City setting a mixed blessing for blacks

It can make life easier, and create problems Vision Staff Writer and DANIEL GINGISS Though blacks are in the minority at the University, things change when one steps off campus into the surrounding West Philadelphia area. Living in an urban, predominantly black neighborhood, black University students often have different experiences than black students at other non-urban universities. Sometimes this makes life a little easier for these students, but other times it can create problems. It makes life easier because with the inclusion of West Philadelphia, blacks no longer appear to be in the minority. "I'm really comfortable in this neighborhood because it's similar to my neighborhood at home," said College freshman Sylvie Volel. "I'm more comfortable here in a neighborhood that is predominantly black than I would be in one that is predominantly white." But living in Philadelphia can become difficult when black students are confused with blacks from the area, especially when it comes to crime. "You do have poverty and lots of crime not very far away," said Sociology Professor Elijah Anderson. "A lot of people assume that the source of this crime is black inner-city people. "Black students have to deal with the confusion that white students get into with respect to them and people outside the campus," he continued. "That's the problem that a lot of black students don't like – the social distance that is expressed by some white students towards them? is what makes them feel like outsiders." Anderson added that race relations at the University are complicated by the fact that the campus is positioned so close to crime associated with black offenders. He said white students often have difficulty assuming that blacks on campus are fellow students and not outsiders. Briana Epps, a senior pre-med student at Duke University, said even though the city of Durham, N.C., is predominantly black, her school's campus is not as integrated into the community as this university's campus. In fact, members of the Durham community are rarely seen on campus, she said. "People in the community see Duke as a white upper-middle-class- to upper-class-type institution, so they are very apprehensive about coming onto campus," she said. "Duke is isolated from the community because of people's vision of Duke and because of Duke's vision of the people." Epps was featured on a Sixty Minutes segment in April called "Equal But Separate," which explored race relations at Duke. She said some Duke students try hard to connect more with the community. As an example, white fraternities are "getting out and being 'big brothers' to black kids in the community." Anderson said white students' fears of black West Philadelphians may be slightly warranted, because statistics show that since there are more blacks than whites in West Philadelphia, more crime is necessarily committed by blacks. In addition, he said, black students often have similar fears. "I think black students themselves become skeptical of young black males they associate with in the city and off campus," he said. "So white students probably look for the same things black students do in terms of protecting [themselves]." Anderson blamed the crime problem on economic and social changes in the country, which cause some people to "gravitate to the underground economy of crime." Epps said black students at Duke are also often confused with outside community members. "Our public safety [officers] harass black people when they come onto campus," she said. "If you don't have a Duke ID, they will harass you and take you down to the station." Anderson said if the Philadelphia community were to change, attitudes toward black students at the University might also change. "You might have more tolerance among people because you wouldn't have to worry about crime problems so much," he said. "Black people on campus could then be assumed to be fellow students."

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