At least four students of color were recently attacked by other students with balloons filled with bleach while walking in West Campus, a student neighborhood near UT Austin. These attacks come at a time when the nation is debating whether UT Austin -- and the United States -- are "post-racial."
Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, a case that challenges the use of race in the University's admissions policies.
Some proponents of race-conscious admissions argue that these policies are still necessary because of the historical exclusion of people of color from educational opportunities. Indeed, the only other time that a case involving UT Austin came before the U.S. Supreme Court was in 1950, when the University was sued by Heman Sweatt, a black man who was denied admission to the School of Law because of his race.
Meanwhile, opponents argue that UT Austin's race-conscious admissions policies are no longer necessary in our "post-racial" society. But anyone who believes that we live in a "post-racial" society only needs to walk around the campus of UT Austin and the surrounding neighborhoods to know that this is not true.
While I was disgusted like everyone else to hear about the "bleach-bombing" attacks, I was not surprised. I lived in West Campus for several years while I was an undergraduate student at UT and I regularly witnessed white students throw objects or shout racial slurs from high-rise balconies at people of color walking on the sidewalk below. I also regularly participated in protests against racially-themed fraternity parties and on-campus events held on Cinco de Mayo in which fraternity members dressed like Border Patrol agents ran around the campus capturing other fraternity members wearing sarapes, sombreros, and t-shirts that read, "Illegal alien."
The public -- and the Supreme Court -- must understand that these are not isolated incidents, and they are not merely tasteless pranks taken too far. These acts of racial violence -- let's call them what they are -- are symptomatic of a larger history and culture at UT Austin in which implicit and explicit racial hierarchies persist, even as the University strives to be recognized for diversity in its students, faculty, and scholarship.
In this way, UT Austin is a microcosm of the country, where progress on racial equality masks persistent racial hierarchies and racism.
While I was glad to witness the unveiling of the statue of Cesar Chavez in 2007, I was still surrounded by symbols of dominant historical narratives that silence the contributions made by women and people of color throughout the history of the United States. Although the University renamed a dormitory named after a law professor who was also the leader of the Florida Ku Klux Klan, there are still statues of Jefferson Davis (leader of the Confederacy) and Robert E. Lee (chief general of the Confederacy) displayed prominently on the South Mall.
The statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. -- where students recently gathered to discuss Fisher v. Texas and the racially-motivated "bleach-bombings" -- faces toward the east side of Austin, where gentrification, fueled in large part by the dominating presence of the University, continues to displace low-income black and Latino families that have historically lived there but cannot afford soaring house prices, rents and property taxes.
After college, I attended graduate school at the University's Center for Mexican American Studies, one of the first in the nation committed to cultivating scholarship about Mexican American and Chicano people, history, and culture. But I was shocked at the level of hypocrisy when, in 2010, administrators in the College of Liberal Arts proposed substantial budget cuts for African American Studies, Mexican American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Women and Gender Studies, while at the same time proposing a budget increase for the Center for European Studies.
While it is clear that UT Austin is trying to move beyond its history of racism and racial discrimination, the University still must do more. And while we should not dismiss these efforts, we must continue to demand an end to racism and racial violence at and around UT Austin. Increasing police presence in West Campus is not the answer; the struggle for racial equality at UT Austin has been, and will continue to be, achieved by student-led actions with support from faculty and members of the community.
If UT Austin wants to be internationally recognized for genuine diversity in its students, faculty, and scholarship it must do more than defend the constitutionality of its race-conscious admissions policies. The University must listen to the students when they protest proposed policies or budget cuts, and commit to building more equal and mutually beneficial relationships with communities of color that surround the institution.
Put simply, the only way for the University of Texas at Austin to move beyond its racist history is to use it as a mandate to become a symbol of racial justice.
Gabriel Daniel Solis is a Research Associate in the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. He attended the University of Texas at Austin from 2005 to 2011.
First off, to say that Asians and Jews living in "ghettos" do very well on college admissions test.. you are missing the whole point. Why not pick up a copy of The People's History of the United States.... black people were brought here to the United States and Hispanics and Native Americans were killed off in the thousands. What happens to a group of people when this happens and when they are not given rights til only a few decades ago? They grow up in sub-par communities! They grow up with a lower level of education because of the income neighborhoods they live in. They grow up working 10 times harder than another student who came from an affluent family! How is this hard for you to understand? That is very different than someone whose family immigrated to a country! It has nothing to do with culture... that is completely rude and you, sir, are the type of person that helps to bring this great nation backwards!
Here is what you're not understanding Mr. Solis - in Texas, and probably in other states in the US, the public K-12 school system is segregated. You'll have that elementary school in that upper middle class neighborhood in Leander ISD where 90% of the students are white and in the same economic status while on the east side of Round Rock ISD, you'll have that black sheep of the district elementary school that receives less funding than the other ones with 2/3 hispanics and blacks, 1/3 white, and most of them being economically disadvantaged. Your article here is redundant, has a very poor point, and displays ignorance from a typical Texan with his head up his ass. I strongly suggest that when you visit your home state again, go visit an elementary school and during recess, you'll see the hispanic ELL kids playing with each other while the white kids play with each other, etc...
How is some white kid who's gone to school with peers of his race and of his economic status all through K-12 supposed to embrace diversity when they attend UT Austin?
I suggest you focus on your law studies at NYU. Trying to make a point on this topic is not something you are well-suited for.
When you admit a black or latino with lower SAT scores you are cheating a white or Asian out of a place in a prestigious college and that is wrong.
You cannot punish someone for their race, nor can you reward them.
I think I would rather be internationally recognized for having the best and brightest. Which is more important?
"A person of color." What does that mean? Not-white. But guess what? White is still a color. So now the author is stating that White people are colorless! I am offended!
Freedom of speech? Not in our new Progressive utopia.
Neither white nor black are colors, you know.
""They did not file reports when the alleged incidents happened. Our chief of police heard about the incidents through the grapevine and sought out the victims," asking them to file reports, Cindy Posey, spokeswoman for campus police, told the Los Angeles Times. The alleged victims did so on Tuesday and Wednesday, she said.
Police, however, have not confirmed that the balloons were filled with bleach, or that the attacks happened, Posey said."