GUEST COLUMNIST: Requiem for the DuBois controversy

Every spring it seems to happen. Someone writes an editorial or column about black separatism and segregation, and W.E.B. DuBois College House becomes its symbolic bastion. Then a flood of letters pours in from everyone in the University community. Some stand up and argue for the need of such a place, but far more prop up their DuBois effigy and quickly topple it over. In this most frustrating of discourses, the finger is casually pointed in one direction. Blacks are viewed as paranoid retreatists, running from non-existent fears, while whites are constructed as the lamentable victims of black protectionism and insecurity. What no one seems to do is closely examine the most segregated group on campus. The group more compartmented and self-segregated than any other. No one talks about the fraternities that consider prospective members based on their parents' income, or the fraternities that are 90 percent Jewish, or those that are 90 percent crew team members or 90 percent Anglo-Saxoned old money, etc. etc. etc. Of course these fraternities don't admit that they are geared toward these sub-groups. And undoubtedly there is the occasional exception -- a black member or the odd Asian member -- in the same way that DuBois has a few white residents. But whites are clearly not flocking to DuBois, and blacks are not scrambling to join Alpha Epsilon Pi. We don't question the need for wealthy, white Protestant young men to belong to the same club and socialize together. We don't question the need for conservative Jews to want to live together and socialize with one another. These desires seem viable and are perhaps socially and psychologically justified. So what of DuBois? What's more, a significant number of black students on this campus attend white fraternity and sorority parties, and a smaller number even belong to some. We go to these parties and dance and have a lot of fun, drink as least as much and share similar hangovers in the morning. When a reporter once asked Ghandi what he thought of Western civilization, he famously replied, "I think it would be a great idea." This same should be said of "integration" at Penn, or anywhere else for that matter. The word "integration"comes from the Latin "integratum" or "made whole." That information may not do anything for my argument, but I would humbly submit that the only way to make something whole is through a coming together of every disparate part. Believe it or not, we're not upset. We see when you preach integration but return every night to your own enclaves. We are not offended, but we do smile to each other and shake our heads sometimes. We look for you at our parties and when you don't show up, we're not altogether surprised. I whisper to my friend that he is lucky you guys don't come because once you saw him dance, you would probably lose your fear of coming to black parties. In the meantime, though, life goes on. Phish and the Grateful Dead will continue to be heard on Locust Walk and big, funny-looking dogs will continue to get walked. And if you don't do anything different, nothing will change. But maybe that's just how things are supposed to be. See you at the Tri-Delt party.

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