For my second auto ethnography project, I decided to explore the sentiment of minority, mostly African-American, students at predominantly white colleges and universities. As a black student at one of these universities, Emory, I feel a personal connection to this subject and all of the similar students feelings. It is difficult to navigate through an environment where you do not always feel welcome, or feel like you constantly have to prove you are worthy and deserving. It is not only black students who share these feelings. Other minorities such as Hispanics and Latinos, also struggle to prove themselves as deserving of the right to attend prestigious colleges and universities. I was inspired to explore this topic from an article on BuzzFeed, that examined a movement led by black students and Harvard University called "I, Too, Am Harvard."
The "I, Too, Am Harvard" was a photo project created by about 60 African American or multiracial students at Harvard. The students all wrote on whiteboards about the discrimination they faced or the negative feelings they felt because they were black at a predominantly caucasian university. The project was created on Tumblr and was featured on BuzzFeed where it received a lot of attention. This is an issue that not only black Harvard students face, but also many students at ivy league, private, and even mostly-white public colleges. The bravery of these Harvard students was inspirational, and also led to similar movements, like the black at Emory University (#BEU) movement.
For minorities, college is not the first face with struggle in earning an education. Oftentimes, minorities come from lower socio-economic positions and urban areas, both of which lead to poorer primary education. Urban high schools, especially, have very low standards for their students and the environments can be completely different than the elite air that surrounds an ivy league education. And for some students, "their college experience is their first major contact with personalized white racism" ("Black Students/White Campus"). Students then feel like they have to work harder than their white peers to prove their self worth to those around them.
The "I, Too, Am Harvard" was a photo project created by about 60 African American or multiracial students at Harvard. The students all wrote on whiteboards about the discrimination they faced or the negative feelings they felt because they were black at a predominantly caucasian university. The project was created on Tumblr and was featured on BuzzFeed where it received a lot of attention. This is an issue that not only black Harvard students face, but also many students at ivy league, private, and even mostly-white public colleges. The bravery of these Harvard students was inspirational, and also led to similar movements, like the black at Emory University (#BEU) movement.
For minorities, college is not the first face with struggle in earning an education. Oftentimes, minorities come from lower socio-economic positions and urban areas, both of which lead to poorer primary education. Urban high schools, especially, have very low standards for their students and the environments can be completely different than the elite air that surrounds an ivy league education. And for some students, "their college experience is their first major contact with personalized white racism" ("Black Students/White Campus"). Students then feel like they have to work harder than their white peers to prove their self worth to those around them.
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