As an international student from England, a lot of the people I meet are keen to know why I chose the come to the University of Alabama. Despite the excellent reputation of the university, Alabama, along with other institutions in the deep south, is not known for its equality and diversity. Hailing from a fairly liberal campus in Leicester, many of my peers back home see the conservative south as a world away. Racism and segregation are topics that we associate with the south, but avoid speaking openly about them or confronting them head on.
Until now.
The Crimson White
On September 11th 2013, The Crimson White reported on the issue of segregation within several sororities who had refused to admit new members on racial grounds. I was working in the Crimson White office the night the story was put together, and my initial thought was , I’m not surprised.
Why?
Had this issue occurred at the University of Leicester, there would have been an uproar. The subject would have been called up in Union Parliament, our student government, which is very transparent and open to anyone who wants to attend. There would have been protests on campus, lobbying of university and union officials and national media attention.
Montgomery Advertiser
The reaction at Alabama was not dissimilar. Since the article was released last wednesday there has been international media attention, protests and University president Judy Bonner has been called on for a response. But when I’ve asked individual students about the issue, their reactions have been overwhelmingly apathetic.
Molly Olmstead is a junior, majoring in Journalism. She is from Gulf Shores, AL and isn’t part of a Sorority. She said:
There seems to be a greek related scandal every single fall that the CW takes on and yet nothing seems to come from it. But this year does feel different.
I can empathize with Molly. I’ve been on campus less than 6 weeks, and my reaction to the issue was similarly apathetic. Despite being somewhat of an outsider in the issue, I’ve been confronted with racism and segregation on more than one occasion here in Alabama.
At social events, students ask me outright, “what do you think of black people”, eager to know about the integrated society in England that they’re so unfamiliar with here. A fraternity member informed me that they don’t allow black members because they “scare off all the girls” and some of my peers have advised me not to go to certain areas of town because “you’ll be the only white person there”.
Yet, Molly also added:
I feel optimistic that we’re going to get more done this year than in previous years. But I feel pessimistic in that I don’t feel any significant change is going to come about this year. There needs to be more of a long term solution.
Now, with the eyes of the world’s media on Alabama, will it make a stand against segregation, or continue to stick its head in the sand?
Phoebe Rees JN325 Portfolio 