UGa Chi Phis declared 'open season' on black women?

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

Well the school doesn't have many black people, thats been in the news I imagine everyone's heard about that over the years...however Athens has plenty of black people, at least from what I see. As for the law school, I think its something like 30 percent minority, its pretty diverse. By the way, a simple lack of black people does not keep an area from being "diverse"...

Shiner'
Looked it up for you:
http://www.law.uga.edu/news/archives...ngclasspr.html
Class of 2009: total of 232 students:"
Just over one-quarter (25.4 percent) of the entering class indicated they are members of a minority group, making this class among the most diverse in law school history. Of the 59 minority students enrolled in the Class of 2009, 37 are African Americans."

And the rest of your comment, for the most part, I agree with.

[shinerbock]

I think one quarter is pretty diverse, but then again I'm just one of the 173 whities.

[DSTCHAOS]

Yes, UGA's law school is diverse--just like when HBCU graduate schools are filled with nonblacks. In such instances the graduate applicants are not representative of the larger university or its surroundings.

Not having black people doesn't make a place not ethnically diverse if there is a representation of other racial and ethnic minority groups. However, in North America people think in terms of black and white (and Hispanic). If the largest (Hispanic) and second largest (Black) minority groups in America aren't substantially represented on certain campuses, of course the place will be viewed as not racially and ethnically diverse.

[shinerbock]

But its important to note that just because a place is overwhelmingly white does not make it homogeneous. White people are from a lot of different backgrounds obviously, we're all just lumped into a single category.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

But its important to note that just because a place is overwhelmingly white does not make it homogeneous. White people are from a lot of different backgrounds obviously, we're all just lumped into a single category.

LOL. Of course whites are not homogeneous. No group is, although we can always make generalizations based on the norms of a particular context.

But you all were specifically talking about racial and ethnic diversity. White people are lumped into one category racially and ethnically because white people have chosen to assimilate into one category--as opposed to remaining distinctly Italian American, Polish American, Irish American, etc.

The link I provided has information on demographic breakdowns beyond race and ethnicity because I know that diversity is a broad category. Many Universities boast about being diverse, but they are only talking about the diverse backgrounds of their white students (most often social class and region).

[shinerbock]

And I think that diversity within groups of white people is no less advantageous than racial diversity. I mean, black people and white people growing up in the same area under similar conditions are likely to bring similar things to the table. Meanwhile a white kid like me, and a white kid from Berkley whose parents lobby for PETA are likely to bring very distinctive viewpoints and experiences. I fail to see that black people, simply because they're black, bring something more to a university. I imagine that a white kid from New Mexico probably would bring more diversity to UGA than a black kid from Decatur, but I think schools get too caught up on how diversity looks in the Princeton Review breakdown.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

And I think that diversity within groups of white people is no less advantageous than racial diversity. I mean, black people and white people growing up in the same area under similar conditions are likely to bring similar things to the table. Meanwhile a white kid like me, and a white kid from Berkley whose parents lobby for PETA are likely to bring very distinctive viewpoints and experiences. I fail to see that black people, simply because they're black, bring something more to a university. I imagine that a white kid from New Mexico probably would bring more diversity to UGA than a black kid from Decatur, but I think schools get too caught up on how diversity looks in the Princeton Review breakdown.

I agree.

And as far as white people "assimililating" into one group, it depends where you are - there are still people around here who identify themselves as ____-American and are very immersed in the culture.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

I mean, black people and white people growing up in the same area under similar conditions are likely to bring similar things to the table.

Conventional wisdom would say "yes" but research indicates that whiteness generates cultural and social capital and (in general) gives the white people some advantage. This is because when the common denominator is human capital (what we bring to the table), what propels people to the top will be racial differentials in cultural capital (valued identifiers like race, speech, style of dress, etc.) and social capital (who you know/networks). In general, this propelling has occurred when the white person is connected to a white person in a blue collar hiring position or gets access to a suit and instructions for entering the labor market.

Originally Posted by shinerbock

Meanwhile a white kid like me, and a white kid from Berkley whose parents lobby for PETA are likely to bring very distinctive viewpoints and experiences.

Yes, differing viewpoints and experiences are all over the place. The true test is in determining whether the different viewpoints and experiences translate to substantially different capital investments and returns. You and the Berkley student are likely to have similar capital investments and returns despite other surface differences. Now if there are social class differences, you or the Berkley kid will have some catching up to do.

Originally Posted by shinerbock

I fail to see that black people, simply because they're black, bring something more to a university. I imagine that a white kid from New Mexico probably would bring more diversity to UGA than a black kid from Decatur, but I think schools get too caught up on how diversity looks in the Princeton Review breakdown.

Where have you been looking?

There are commonalities across race, gender, region, class groups, etc. They do not have to translate to things that are observable on the surface level.