Race at USC deconstructed

A Town Hall meeting on cultural diversity named "Race. Gender. Ethnicity," was held to address the current issues brought by culturally themed social events thrown by the Greek system on campus.

A recent complaint filed with Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards by Jesus Cuellar about a Mexico-border-themed party at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity sparked controversy on campus over racial issues and ethnicity. Cuellar is a sophomore majoring in Spanish.

The town hall meeting, sponsored by Asian Pacific American Student Assembly, Progressive Alliance, Latino Student Association, Hermanos Unidos, Interfraternity Council, Asian Pacific Islander Student Outreach, Student Senate and others, sought to cultivate a better understanding and to promote cultural diversity at USC.

"It's people who look diverse or are diverse are the ones who attend diversity town hall meetings," said Bao-Viet Nguyen, incoming executive director of APASA. "I wish more of The Row came to the meeting so we can share a balanced point of view."

The groups really tried to reach out to The Row, and only a few of them came, Nguyen said.

About 30 students attended the meeting on Thursday night at Mudd Hall of Philosophy.

The meeting began with four panelists, followed by a Q-and-A session.

The first panelist was Jeff Murakami, director of APASS, spoke about "cosmetic diversity" on campus.

His definition of cosmetic diversity reached beyond population statistics and used inclusion as a key factor in true diversity.

"We are a diverse community," Murakami said. "We need to make sure they're included."

The issue is not about diversity but it is about pluralism, power structures and world views, he said.

Murakami also spoke about the outcry of Asian-American students a few years ago when Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts with racial stereotypes, such as shirts with "Wong's Laundry" printed on it.

He said there are more important issues that students could address, such as sweatshops in Asia, but students are not as concerned about the bigger issues.

People are comfortable where they are until they see a problem, Murakami said.

The next panelist, Corliss Bennett, director of the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, spoke about the lack of coverage that the Daily Trojan has on blacks.

She pointed out an incident where a black female student was riding on a bike and was almost ran over by white students in a car who also then called her a racial slur for blacks.

"Why isn't the story covered by the Daily Trojan?" she asked rhetorically.

Afterward, she addressed the need for ethnic centers on campus.

She said the campus is segregated, and she asked the room to identify groups of people who hang out on the corner by the pharmacy, the people who gather on the steps by the career center and those who congregate around The Row.

Students in the audience could easily identify which groups of people socialized at the different spots.

"There is a reason why we have APASS, El Centro and other ethnic centers so we can celebrate our culture." Bennett said. "I love USC, but this is how we feel."

The third panelist, Tamara Hamdan from Program Board, spoke about the unacceptable racist behaviors on campus.

"I am astounded how often I hear people say (racial slurs), it seems so casual," Hamdan said.

This kind of behavior should not be acceptable behavior on campus, she said.

The last panelist was Rabbi Jonathan Klein from USC Hillel Jewish Center, and he emphasized the need to celebrate identity.

He said we all have multiple identities, and we should embrace that.

"The world is a better place when we have all the flavors and zings, it brings strength to the community," Klein said.

When identity is too simplified, in other words, categorized by race, and complexity is not accounted for, is when we lose the richness of who we are, he said.