# College Students Seek New Roommate (And Specify Skin Color) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 12, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546 "2016-08-12T11:29:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/1 "2016-08-12T11:29:23Z")
> [@](#): > > In most respects, the roommate-wanted notice seemed routine. Three students at the Claremont colleges in Southern California were looking for a fourth this summer to join them in an off-campus house. They added a caveat in parentheses… That caveat was that the race of the candidate for roommate was critical. And when a classmate challenged that condition, the student who posted the notice on Facebook pushed back. “It’s exclusive [because] I don’t want to live with any …” (people of that race) the advertising student wrote. (A) Nothing wrong with that (B) Terrible (C) I need to know what race the roommates were and what race they were excluding before I decide [Here’s the story.](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/debate-flares-after-black-college-students-seek-a-non-white-roommate/ar-BBvwxHz?li=BBnbfcL) And the unexpurgated quote: > [@](#): > > “It’s exclusive [because] I don’t want to live with any white folks,” wrote Karé Ureña, who is black. > . > . > . > Another [student] wrote: “White people have cause[d] so much trauma on these campuses … why in the world would I want to bring that into my home? A place that is supposed to be safe for me?” My own view is that I would be supportive of enforcing a color-blind restriction that requires all applicants to a roommate living situation be treated equally, and I would be understanding of a hands-off policy that left the decision in the hands of the roommates. But I would not support a decision that varied based on race. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/2 "2016-08-12T11:48:21Z")
> [@](#): > > My own view is that I would be supportive of enforcing a color-blind restriction that requires all applicants to a roommate living situation be treated equally… I would certainly support and push for this for on-campus housing, or other similar situations where the university itself is involved. And I would have no objection if a private landlord made the same condition. But to enforce it against roommates themselves putting up a classified ad or posting would, I think, be a worse offense than the one it’s trying to remedy. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/3 "2016-08-12T12:23:25Z")
This person clearly doesn’t know how to discriminate ‘properly.’ You put out a race-neutral request while dismissing all those applicants who don’t ‘fit.’ Openness about racial discrimination invites open criticism and judgement. What race-discriminator wants to deal with that? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/4 "2016-08-12T12:24:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would certainly support and push for this for on-campus housing, or other similar situations where the university itself is involved. And I would have no objection if a private landlord made the same condition. But to enforce it against roommates themselves putting up a classified ad or posting would, I think, be a worse offense than the one it’s trying to remedy. My best guess is it’s not university housing: > [@](#): > > Three students at the Claremont colleges in Southern California were looking for a fourth this summer to join them in an off-campus house. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/5 "2016-08-12T12:39:19Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > This person clearly doesn’t know how to discriminate ‘properly.’ You put out a race-neutral request while dismissing all those applicants who don’t ‘fit.’ Wouldn’t that still be illegal? And, yes, it’s possible to prove a lessor is “pulling a fast one to get around the law”. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/6 "2016-08-12T12:40:30Z")
Sounds about right. Apparently being “safe” means living in a bubble world where you don’t have to encounter anyone different from you. Meanwhile thousands of students across the country get stuck in a dorm room based on random picks and somehow they manage to live with it. And, of course, if a white student said “no blacks, because I want a safe space and black people are all thugs…” there would be a goddamned riot. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/7 "2016-08-12T12:43:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would certainly support and push for this for on-campus housing, or other similar situations where the university itself is involved. And I would have no objection if a private landlord made the same condition. But to enforce it against roommates themselves putting up a classified ad or posting would, I think, be a worse offense than the one it’s trying to remedy. I agree, with the caveat that I don’t think private landlords themselves should be (or indeed are) allowed to discriminate on racial grounds with regard to whom they rent. That said, even though I believe individuals negotiating a common living agreement have the right to be more selective than legal restrictions would normally allow, I maintain Ms. Ureña’s position is entirely irrational. “We live in a world where the living circumstances of POC are grounded in racist social structures that we can not opt out of. These conditions threaten the minds, bodies and souls of people of color both within and without the realms of higher education. We are fighting to exist.” So…you think that a white person - _any_ white person - living with you will somehow threaten your very existence? That’s…an interesting viewpoint. Fucking college students… all the sense of self-importance, none of the perspective. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/8 "2016-08-12T13:01:25Z")
I don’t see why they just can’t put up an ad without the mention of race and invite prospective roommates to come over for a visit. They might find that some people the ordinarily wouldn’t consider might work out just fine. In any event, if they get to choose among say five finalists, they can pick whoever they want and nobody could prove it was discriminatory. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/9 "2016-08-12T13:17:03Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Wouldn’t that still be illegal? And, yes, it’s possible to prove a lessor is “pulling a fast one to get around the law”. How would you prove it? If a lessor interviewed several people, white, black, Asian, and then chose, let’s say, a white guy, how could you show he was racist, unless he’d made statements to that effect? You clearly couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/10 "2016-08-12T13:21:12Z")
