What must it be like to be a minority student at Pomona College?

What must it be like not to be white, and yet to be surrounded by white people all the time, every single day?

What must it be like to be a minority student and to be served by minorities at the dining halls every single day?

What must it be like to go to a school in which your average fellow student simply cannot relate to your family life, cannot relate to your friends back home, and just cannot relate to how you grew up?

What must it be like to be judged either a respectable college student in the eyes of some, a sell-out in the eyes of others, or simply inadequate in the eyes of others still, and have that judgment be passed solely because of one's race?

What would that be like? Well, I can only imagine. After all, I'm white.

Now, obviously not all white people are similar, and not all minorities share the same experiences-whites and minorities alike can come from backgrounds that defy simple generalization.

But the point remains, and I think it's a valid one, that in general, minority students personally, and often on a daily basis, confront a whole set of issues that your average white student will never have to deal with, ever.

Not only do many minority students face the larger challenge of existing in a country whose collective images of success and power are white (specifically, white and male), and whose images of minorities are largely limited to stereotypes or 'unlikely success stories,' they also face the challenge of spending their days at a small, liberal arts college surrounded by a white majority which tends to dominate its overall culture.

"Yeah," you're saying to yourself as you read this article, "but doesn't everybody already know this?" Well, I think the appropriate answer would be yes and no.

If we're purely talking about the racial situation at Pomona on an intellectual level, then I would say that yes, in fact the vast majority of Pomona's white students recognize that minority students face challenges that white students do not.

On the other hand, however, I'm not convinced that the same vast majority of white students has ever considered what it would actually feel like to constantly be marginalized day in and day out, not necessarily as the result of deliberately harmful or exclusionary acts.

Simply because the majority of the student body, a white majority, doesn't generally share the same background and worldview and culture, thereby making social mixing between races less likely, and thereby insuring that minorities won't have the same share of influence over Pomona's 'mainstream' culture.

If I were in such a situation, I would be damn frustrated. Briefly imagine, if you will, that yourself and others like you are always excluded from the privilege that comes with being a member of the racial and cultural majority in this country.

Well, if you are a minority, then I guess this exercise wouldn't require a great leap of imagination. If you are white, do you realize how lucky you are?

But don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that white students at Pomona should either feel that they are somehow to blame for this situation, or that they should feel pity towards minority students.

After all, it's not as if your average white person actively 'chose' to enjoy the privilege that comes with being a racial majority. But it is equally true that racial minorities never chose to be at a social disadvantage-rather, it's just a matter of fact. And since it is the case that racial minorities at Pomona College (and in the United States in general) tend to be marginalized in large part because of the simple fact of their minority status, a substantial burden therefore falls not only on those in positions of power, but also on those who enjoy the cultural, political, and economic privileges that come with majority status (read: white people), to actively and consciously seek to eliminate the cultural inequalities that arise from the situation.

So if you find yourself confused or frustrated that Pomona makes room in its budget for such projects as the Asian American Resource Center, the Office of Black Student Affairs, or the Chicano/Latino Student Affairs Center, think twice about what these programs really do.

In establishing comfortable spaces within which minorities can interact with those of similar backgrounds, they help to reduce the natural social inequality that results from being of minority status.

In other words, they confer a privilege which white students always have at Pomona, and often-times take for granted.

However, despite these positive steps towards fairness in the social realm of Pomona College, it is sad for me as a human being to realize that even such programs, which ostensibly pursue equality, are also predicated upon the idea that people have a need to be with others who are culturally similar, often to the de facto exclusion of others. But who can deny the truth of that statement?

The fact will always remain, it seems, that people, regardless of race, tend to associate with others who are similar to themselves.

Therefore, so long as there are cultural differences in the world, people will generally 'stick to their kind,' as it were, both culturally speaking and otherwise.

This is as true at Pomona College as it is anywhere else. I guess I just wish it were different sometimes.

A final point. While I commend those out there who put their time and effort into making Pomona a place in which minorities feel just as comfortable as whites, I can't help but think that Pomona is in a sense 'too white,' at least as of yet, to be a truly diverse community that successfully accommodates those who don't fall into Pomona's white, upper-middle-class mold.

However, despite the imperfect reality of the current situation, I nevertheless believe that if we constantly challenge ourselves to better our community and always remind ourselves that there is always progress to be made, then we can be assured that a better future is within our grasp.