OSCA’s Diversity Efforts Fruitless Without Demand

To the Editors:

I am not one for superlatives, but I cannot remember feeling as defeated as I did after reading the article “OSCA Concentrates on Creating Diverse Communities.” The viewpoints expressed by those OSCA representatives seem to signify the solidification of the weak-willed but thoroughly selfish liberal activist mindset. OSCA is not racist. As much as its members might prefer it were, so that they could personally vindicate it, and feel self-satisfied in their do-gooding, such a statement is not only incorrect, it is inappropriate, largely because words mean things, and “racist” is clearly not the word to describe OSCA. In an ironic turn, it is only OSCA’s methods for remedying their diversity “problem,” that begin to approach something that might fairly be called racist. In what follows, I use “black people” to serve in place of “minorities” or “people of color.” This is done to illustrate the intellectual bankruptcy of such broad statements.
Racial determinism, the idea that, for example, all black people share a common mindset, is the precursor to theories on the limitations of certain peoples due to their given race. The idea of “black people” does not exist, if that idea is meant to signify a uniformity of experience, opinion and tastes. The largest statement that can be made of “black people” is that their skin is black. Following this, for OSCA to be racist against blacks, the discrimination must pertain to the color of people’s skin. To ground claims of racism in something other than that, say individual tastes and lifestyle choices, necessitates assuming that there is a collective black unconscious which expresses opinions and values specifically discriminated against by OSCA. For example, it is safe to say that most black people at Oberlin come from cities and probably have little experience farming. Perhaps those people are less likely to be involved in extracurricular activities that relate to agriculture.
The conclusion that does not follow is that agricultural activities are “racist” as evidenced by black people not favoring them, and need reform to include non-agricultural activities. Black people are not a unit, and every moment spent having “deep discussions” on how to make “them” be friends with “you,” is a moment spent denying each black person their individuality. As someone who has more melanin than you, please, rich liberals, stop acting on my behalf to redress a whole host of woes I was unaware I was beset with. If it makes you feel better, I can provide an address to where you can direct a check. One might hope that the “people of color” who were constantly being invoked and championed by their “oppressors” might speak up and say enough to this nonsense, but who has time? These theoretical battles are fought by persons in such dire need of feeling self-righteous they are not to be reasoned with.
As much rap music as you might listen to and as dirty and clumped as you might allow your hair to become, there is no guarantee you will “earn” the badge of having black friends no matter how much you “sympathize” and are “anti-racist,” whatever that might be. Ascribing individuality — even to people who are “of color” — may be tough for the do-gooders to swallow. You may feel trapped having nothing to protest, no cause with which to allay your guilt. I do understand it is tough to not have complete control in rendering your life into the “tolerant” paradise you envision supreme. Were the trouble with OSCA to be that it expressed an attitude that certain people were inferior, the call to end its racism would be clearly understood. Simply that black individuals have not chosen to become co-opers en masse is not sufficient reason to cry racism. Stop using minorities as cardboard cutouts you can “count on your hands,” who must be positioned in every group across campus in order for that group to meet some vague “anti-racist” objective, which in truth is meant to satisfy white liberals’ assumptions that they are indeed living the best kind of life possible. I suspect that conservative individuals by and large are not members of OSCA. It is probably safe to assume that athletes don’t dominate OSCA boards. Such deficiencies do not further the co-opers’ objectives of feeling more tolerant, so they are left unaddressed. It seems the only systemic thing that keeps those of darker skin colors away from OSCA is that no one likes to be patronized. “Minorities” don’t need more “education”; the ways of OSCA are not mysterious. If there are fewer black individuals who prefer being vegetarian, living cooperatively and riding bicycles, so be it. Don’t misunderstand me, I think that OSCA is a great association, and provides wonderful experiences for those who wish those types of experiences. But if you feel that OSCA should become a rib house, for instance, in order to “accommodate” those of different “needs,” I ask what is the purpose of having organizations in the first place. There is no room in the chess club for checkers players.

If you lie awake at night wondering why more black people don’t eat at your table, and feeling guilty and moved to action, there is no help for you. You will never realize that you cannot make others like you by “correcting” your “unintentional racism.” Perhaps you might start by correcting your obvious bias, and allowing that even though you are certain all minorities come from “low income households” and could use a healthy dose of “education,” there lies the remote possibility they still might not sit at your table. Take a chance on free will.
–George Balgobin
Douglas, GA