Discriminations

Is it kind to post links to pay sites?

Here it is:

[A glance at the current issue of the Journal of Black Studies: Intercultural dynamics at historically black colleges

A communications gap between African and African-American students, both on and off college campuses, arises in part from stereotypes that each group believes about the other, and the same stereotypes hinder efforts on both sides to bridge that gap, two researchers write.
Kehbuma Langmia, an assistant professor of broadcast technology and television studies at Bowie State University, and Eric Durham, an adjunct professor in the department of communication at George Mason University, led focus groups at Bowie State and at Howard University to study how African and African-American students at historically black colleges and universities perceive their relationship. The researchers also investigated how both groups communicate with nonstudents off their campuses.

African students told the researchers that African-Americans made fun of their accents, while African-American students said African students and nonstudents viewed them as lazy. Both preconceptions make it difficult for effective communication and relationship-building to take place, Mr. Langmia and Mr. Durham say.

"It becomes clear that not only are African-American students possibly not showing interest in African history, culture, and value system, but African students may not illustrate reciprocity in this matter, either," they write.

Because African-American students distance themselves from African students, the latter group sees African-Americans as having a superiority complex. The fact that many African-American students believe that Africans view themselves as more hardworking does not help the matter.

Some students do not see the relationship as hostile, but their calling it "cordial" does not imply familiarity, the researchers add.

Even though such ethnocentric perceptions are obstacles to mutual understanding, the authors write, both Africans and African-Americans expressed "a yearning for the presence, maintenance, and perpetuation of improved intercultural dialogue."

The two scholars see the solution as one of educating both groups about their cultural differences.

The article, "Bridging the Gap: African and African-American Communication in Historically Black Colleges and Universities," is temporarily available free through Sage Publications.]

That's the entire "Premium" article at H.E. found via Google/cache. The Sage Publications link referenced at the bottom of the article is a pdf.

Wait! Don't you know that this isn't the KIND of diversity that the diversophiles always talk about?? ;-)

It benefits White European-American supremacy to have Black Afrikans in disunity Willie Lynch Rules 1712

Given the tenor of this discussion, there seems to be some sort of SHOCK that all blacks don't think or act the same.

Why is that?

--Cobra

Does anyone honestly believe that the students of either group would say anything remotely like "a yearning for the presence, maintenance, and perpetuation of improved intercultural dialogue"?

Freeman, you left "male" out. Remember, its "White European-American MALE supremacy."

That's an odd comment for you to make, Cobra.

You have repeatedly labeled all blacks who disagree with you as "race traitors."

I'm SHOCKED that you believe that blacks have a right to act or have opinions other than those you have blessed.

Cobra - your question is easy to answer. It is hardly a surprise that some think that blacks are monolithic in their views. Look at the universities themselves and their admissions policies - they value pigment and equate having a certain number of people with skin color attributes with "diversity". Of course, there is no singular black perspective, even in the face of the common historical experience of discrimination. I for one do confess to a feeling of emotional unease at instiutions where blacks are poorly represented, merely because it doesn't speak well for us as a society and the progress we hoped to make after the passage of the civil rights laws. But it makes me really uncomfortable to start preferring one sub-culture over another in terms of admissions or jobs (it has been suggested by some top flight schools that they are too many non-African American blacks, for example), and it does show just what a slippery slope race preferences can invite. Ultimately, especially given the immigration patterns in this country, we are going to have to simply move past race as a preferential consideration in admissions, employment and the like. I think affirmative action supporters for the most part agree with that conclusion, but don't want to see it happen anytime soon. In comments incident to the Bakke case, Justice Marshall suggested that it may take 100 years to level the playing field and only at that point should race preferences be abandoned. Justice O'Connor in Gratz stated that it should only be 25 years. And of course now some think that preferences should cease immediately - see the holding in the recent Parents United case re Seattle and Louisville. Whatever the case, the trend certainly isn't swinging upward - and I think a recognition that race preferences are not the be all and end all needs to be digested. There are profound cultural, structural and educational issues in some elements of our communities to day that lead to all sorts of negative externalities, and the need to be addressed and fixed on their own merit irrespective of race preferences.

Willowglen writes:

>>>"I for one do confess to a feeling of emotional unease at instiutions where blacks are poorly represented, merely because it doesn't speak well for us as a society and the progress we hoped to make after the passage of the civil rights laws."

Well, you won't find too many people here to agree with you on that. You see, your fellow anti-affirmative action types are deadset AGAINST "proportionate representation." They'll be happy to tell you that their "color-blind" philosophy allows them to IGNORE a paucity of minorities, particularly African-Americans in any given enviornment. This has been bourne out in post after post on this blog.

Willowglen writes:

>>>"Ultimately, especially given the immigration patterns in this country, we are going to have to simply move past race as a preferential consideration in admissions, employment and the like."

There's nothing "simple" about "moving past race" in America, IMHO. Race has been at the center of America since its enception. America, in many ways is still a segregated nation.
http://fairhousingmontco.org/Resources/Trends_Reports/2006_Fair_Housing_Trends_Report.pdf

"Moving past" race is going to take a lot more than banning affirmative-action, no matter what opportunity obstructionists who post on this blog may say.

Stephen writes:

>>>"I'm SHOCKED that you believe that blacks have a right to act or have opinions other than those you have blessed."

Of course I do. You don't think I would sit back let you hog all the fun of criticizing black people, right?

--Cobra