When Lindsey White first arrived at Northwestern, she sought out cultural groups, hoping to join and diversify beyond the predominantly white social scene she’d known in her suburban Minneapolis hometown.
The Weinberg senior, who is half-black and half-white, sought to connect with her black identity and experience other cultures. After attending the groups’ meetings, however, White felt limited by her ethnic appearance and, as a result, had little interaction with black students at NU.
“I tried to get involved with culturally diverse groups, but people just sort of stick with their own kind here,” White said.
White’s experiences were one of the many stories shared at Monday’s Community Conversations in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The discussion dealt with topics ranging from finding one’s racial identity to dealing with the persistence of racial prejudice.
The student group, Bridging the Gap, which seeks to promote dialogue on racial issues, hosted three conversations across campus and provided moderators to lead the discussions.
White served as one of the moderators at the dialogue at Foster-Walker, which drew black students, white students and students of Middle Eastern and Indian descent. The other two meetings were held at Bobb-McCulloch Hall and Norris University Center.
The Foster-Walker Community Conversation, which began with the question “What would Martin Luther King say about race relations at Northwestern?” highlighted the diversity of opinions about race.
The crowd of about 25 students discussed the lack of interaction between racial and ethnic groups at NU, leading some attendees to question what types of diversity matter most and how stronger ties across group lines could be forged.
Eric Parker, a Weinberg senior, said increasing the number of minority students at NU would not create a more diverse school when economic diversity remains unaddressed.
“People don’t stand in as proxies for their race,” he said. “That’s racial essentialism, and I’m completely against that. Adding 4 or 5 percent more black students would not meaningfully change anything. Most of the black people on campus are middle-to-upper class – how can you have diversity when everyone’s from the same class?”
One contested issue voiced by some at the meeting was that members of minority groups should strive to set a positive example for their peers.
Bridging the Gap member Courtney Sharpe, said serving as an example of an entire race is an identity that is forcibly placed on minorities, and which ultimately works against them.
“Growing up where I was, one of the ‘token minority people,’ you are seen as a representative,” the Weinberg junior said. “Being a minority, if you’re good, you’re just you, but if you’re bad then you’re all.”
Students at the conversation also discussed the persistence of racism beyond the social movements of the 1960s and the common perception that prejudice is now hidden behind a “polite” public mask.
Andrew Towarnicky, an executive board member of Bridging the Gap, said there is a suspicion that prejudices persist among whites regardless of their outward behavior. That perception makes it harder to speak across racial boundaries, he said.
“It’s rather alarming that some people think we had real social progress once, but at the end of the ’60s, nothing’s somehow changed since then,” the first-year Graduate School student said.
Students also discussed how to foster more interaction between ethnic groups at NU.
Some suggested more cultural education and black history as compulsory courses while others pointed out that focusing on the past will yield no new dialogue.
As the meeting ended, there was one point of discussion that everyone agreed on: When moving forward and encouraging a dialogue on race, there are no clear solutions.
Matt Radler can be reached at
