FYI for what it’s worth, from Al Thompson’s news tips – When I was racially harassed out of Fort Lewis College and Durango, Colorado 92-94 I just found it very hard to get any press coverage that I thought was fair…much less any help to deal with the scary and pervasive racism on and off campus.  - E-K.

 

Colleges See Racial Incidents Flare

 

  The Washington Post  took note (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092502353.html?hpid%3Dmoreheadlines&sub=AR)  of a collection of racial incidents that have boiled to the surface at several schools:

 

A couple of weeks into classes at the University of Maryland (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/University+of+Maryland?tid=informline) ,

a rope tied into what looked like a noose was found hanging outside the

campus's African American cultural center. Campus police reports this

month included two incidents of racially disparaging remarks, one

written on a workstation and one on a bathroom stall in the student

union.

 

  A Maryland (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Maryland?tid=informline)  congressman is asking for an investigation into nooses left among the personal effects of a black cadet at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Coast+Guard+Academy?tid=informline)  and on the office floor of a staff member doing racial sensitivity training after the initial incident.

 

This month, more than 200 students at the University of Virginia (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/University+of+Virginia?tid=informline)  protested cartoons depicting starving Ethiopians and a slave that ran in the student paper.

 

Because so many colleges are more racially and culturally diverse than

ever, with students hanging out, dating and studying together, such

incidents have left many wondering: What's going on?

 

And what are schools doing about it?

 

Some professors think there are more incidents than ever. Others think people are just more aware of them thanks to YouTube (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/YouTube+Inc.?tid=informline) , Facebook (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Facebook+Inc.?tid=informline)  and e-mail.

 The story also lists examples of Halloween party incidents that raised eyebrows and offended people:

 

 At a party on "politically incorrect" night last year at Macalester College in Minnesota (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Minnesota?tid=informline) , one guest came in blackface, another wore a noose and another arrived in white as a Ku Klux Klan (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Ku+Klux+Klan?tid=informline)  member. Johns Hopkins University (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Johns+Hopkins+University?tid=informline) , the University of Texas at Austin (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/University+of+Texas+at+Austin?tid=informline) , Trinity College and Clemson University (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Clemson+University?tid=informline) , among others, also had parties that offended other students with racial stereotypes.

 

 

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