It’s blatant racism. The school shouldn’t tolerate it at all. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/11 "2016-08-12T13:23:13Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > That caveat was that the race of the candidate for roommate was critical. And when a classmate challenged that condition, the student who posted the notice on Facebook pushed back. “It’s exclusive [because] I don’t want to live with any …” (people of that race) the advertising student wrote. > > (A) Nothing wrong with that > (B) Terrible > (C) I need to know what race the roommates were and what race they were excluding before I decide > > [Here’s the story.](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/debate-flares-after-black-college-students-seek-a-non-white-roommate/ar-BBvwxHz?li=BBnbfcL) > > And the unexpurgated quote: > > My own view is that I would be supportive of enforcing a color-blind restriction that requires all applicants to a roommate living situation be treated equally, and I would be understanding of a hands-off policy that left the decision in the hands of the roommates. But I would not support a decision that varied based on race. It’s obviously discriminatory/bigoted and the one seeking a roommate may be a vile racist. But so what? People should be free to associate, form clubs, or live with whomever they wish assuming mutual agreement. This isn’t a landlord refusing to rent situation. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/12 "2016-08-12T13:31:19Z")
I’m against the government getting involved in any kind of private association. Since the girls aren’t making money on it I don’t have too much of a problem with the doing what they want. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/13 "2016-08-12T13:36:15Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I agree, with the caveat that I don’t think private landlords themselves should be (or indeed are) allowed to discriminate on racial grounds with regard to whom they rent. That’s true of larger apartment complexes. However, I’m pretty sure landlords are allowed to discriminate based on race or anything else in a building which has 4 units or less and in which they themselves live. (And some other exemptions.) See e.g. [http://civilrights.findlaw.com/discrimination/housing-discrimination-faqs.html](http://civilrights.findlaw.com/discrimination/housing-discrimination-faqs.html) I would think these people are on safe ground, legally. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/14 "2016-08-12T13:43:52Z")
I think others have covered the legal aspects – it seems to be legal for roommates to discriminate, by gender or race or other characteristics, and that seems entirely reasonable to me. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/15 "2016-08-12T13:59:56Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think others have covered the legal aspects – it seems to be legal for roommates to discriminate, by gender or race or other characteristics, and that seems entirely reasonable to me. Do you think the woman should be sanctioned by her school for writing and acting in such a bigoted way? Isn’t there precedent for universities to intervene and punish such speech? If she were employed wouldn’t this be grounds for her termination? Speech has consequences even if it is legal. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/16 "2016-08-12T14:13:31Z")
I read an interesting article a while back by Jonathan Haidt which theorised that many of these hypersensitive college SJWs were manifesting several clear signs of the sorts of cognitive bias that cognitive behavioural therapists are trained to help patients correct. The little asshole in the OP seems to be as clear an example as any. Off the top of my head I can see: 1. Catastrophising - “My existence is threatened”. 2. Fortune- telling - “I can predict with certainty how a white roommate would view me and act towards me.” 3. Over-generalisation - Duh. 4. Overestimating danger - “How can I feel safe with a white person in my house?” I’m sure a trained therapist would be able to spot more. She’s clearly a racist and may well have some kind of pervasive anxiety disorder. I don’t see why she’s worth discussing beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/17 "2016-08-12T14:19:58Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I would think these people are on safe ground, legally. Except there’s more than just federal law in play. It looks like a violation of state law although ANAL let alone a CA lawyer. [CA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 12955-12956.2](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=12001-13000&file=12955-12956.2) > [@](#): > > 1. It shall be unlawful: > _bits snipped_ > (c) For any person to make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a housing accommodation that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender > expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, disability, or genetic information or an intention to make that preference, limitation, or discrimination. > _more snipping_ > (i) For any person or other organization or entity whose business > involves real estate-related transactions to discriminate against any > person in making available a transaction, or in the terms and > conditions of a transaction, because of race, color, religion, sex, > gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, > marital status, national origin, ancestry, source of income, familial > status, disability, or genetic information. > _snippity do da_ > (k) To otherwise make unavailable or deny a dwelling based on > discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender > identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, familial status, > source of income, disability, genetic information, or national > origin. The ad itself looks blatantly illegal. Section (i) is questionable for someone subleasing a room (is is any person or any person whose business…?) Still Section (k) seems to apply to the actual renting even if the other points above it are not triggered. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/18 "2016-08-12T15:13:05Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think others have covered the legal aspects – it seems to be legal for roommates to discriminate, by gender or race or other characteristics, and that seems entirely reasonable to me. Legal isn’t necessarily right. As someone already pointed out, if white students specified, “No blacks,” there’d be furor. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/19 "2016-08-12T16:08:18Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Legal isn’t necessarily right. > > As someone already pointed out, if white students specified, “No blacks,” there’d be furor. I didn’t say that it was right, though I think it should be legal. As to whether it’s right or not for this person, I don’t know. I wouldn’t presume to put myself in her shoes. I wouldn’t do it, but that might be my privilege speaking. History matters, and I don’t believe that an individual from a historically (and currently) oppressed minority wanting to live with another minority is the same thing as a white person wanting to live with another white person. But both circumstances are and should be legal. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546/20 "2016-08-12T16:10:08Z")
I think it is quite racist, myself. Would she be fine with a white person doing the same thing? If not, then she is also a hypocrite. It isn’t something I’m going to get too worked up about, though… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-students-seek-new-roommate-and-specify-skin-color/762546.md?page=2)