The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 35

Racism, Power, and Place

Diangelo (2011) discusses white fragility
and how White people respond to race-related initiatives. Their responses can become
argumentative, particularly when they feel
"one-upped" by people of color. She states,
"Whiteness itself refers to the specific dimensions of racism that serve to elevate white
people over people of color" (p. 56). With
regard to the UCSH, commenters appear to
use the segregation argument as a diversion
from the real concern; that is, people of color
should not have the right to be separate from
White people, nor should they be extended
a living learning community that decenters
whiteness. We argue, the publication of the
article in IHE served as a trigger for white
fragility among commenters. Diangelo also
explains that segregation is a primary facilitator of white fragility, allowing White people to
live and be educated in predominantly white
spaces and be shielded from the lived realities
of people of color. Therefore, the creation of
the UCSH would likely be difficult for some
White people to digest because it challenges
their racial arrogance. Diangelo explains:
Whites are the least likely to see, understand,
or be invested in validating those assertions
and being honest about their consequences,
which leads Whites to claim that they
disagree with perspectives that challenge
their worldview, when in fact, they don't
understand the perspective. Thus, they
confuse not understanding with not agreeing.
(p. 61)
The comments we share in this portion of the
analysis support the notion that commenters
disagree with the UCSH. Their disagreement,
rooted in misinformed arguments about segregation, points to confusion and misunderstanding of the UCSH purpose and historical

conditions that warrant an institutional response for addressing educational inequities.

INFERIORITY & STEREOTYPES
Another prominent theme was black inferiority and stereotypes. Similar to the manner in
which the theme of segregation shifted power
toward the commenters, the comments regarding black inferiority and stereotypes portrayed
commenters' dominant attitudes toward Black
people. For example, some commenters blatantly issued racial assaults on Black students.
Comments such as "Welcome to the Monkey
House" and "I expect a new gang will form in that
'ghetto dorm' with allegations of wild partying and
criminal behavior (including rape allegations)
eventually resulting from the urban rap culture
they'll be living. Why can't they behave?" not only
transmitted racist stereotypes about Black students, but also represented flagrant presuppositions about their behavior and humanity.
These comments relate to historical references of Black people as uncontrollable
savages with violent tendencies (e.g. wild,
criminal, rapist) (Baker, 1998; Goff, Williams,
Eberhard, & Jackson, 2008; Sharpley-Whiting,
1999). The comments also reveal the disproportionality in crime and punishment that
Black people endure as a result of associations
between them and animals (e.g. monkeys). For
example, Goff et al.'s (2008) study revealed
people in the United States associate Black
people with apes, favor violence toward Black
people and use language associated with apes
to discuss Black people. In other words, the
dehumanization of Black people through animalistic stereotypes promotes racial bias and
violence toward them.

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

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