The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1 - 150

Terrell L. Strayhorn • Taris G. Mullins

three sources of support that enabled them to persevere in campus rHs, despite challenges. each of these themes is discussed below, using verbatim quotations from participants to illuminate the context from which themes came, as well as to unpack the meaning and significance of each finding.

for some reason, the character looked darker on the screen and he was like, “damn, i don’t want to be no nigger.” Then they paused and looked at me, laughing. When i wore my wave cap at night, he would say things like “i hope you ain’t turning into no thug.” always laughing . . . but i never really said much because we had to live together, you know. not all encounters with racism in campus rHs were overt or explicit; participants also described in detail several subtle forms of racism that they experienced, ranging from signs and symbols to “implied racism through spoken preferences,” as one participant explained. Jeremy offered the following illustration that captures the essence of this point: That’s what i was going to say. i mean it’s not always like 1940s blatant racism anymore . . . it’s more subtle than that. like stuff that’s said on posters and signs on the wall. don’t get me wrong blatant sh** happens [laughing]. i know when i lived in [said hall] some of the White guys on the hall would use “the n-word” like casual and they thought that i messed around so they wrote “Black faggots suck” on the bathroom stall . . . every time the janitor would wash it off, it would get back up there somehow. so it ain’t always like right in your face but implied kind of . . . generally speaking, Bgmus in the present study reported fairly frequent encounters with subtle and overt forms of racism while living in campus rHs. derogatory remarks were the most common form of racism, with incidents ranging from joking, name-calling, and graffiti to signs and posters on rH walls. roommates were identified as the primary perpetrators of such acts; in most cases, these acts were committed by White male peers. these findings

BGMUs’ Experiences with Racism from White Male Peers in RHs
all Bgmus in the study reported varied experiences with subtle and overt forms of racism while living in campus rHs. approximately 70% of participants identified their roommate as the primary perpetrator of such acts and, virtually in all cases, the perpetrators were White male peers who lived on campus. derogatory remarks were the most common form of racism described by our participants. racist remarks ranged from “Blacks are lazy” to “nigger,” also referred to as “the n-word” by participants. Other types of racist encounters included racist jokes, graffiti, and name-calling. respondents shared several stories describing incidents when their rH peers, mostly White males, would employ name-calling as a way of “playing around” or “airing his anger and frustration.” racist name-calling ranged from historical insults (e.g., “porch monkey”) to contemporary terms (e.g., “thug” or “my nigga”). consider the following comment from dylan, which reflected that of others: it can be pretty direct and in your face at times. i remember my first year in [said hall]. My roommate was this White guy from the woods . . . like he would always talk about growing up on a farm somewhere. We were playing Wii one night with his buddy—Mario Brothers the game—and he was luigi.

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The Journal of College and universiTy sTudenT housing

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1