Students voiced desires for racial unity and concerns about society’s overall understanding of race relations during “Blackaphobia,” a presentation held in the Dawg House Feb. 18. Peer counselors from Mississippi State University’s Holmes Cultural Diversity Center held the event, which was part of its weekly “Live at Five” series. At the meeting, racial issues and stereotypes affecting African-Americans were presented.
Rachael Watson, a junior majoring in sociology and one of the peer counselors moderating the discussion, began the presentation by asking students not to hold any punches in their dialogue.
“In high school we’re taught to give the politically correct answer, but we want the real thing today,” Watson said. “We want everyone to be as honest as possible.”
Students and counselors discussed common stereotypes and misconceptions that both black and white people have for each other through a survey completed by the audience.
The impromptu survey of students revealed that the most common stereotypes for whites were wealthy and racist, while the most common stereotypes for blacks were poor, uneducated and “thuggish.”
Watson said the key to better racial relations is having people dismiss unwarranted stereotypes.
“We want to challenge you to overlook these stereotypes,” Watson said. “We want you to look at the individual person for who he or she is, not the color of his or her skin.”
Another topic discussed in “Blackaphobia” was the development of racial impressions on young children.
A video was shown, displaying the results of an experiment in which 21 children were individually presented with a white and a black doll.
Researchers asked the children to pick out the doll they thought was nice and then pick out the doll they thought was bad.
Fifteen of the 21 children in the experiment chose the white doll as the nice doll.
Chemical engineering graduate student Scott Crymble said it was difficult for him to relate to the video.
“It’s difficult to single out a reason, but it’s sad to see them [children in the video] identify good or bad based on the color of the doll at such an impressionable age,” he said.
He said for the most part the program did not affect his mindset.
“I think the way the brain is wired predisposes it to prejudices and stereotypes,” he said.
Junior communication major Chrissy Kirk, said she was not shocked by the video.
“When we were growing up, there were mostly white dolls,” Kirk said, “so naturally they would think that.”
She said the issue goes beyond racial lines.
“This is not just a black culture issue, but also an American culture issue,” Kirk said. “Somehow black culture in America is being associated with bad.”
The closing topic of the presentation shifted to how politics could potentially help improve racial understanding.
Some audience members suggested that the election of Sen. Barack Obama as the next American president could help improve African-Americans’ perception to other races by demonstrating that they are able to be in positions of high leadership.
However, some audience members felt that Obama’s election would not change race relations and perceptions on a local level.
One audience member disagreed with the idea that politics shape relations, and poignantly said change will not occur until parents start teaching their children right from wrong in the home.
Watson said she was happy with the night’s discussions.
“There were a lot of people here with conflicting views,” she said, “but they still spoke up and talked about how they felt. That’s exactly what we wanted.”
Kirk said she feels the topics that were discussed during “Blackaphobia” are topics that need to be discussed more at MSU.
“I think a program like this is long overdue here at State,” Kirk said. “Conversations about the tough topics, such as race, politics and so forth, need to be addressed more here at MSU. Students need to be more involved in these discussions because that is real life.