Echoes of racism still linger with some Baruch students

When Amanda Smith goes shopping with her father, she has noticed that the store's workers follow them throughout the store. Although her skin is light, her father's complexion is much darker. Smith believes the workers pay closer attention to them because she is with a black man. "It's covert racism," she says. "You can see the division."

Most Americans still see racism as a "lingering problem," according to a CNN poll released in Dec. 2006. The poll has surveyed 1,207 adults - 328 Blacks and 703 Whites. When asked how serious an issue they see racial bias as today, 49 percent of Blacks have said "very serious," while 48 percent of whites said it was only "somewhat serious." The poll shows that Blacks were twice as likely to call racism a problem, but only 13 percent of whites and 12 percent of blacks said that they themselves are racially biased.

But at Baruch, the issue goes beyond black and white definitions, as some students like Smith don't consider themselves to be either one. "When you look around here it's not all about race and skin color," says Smith, now a senior. She adds, "It's more about culture and it's more broken down than physical appearance."

Others, like junior Shaquieta Boyd agreed with the poll, saying that racism still exists, but not in the same context as years before. "Racism extends beyond black and white but also within certain groups, people underestimate stereotypes and how people are portrayed by each other, the government and the media," says Boyd, who is bi-racial.

She claims to have experienced the racist thought process on campus before, and believe that it's a mentality embedded in American identity. "You don't actively participate, but still take part in it whether you know it or not," she says.

Like Boyd, some students at Baruch feel that although the times of public lynching have long been over, racism still occurs in more passive and covert forms. A dark-skinned Caribbean woman who wished to remain anonymous says, "I've experienced racism at Baruch several times and I'm not sure if it's from ignorance or people not understanding each other."

A junior Pablo Urena says, "Racism has become so stereotypical that you don't even know you experience it. It's a mentality." But, he feels that there's room for change and understanding of each other's different cultures. "It's something the administration of Baruch has to address," he says. "We are too much of a diverse school to not have more orientations, classes and intellectual dialogues on race."

Professor James Defilippis of the Black and Hispanic Studies department agreed, saying, "I don't think we do enough with the diversity of our campus. Just because students are near each other doesn't mean they understand each other."

The poll indicates something that, for a lot of Baruch students, is a reality and something they have always been aware of. Racism is something that exists at Baruch, and as the poll states, "gets expressed in indirect, subtle ways." But, at an institution like Baruch, where students come from more than 120 countries, an opportunity still stands to address the issue of racism. As Defilippis says, "We have an incredible opportunity to break down racial barriers because of our diversity."