The Black Student Union at California State University Los Angeles sent a demand letter to the president of the university in November of 2015. The letter laid out a lists of demands based upon the discrimination and racist attacks on black students. Based on these interactions their demands proposed things like an anti-discrimination policy, $20,000 per quarter for the Black Student Union and a $30 million endowment to help support black students financially. One of their demands has been met with the creation of a black-focused housing space.
The BSU’s letter demanded for the option in that it “would provide a cheaper alternative housing solution for black students” and “would also serve as a safe space for Black CSLA students to congregate, connect, and learn from each other.”
Cal State opened the Halisi Scholars Black Living-Learning Community this fall. This housing space is meant to gather students “interested in issues concerning the black community.” According to the Los Angeles Times, the university says this type of housing is “hardly unique and shuts no one out.” University spokesman Robert Lopez said, “This community is open to all students,” said Cal State L.A. spokesman Robert Lopez. “This living-learning community focuses on academic excellence and learning experiences that are inclusive and non-discriminatory.”
The school is not the first to offer ethnic-themed housing, not by a long shot. UC Berkley has specific Native American, Asian American and African American-themed housing communities, and Stanford has similar housing options for its students. The University of North Carolina has a Spanish House community.
A institution in Oregon, Reed College, even has a community for “students of color to heal together from systemic white supremacy,” and Cornell College in Iowa has a housing community that “confronts “problems and concerns of black students.”
Not everyone is a fan of the creation of housing like this. In an interview with FOX News, National spokesperson for the Congress of Racial Equality, Niger Innis, feels as though housing of this nature unintentionally creates an atmosphere where black students are “the other.” He said, “If they wanted to go to an all-black institution, there are plenty of historically black colleges that still exist. But if they want to go to an institution that is racially diverse and integrated, then racial diversity and integration is part of it. To have a university-sanctioned segregation or separation is, to me, a bit troubling.”
However, the university has not said anything to indicated that this is “segregated housing,” and it is open to all students. If it follows suit of other ethnic-themed housing communities at colleges across the country, it will allow for conversations, interactions and programs for not only black students, but those interested in becoming effective allies.
Still, this creation of housing such as this is sure to continue to spark debates between people who think that this is the purpose of HBCUs, and those who want to have their deserved space at PWIs.
What do you think about race-centric housing at predominantly-white institutions? Let us know in the comments!
