Forum for race relations generates discussion on campus

Students discussed race relations on campus at an event hosted by Delta Sigma Theta and Iota Phi Theta Wednesday. The sorority and fraternity wanted to bring attention to the issue and see what students had to say about it.

The event featured both a documentary and a panel of students and professors to offer insight on the topic. The audience was encouraged to participate and offer input.

"We're targeting everyone on campus, not just African Americans," said Amber Brown, a senior nursing major from Meridian and a member of Delta Sigma Theta.

"We made a documentary, and we tried to get a variety of people – African Americans, Caucasians, Asians. We just really tried to mix it up."

In the documentary, students were asked tough questions about race, including what stereotypes they associate with certain ethnicities.

"We went around campus, around the union, asking people different questions about race relations and stereotypes," explained Kiet Le, a senior entertainment and industry management major and a member of Iota Phi Theta.

In the video, students were asked how they felt about interracial dating. One student said his opinion has changed since he came to college, and now it does not bother him. His family, however, still disapproves.

"That's how my family is," he said. "You can try to change that, but that's how they are."

In another portion of the video, Brown and Le asked students if racism existed on USM's campus. They received contrasting feedback.

"I personally don't think there's huge displays of racism," said one student, adding her thoughts on the Greek life system. "I feel like they're good at making the black and white sororities and fraternities work together."

Another student disagreed.

"I see two different colleges," he said. "There's an African American side of the college, and there's a white side of the college. We have our events, and they have theirs. Sometimes we mingle."

When the panel discussed racism, Vrita Delaine, who was one of the first black students at a predominantly white school, offered advice to those who might face discrimination.

"You can play into it, or you can disprove it," she said.

A student on the panel, Jonathan Pegues, presented a similar challenge to these students.

"If you get out there and put yourself out there and talk to these people that look and act differently than you, you'll feel accepted," he said. "It's not the campus; it's the person doing it to themselves."