Empty buzzwords hinder the discussion of race

Race has been one of the busiest words in the vocabulary of college students and administrators in the '90s. Debates, pamphlets, books, and committees have sprung up on campuses—all about race. Even with all the airtime devoted to race, I have come to believe that the subject is seldom really discussed. Indeed, despite its apparent importance, it is now even more off-limits. Instead, a family of pretty words are thrown around, resulting in a muddy mixture of racial terms without real conversation. These key words are culture, multiculturalism, and diversity.

Culture. When I think about culture, it dies. Today, when people display their "culture" overtly on campus, they gather artifacts, food, clothing, and art from their peoples' past. However, culture is not a studied attempt to imitate the habits of one's ancestors—it is the natural development of habits of a certain people over time. Culture can only be truly observed by a person who is not a part of that people. When a boy is living in rural America during his childhood, he wants to wear the newest clothes, which differ according to the boy's location, family, and social situation. He does not want to wear what his grandparents wore at his age. His grandparents' habits are his history, not his culture.

Old African dance may have been part of life for my great-great-great-great grandparents. For my grandparents, the onset of blues and jazz, party dresses and zoot suits were in. For my parents, it was afros, Black Power fists, bellbottoms, and disco. For me, it is hip-hop, another afro, big jeans, and street poetry. However, the first time I chose to submerge myself in a white environment—like Yale—the habits of my ancestors became not my history, but my culture. People of a shared ethnicity danced and sang like their ancestors, even wearing the same clothes (or designer replicas). Maybe I am the only one whose "culture" at home did not involve dancing the traditional dances of my ancestors. I am not trying to dispute the importance of investing in one's history, because culture is largely molded by history. Rather, I am pointing out that history is history and is not the same thing as culture. "Culture" today is often nothing more than a parade for white people. I do not see white people dressed up like their ancestors. I certainly have not seen the return of powdered wigs, although it would be entertaining.

Multiculturalism. Since my view of "culture" is that it usually does not really exist on a college campus, multi-culturalism is a subsequent sham. This is the term that both confuses and galvanizes any campus. When someone uses the adjective "multicultural," it automatically equals "good," and whatever noun it modifies is also good. Illogical. Multiculturalism is now a quantified characteristic of the students of a university, cited in numerous pamphlets. Multiculturalism often ends up being a few people of color publicly imitating their history to enhance the "cultural" experience in college for white classmates. The showcase of "cultures" in a "multicultural" school marginalizes peoples of color, making us more exotic and less "American."

Diversity. This key word is the most abused of all. I do not understand why the magical d-word has so easily become a substitute for real issues. I hate this word, because it misleads. Although I have heard many people make this empty claim, a person cannot be "diverse" unless he suffers from a multiple personality disorder. A person can have diverse interests. A campus may be "diverse," but the fact is, it is not worth the use of that deplorable word, because with it flood imaginary solutions to yet unsolved problems. For example, when did affirmative action become about "representation" and "diversity" instead of about certain races reclaiming what was stolen from them over years and is rightfully theirs now? "Representation?" "Diversity?" What is this, a parade? A roll call?

No, this is an institution of higher learning. This is a place that, sadly, determines, more than anything else, the amount of money we will make in our lives. The term "diversity" is a romanticized concept that is thrown around here and on every college campus in the United States so that we do not have to address the real taboo of race. We love to tell outright lies about the "diversity," which now is synonymous with "racial diversity" on our campus. The fact remains that most students and teachers on this campus talk around race, but most are of the same one. Most of the times that I see a person of color, he or she is cleaning or serving food. Not all that different from the good ol' days, eh? It used to be about something more—forgive me, for "it" is the only word that I can think of to describe "culture-multicultural-diversity" on campuses today. The real conversation on race died years ago.

Christopher A. Jordan is a freshman in Pierson.

Graphic by Sarah England.

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