Per this article. Bad idea or good idea? I’m not sure what to think. The part that has me the most concerned is that this is not a private ceremony but is sponsored and put on by the University itself not an outside organization.
I am offended by the idea that just because your black you aren’t (or can’t be) as smart as the next guy. It is silly, stupid, and should very well be intolerated.
Whatever happened to proms?
I agree 100%. Of course, there are a lot of struggles involved in getting a degree, not just intelligence, and I think overcoming the other struggles is what is being celebrated.
warning- this post rambles, but it gets relevent
I grew up very very poor. When I went to college, I was shocked- absolutely shocked- at how much money the kids around me seemed to have. I was surrounded by people that owned cars, computer equiptment, infinate alcohol and nice clothes. It was really wierd. I kept missing the shuttle that took us to and from the grocery store because I was comparing prices on stuff, something that other kids never did. I had to deal with kids that had never ridden a bus in their lives. I would get really self conscious because I have a habit of mentioning the price of everything- something that is totally pertinent information in poor communities but considered somewhat of a non-sequiter here. It wasn’t just that I was around people with more money, it was that I was around a really different culture with different norms and expectations than I was used to.
And sometimes I really wished there was a poor students group- where we could talk about how bad our public high schools were and share tips on the best thrift stores in town and reminice about the last week of the month when our parents would have nothing to feed us but ramen. My culture doesn’t exist here. A lot of my experiences arn’t relevent. Whenever I talk about my childhood in classes I am instantly labled as “the poor kid” and treated to a display of good liberal guilt. It is a really wierd situation.
And I think it is probably the same for black students.
I think it’d be cool if there was a poor kids graduation ceremony. A ceremony where we could have speakers that spoke about issues relevent to our particular challenges, and our particular take on the college experience. A ceremony where we could recognize that we are likely the first college graduates in our families. Our parents are plumbers and civil servents and waitresses, not doctors and lawyers. A ceremony where people don’t wear designer clothes, give away cars as graduation presents or go out to dinner at the swankiest restraunt in town afterwards. In other words, a ceremony that is relevent to us and our parents in ways that the main ceremony wouldn’t be- and really shouldn’t have to be.
And I think it is probably the same for black students.
My school has a black graduation ceremony, and at first it made me raise my eyebrows, but then I realzied why the heck not. They deserve to celebrate. Their experience has been different from the main experience celebrated in the standard ceremony, and why shouldn’t they get to recognize that?
It’d be different if blacks had to go to that ceremony, or something like that. But it’s not. It is simply a group of people and their families wanting to celebrate a landmark in their lives in a way that adresses their common culture in the face of the very different and often hostile mainstream.
The Title is somewhat deceptive. It is an extra, additional ceremony. It does not take the place of the main graduation.
even sven sort of beat me to it, but anyway… If the rationale of the organizers is valid, surely they should hold a separate ceremony for (say) all those who were the first in their family to graduate from college - regardless of skin color. That would be a memorable event. But to do it by skin color strikes me as sad - it just contributes to the never-ending cycle of blacks and whites shunning each other.
I’m drunk again. Gosh, I’ve been getting in the habit of drinking and posting a lot lately. [giggle] But I digress.
[VERY BIG SIGH]
It’s not like there already aren’t separate ceremonies paid for by university departments or the university in general to celebrate achievements. What is the difference between having a ceremony for black students who graduate and say having a separate ceremony for folks in a particular professional school program, graduate program, or even undergraduates who graduate with honors. I’ve participated in some of these types of ceremonies, and it wasn’t any sweat off my back. It is a fact of university life that universities generally single out specific populations who achieve things that the average Joe Blow doesn’t achieve, and they celebrate those achievements. What is the big deal here, particularly when black folks come from an American history where they were traditionally denied access to a college education. Why not celebrate that achievement when for so many years there was no way that a celebration of black students’ academic achievement could have or would have taken place in the university setting? And why should it matter how folks celebrate, just so long as folks are celebrating academic achievement?
Maybe I’m crazy or just dense, but I’m just not seeing the problem here. And in general I’m not seeing what exactly is going on with the rash of GD threads lately where having something that focuses on black folks doing X and perceiving them doing X as racist or separatist is a big deal. I get really upset and just confused when I see stuff like this because I wonder why folks whom I wonder if they understand the history of this country and how it has contributed to the current culture that we live in now can be raising such a fuss over nothing. But I’m digressing, and maybe this would make a better topic for a Pit rant. Hmmm.
But to the OP, I’d say go out and study the history of this country and how it has dealt with black folks from the get go to right now. That is where you will find your answers.
I went to a ceremony for minority students who were graduating with a certain GPA. Because there weren’t that many of us, we all knew each other, having gone through the same programs together and all that. The ceremony was like a big formal party. It wasn’t that different than a ceremony the Greek organizations might have to honor its graduates.
If I were white and there was a huge population of minority students and they were being given a special ceremony, I might feel peeved. But at my alma mater, there just weren’t that many minority students. It would be hard for me to feel excluded in that situation, if I were white.
I can’t believe that an official was stupid enough to say that. That is very offensive, and I’m not easy to offend.
I think your case is overstated. First, studies consistently show that the majority of AA students at mainstream universities are from middle-class families, so let’s not assume they have led hand-to-mouth existences. Their “experience” is primarily suburban, not inner city. I would also add that a great deal of AA students prefer to stay together in college–whether it be in black student unions, sitting together during meals, the Greek life, etc. Given a chance–and there’s a great deal of academic writing on this–you will often find AA students sitting away from their non-AA counterparts.
Also, remember that this is the 21st century, not 1950s America. Mainstream America does not treat mainstream AA society in an “often hostile” way, certainly not to the extent that your post would suggest. Most Americans, certainly those who are Baby Boomers or younger, have learned to be accepting of differences and can count many, many AA’s as friends. Present-day AA students have had more privilege, more opportunities, and fewer barriers than their parents ever knew.
Last, your post about your own background growing up in poverty was truly touching. I agree, students from poor backgrounds have very difficult hurdles. I’ve seen it myself–people are so accepting of differences, as long as you are not poor. Being poor is the ultimate taboo, not color.
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Why do you need someone at graduation to relate specifically to your background? Everyone at graduation has something in common regardless of race, religion, or economic background. You’re all college graduates and the graduation ceremony should relate to that.
Marc
Which is why MSU is holding only a single graduation ceremony. The title of this thread is in error; the extra celebration is just that–extra.
People have been celebrating extra stuff for years. The overwhelming majority of schools with varsity programs (and many with only intramural sports) hold a sports banquet at year end. There are often separate celebrations for other extracurricular groups. This is simply one more group celebrating their accomplishments in the context of their group. The University of Michigan has (according to the linked story) been holding such celebrations for a wide variety of groups for years. It is only news because the first group to seek it at MSU happened to be black.
After weighing this question, I do not think it’s a bad idea. It may even be a good idea.
Black college graduation rates are low. The main reason is that affirmative action puts many Black students into schools that are above their background. So, a separate ceremony may be a useful bit of encouragement.
A better solution would be to stop affirmative action, since it’s unintended side effect is to hurt many individual Black students, but that’s another debate…