Young “MAN”?
Are you unaware that Barnard is an all-female institution? There are now women at Columbia College, but there are still no men at Barnard.
So, Zoggie is a woman. Oops! Sorry, I forgot, she goes to Barnard, so she’s a womyn.
LOL…I don’t think I can continue without clearing up misperceptions right now. I’m not a guy, people…Barnard College is all female. So there’s absolutely no way I’m harboring any makeshift y chromosomes.
Anyway…yeah, I think it’s an outdated term, too. I’m starting to wonder if I should start the box-social thing myself.
I already am really used to all the multi-diversity thing. I’ve only been here a few months and I’m already nauseated by all the PC groups on campus exhorting people to join all sorts of ethnic alliances. I still think it’s stupid, but I think you have the right to form whatever kind of group you want. I know of one guy who as a joke tried to put up white culture club adverts, which I thought was pretty funny. It just feels really redundant, especially since we’re in New York City of all places. Yeah, there are non-white people around, I get it.
I just object to it when it comes from the administration. And yeah I guess it isn’t horrible, I just lost a lot of respect for them. I can tell you they’re going to have to do a lot of wooing to get me back. 
Plus it was so weird because, like I mentioned earlier, I don’t even consider myself “colored” or “ethnic.” I’m just…'y’know me. Hehe. Anyways. Maybe I can turn this “experience” into an article topic for the paper or something bemoaning the dehuminization of society.
Thanks, astorian.
How can excluding people based on their skin colour not be considered discrimination?
Maybe I’m going out on a limb, but I don’t think they’re inviting people of color because they feel they are superior to white people.
When I applied to college, under “ethnicity” I wrote “Irish/Choctaw,” because from my hodgepodge ancestry they’re the two that interest me the most. Now, if you look at me, I’m a whiteboy through and through: red hair, freckles, the whole bit. (My mother’s got some of the Choctaw look going, but that’s a different story). But the question wasn’t about my looks.
Anyway, I thought nothing more of it, until I started getting the newsletter from the Evergreen Students of Color Association, inviting me to their meetings. Honestly, it was more funny than anything else: it took me awhile to figure out why I was getting the newsletter.
Eventually they took me off their list. I’m guessing someone ratted me out :D.
Daniel
the fact that it was offering opportunities and internships, to me, reeks of affirmative action. and we all have our opinions on affirmative action, so i won’t bother with mine 
just be glad you’re where you are. as an aside, i attend a southern, public university - very NOT barnard. as PC as it tries to be, we still have the powerful indication that segregation is alive and well contained in two words: black greek. that’s right, there are the sororities and the black sororities, the fraternities and the black fraternities. i also went to a high school where there was mr. and miss WHS and mr. and miss ebony. everyone seems to think this is ok. argh.
Just in case the following wasn’t sarcasm I offer my response.
"What, precisely, does a Catholic Nigerian have in common with a Chinese atheist? What does a Pakistani Moslem have in common with a Cherokee Baptist? What does a Thai Buddhist have in common with an Ethiopian Jew? The answer is… NOTHING (necessarily)! They have NO basis for association. There’s absolutely no reason to think they have common values, common beliefs, or common interests. "
As human beings we have every reason to associate with people who differ from us. I’ve found that despite these identifiable differences such as religion or colour of skin people have much more in common than they think. The differences are an excellent basis for discussion and an opportunity to learn who alike we really are.
As a white Agnostic I enjoy my associations with the huge number of Catholics / Christians I work with who hail from every corner of the planet; many dark skinned (and white) Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, a few Athiests, and other people who’s religious affiliation is unknown to me.
The existance of this board and the interactions that occur are evidence that you can take people from around the planet with different religious beliefs, an infinite variety of skin tones, and equally diverse set of backgrounds and have them all get along and discuss common interests, beliefs, and values.
Within a school, business, or professional association there are just more things that people will have in common.
