Ethnic Groups Come Together

Last night the Harvard Political Union, an outreach subgroup of the Institute of Politics, brought together the leaders of six other campus ethnic organizations to discuss and debate the state of race relations on Harvard’s campus.

For many audience members, the event was a rare coming together of the usually disparate segments of Harvard’s active ethnic communities to discuss one of the most controversial issues in public life. Among the groups represented were the student associations for Harvard’s black, Chinese, Asian American, South Asian and Latin American communities.

“Despite our campus being so diverse, a lot of students of the same ethnic backgrounds group together and don’t really mix as much as you’d think,” said HPU Chairman Shankar G. Ramaswamy ’11.

Aptly, last night’s discussion centered around the issues of “self-segregation” among ethnic groups on Harvard’s campus. The group quickly agreed that the “dining hall” phenomenon—or the persistence of clusters of white, black or Asian students all eating and socializing separately—was indeed a problem that needed to be addressed.

From there concrete solutions were difficult to come by, but audience members took turns relating experiences ranging from racial profiling to their experiences branching out to other ethnic groups.

Margaret C. Dang ’12 said that she often feels “uncomfortable” in her own ethnic group, particularly because she does not speak Chinese.

“I’ve been trying to find balance,” she told the audience. “I look for people who can accept me for being Asian American.”

But for many others in the room, ethic organizations provided a source of familiarity and comfort as they made the transition into college life.

“The fact that we’re treated the same based on skin color and being dehumanized can give us shared experiences to bond over,” said Michelle E. Crentsil ’10.

Recent events have also placed issues of race in the forefront of many student’s minds.

In March, the Chinese community was stunned to find racial slurs painted on the walls of the Lowell House Grille after a graffiti party sponsored by the Chinese Students Association. And this summer, African American Studies Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s arrest and the subsequent allegations of a racial motive catapulted race relations at Harvard to the front page of national newspapers for weeks.

Educational and Political Chair of the Chinese Student Association Bonnie Cao ’12 said that despite the March incident, the important event came afterward when the group organized a community rally, “Many Colors, One Harvard,” to draw attention to issues of race.

Cao added that she would like to see her organization and others moving forward with tonight’s discussion.

“I would like to see more co-sponsored events, more group to group conversations like tonight,” she said.

—Staff writer Beverly E. Pozuelos can be reached at pozuelos@fas.harvard.edu.