Being in but not of Princeton

One typical, crowded late meal, my good friend Andrew Perlmutter '06 was sitting next to me at a table with a group of my friends. There were at least eight students in total, and Andrew was the only white.

While we were discussing race, a friend of ours passed, said hi to Andrew and kept walking without giving so much as a glance in my direction. I was not surprised, but I pointed out the observation. Of course our friend had seen me: I was sitting right next to Andrew. But for some reason, which I can only see as race, they chose not to look at me.

I guaranteed Andrew that our white acquaintances would pass by and acknowledge his presence, but never even notice me. Sure enough, three of our friends in common passed, said hello to Andrew and kept walking as I stared them down, trying to force eye contact. Andrew couldn't help but laugh nervously at how I was ignored.

To prove my point, I got up, and as soon as I walked 10 feet away from the table, two of those acquaintances who wouldn't notice me before, greeted me with a friendly hug.

This is the fundamental problem with race on this campus. If you are black, you are practically invisible to the majority of students. It is only after you literally step away from the "black world," that you can take part in, and be embraced by, the conventional Princeton social experience. If you are black here, there is an inescapable feeling that this place isn't for you. I think Professor Eddie Glaude described it best as the feeling of "being in, but not of" Princeton. Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, we are still so separate, and very unequal.

Segregation is certainly gone, but there is a separate Princeton experience for black students.

Now I do not, and cannot, possibly speak for the entire black community, which is itself as diverse in its views, interests and backgrounds as the rest of the student body: But there are aspects of the black Princeton experience that I think are universal.

Having darker skin on this campus means recognizing how much race matters. Very early on, you choose to either ignore how limiting race can be, since it shouldn't affect your college experience or you decide that you cannot disregard race and try to change Princeton so that it cannot ignore you. In either case, you're left struggling to weed through the thick vines of tradition, and carve out a space that is accepting.

This isn't just a black-white issue, nor is the situation unique to Princeton. This week at Columbia University, the Concerned Students of Color are holding rallies to protest blatant acts of racism from their peers. I would hate to see Princeton become so divided, but the tension here already exists.

The issue we face is in how the majority of students react to diversity. There is so much ignorance on campus of anything that isn't "mainstream" Princeton, for many it becomes hard to be yourself and stay happy. I refuse to accept that it is tradition that makes us so much less tolerant, though. I spent four years at a prestigious, preppy boarding school in Massachusetts, and I never had race affect me as much as it does here. We cannot use the past as an excuse; this shouldn't be the same Princeton Hodding Carter III '57 remembered yesterday in this space.

Ultimately, it is up to us to define Princeton and realize that diversity is a way of life in America, not a choice. My hope is that we recognize that the group mentality of Princeton is to exclude anything different. It is not that black students are marginalized and white students are oblivious.

I am not so naïve to think that we can drill the values of diversity into everyone's head: I only hope that ignorance might be filtered out. If we are to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board with justice, we must come together — students, faculty and administrators — to change our community for the better.