It’s certainly not racist, for a number of reasons. It’s just kinda… well, l dunno, I just don’t really get it. It doesn’t make any more sense than a “white support group,” beyond the fact that you’re in a minority, skin-color wise, and whites are not. Which is to say, it’s less stupid than a group for only white people would be, but that doesn’t mean that it sounds like something particularly worth your time if you don’t feel like you need some kind of support group like this.
And of course, the “Dear Student of Color!” letter IS creepy. Not racist, maybe overly PC, definitely creepy.
… 
Well, I was indeed unaware and I confess that I was guilty of the error of thinking that the lovely young Zoggie was a man. I meant no offence in my thinking and had no firm basis for this. I can only offer my abject apologies for my ignorance…
I’ve never suggested that people of VERY different backgrounds and heritages can’t or shouldn’t seek out each other’s company, or that they shouldn’t be friends.
What I DO say is that it makes no sense to invite a Nigerian, a Cherokee, a Thai, a Pakistani and an Ethiopian to join an organization, under the assumption that as “non-white” people, they must have a lot in common. And that DOES seem to be the “logic” behind this group.
I mean, if the purpose was simply to encourage students to mix and mingle with other students of every different creed and color, why not invite WHITE people to join?
Reading this thread I just realised why I keep getting messages from my University Afro-Carribean students group and the Gaelic Football club.
I had never made a connection with my ethnicity.
Hmm, not to nitpick or anything, but you are the one who posted the definition. Inherent superiority was the first definition of racism. Racial prejudice or discrimination was the second. An action or idea does not have to adhere to both definitions to be correct. Otherwise, we’d have to adhere to about 150 definitions every time we used the word “run.”
Per your dictionary definition, the invitation is racist, as it does exclude people who are white.
I, too, am of the opinion that this is wrong. Am I incorrect in thinking that a white student who had just moved to New York from Russia and was suffering from severe culture shock would not receive an invitation, but a black woman who lived in NYC her entire life would get one? That just seems strange.
The problem I see is there is no real line between “white” and “non-white”. Some Greeks and Italians are quite ‘ethnic’ looking too, I suppose they would be technically “white” while similar looking Libyans or Egyptians would fall under non-white for being born on the other side of the Mediterranean. I mean where would a Turkish person fit in? And would a blond haired blue eyed Argentine of German origin qualify for being “Hispanic”? A Siberian Slav as “Asian”? I think the idea that there is a global white-color line reflects 19th century thinking.
That’s part of the problem I have, too, cuate and ** neutron star**. We’re all colored if you really think about it, except maybe the albinos, and who doesn’t love the albinos?
The term color is (if you can’t tell already) part of what drove me up the wall so much. For example, if you’re Jewish, or Middle-Eastern, you can have such a wide range of complexions. And what if you’re white but you were born/raised in Africa? Part of me really wants to show up at the African American Society (or whatever they call it) and claim solidarity. (Technically I do qualify, having a father who was born in Kenya…)
Neither.
If you don’t want to go, don’t go. If you do, then go.
I think I’d accept one of their invitations just to ask that very question! It might be enitrely different than what we’re all presuming it to be… :o)
This is bringing it slightly off topic, but what a lot of westerns don’t realize, is the racism so common in asia. Towards each other, towards westerners. To lump all asians together would be offensive to a lot of asians (particularly older koreans who HATE the japanese).
Also, at UCI, white students are the minority (the most being asian). However, you certainly won’t see any groups for “white students” while there are tons for various other cultural identities. I am not saying there really needs to be, but it disheartens me to see people constantly divide themselves up into groups.
Racist or overly PC?
I would say : the way to Hell is paved with good intentions…
“People of Color” really says it all. It’s about being non-white. This is a reunion, a party, a get-together, that specifically excludes whites but no one else, and it’s sponsored by your university. It is racist, and it’s appalling. I can’t figure out how to look at it any other way.