African American Student Organizations As Agents of Social Integration

Journal of College Student Development, May/Jun 2003 by Guiffrida, Douglas A

Rather than battling through these perceived barriers within the mainstream student organizations, many students opted to invest their energies into the more comfortable environments of the African American student organizations.

Although the students in this study described these experiences often, the experiences were perceived as especially disturbing to students who came from allBlack areas who were interacting with White peers as a minority for the first time (as opposed to interacting with Whites in a predominantly Black environment). Those with prior experience interacting with White peers identified three main reasons for their ability to deal with these situations: (a) they were familiar with being the minority and were not on as high an "alert" for signs of alienation; (b) they had developed patience with White students, often attributing insensitive comments and actions to ignorance from lack of exposure; and (c) they were used to this type of friendly but distant relationships with White peers, some even preferring not to be close to White students. Additionally, they described themselves as having "realistic expectations" of their relationships with White students.

Yet being familiar with navigating the environment did not necessarily equate to being comfortable in it. Even those familiar with predominantly White educational settings described how much more welcoming other African American students were to them. They also emphasized how tiring it was being "the only one" and the necessity of having an all-Black environment in which they could feel more comfortable.

African American student organizations also provided students with an outlet to discuss their experiences and frustrations of being a minority. This included discussing incidents at the university or in the community that they perceived as covertly racist, such as being followed around in a store by security. Students explained that their White peers were hesitant to recognize or empathize with them regarding these experiences. However, within the African American organizations, students were able to express these issues with others who could relate to them, understand their perceptions, and support them.

The opportunities the groups provided to meet people like themselves, to feel welcome, and to discuss their feelings of alienation and covert racism were all described as important to their definition of the comfort the students received from their involvement. However, the most central aspect of being comfortable was the opportunity the groups provided for the students to let their guards down and be themselves. As the minority, students said they felt the need to be guarded with their opinions and actions when they were around Whites. One reason for this was to avoid offending others. For example, two students shared incidents in which they had told race-related jokes that they believed to be innocent but that were taken as offensive by White students. Several others told of getting into heated political dialogues with White students who, they later realized, could not possibly understand their political views. Within the African American organizations, they felt free to tell jokes or express radical political views.