC was a
good thing, but that it should be re
quired at an earlier level, such as in
grade school.