DaShaun Anderson

Jessie Carty
English 1102
October 28, 2014

Racism, is it in your campus?

Racism is defined as the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or
abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another
race or races. There are various forms of racism such as colorism, subtle racism, reverse racism,
and internalized racism. A major problem that is being ignored presently is the issue of racism on
college campuses.
Racism has been an ongoing issue for as long as history can tell. It was not always black
vs. white; it was in different ways. For example the Nazi party who believed in the pure Aryan
race and that blond hair and blue eyes made them pure and better than any other race. One of the
earliest cases of racism on a college campus would be of James Meredith. James was an Air
force veteran and the first African American to enroll and get accepted by the University of
Mississippi. Back then the university was segregated and James decided to test his constitutional
rights. At first James was declined twice but after a Supreme Court decision he was allowed to
be admitted. On October 1, 1962 James was officially a student at the University of Mississippi.
Upon his arrival to the campus there were groups of students and segregationist protesting. They
blocked his way and the military was called by President Kennedy to escort James to class.
Colorism is the practice of discriminatin where people of lighter skinned are treated
better than those with darker skinned. This is a major issue more within the black community
and it occurs more on historically black college or university (HBCU). Colorism is a trending

topic on social network sites; for example, the light skin vs. dark skin debate. There is a stigma
within the black community that light skinned individuals are better off than darker skinned
individuals. This stigma can be traced back to the slave period. Lighter skinned slaves were able
to work in the house and the shade while the darker skinned slaves were out in the hot field.
Even in Greek life black Fraternities and Sororities exhibit colorsism for acceptance. The brown
paper bag test was administered to determine if you were eligible for admission. If your skin was
darker than the brown paper bag then you did not meet the criteria.