MIA forum debunks biases

Students and faculty members spent an evening in open discussion about racial stereotypes and biases at the MIA: A Minority in America event at the Ferguson Social Science Auditorium on Sept. 27.

The Hispanic Student Association (HAS) and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority sponsored the event, which featured a panel answering questions or comments about racial stereotypes. Before entering the Auditorium, attendees wrote down anonymous questions and racial biases they had heard of or experienced. Those stereotypes were then chosen at random and talked about openly by the panel and audience members.

"The purpose is to break down barriers from different stereotypes that people say around the world," Amanda Berkhalter, president of Delta Sigma Theta, said. "Basically, it's proving them wrong and letting them know that something that you may have been taught when you were younger is not necessarily true. It's to give students knowledge about different cultures and backgrounds."

The panel consisted of Assistant Professor of counseling Dr. LaVelle Hendricks, adjunct interim professor of social work Carla Asbill, Assistant Professor of political science Dr. Robert Rodriguez and junior and President of ANGLS – an organization supporting the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and transexual students – Eduardo Sneed.

Biases given by attendees included the idea that Latino Americans or African Americans were better dancers, women are bad drivers, and the Latino American population boom being linked to certain races being more "fertile." All of these stereotypes, and more, were talked about by the panel as they made arguments to the contrary based on statistics and facts.

For example, when the stereotype of African Americans being on food stamps was brought up, Asbill said, according to social work statistics, the majority of the American population on food stamps is white.

This is exactly what HSA President Margon Sanchez said would be the goal of MIA: to provide clarification to students that share a campus with such a diverse crowd.

"People really don't think, since it's such a small school, that we're as diverse as other schools," Sanchez said. "But, it's totally to the contrary; we have plenty of ethnicities and backgrounds here."

In the anonymous question-answer session, the panel was able to go deeper into the causes and solutions to racial stereotypes.

"You have a framework in your mind, and it's what we all have," Rodriguez said about why stereotypes exist. "It becomes dangerous when we act on those stereotypes and it becomes our mindset."

Both Asbill and Hendricks spoke of the importance for students to travel and experience things outside of their day-to-day routine.

"We're always going to judge each other," Hendricks said. "It's when we focus on those judgments when it becomes a problem. We need to experience different things; things like this that help break down those walls."

Sophomore radio/television major Kayla Furlough took part in MIA and said she felt like it was a good experience for anyone who attended.

"I thought it was really good, I did like it. I felt like a lot of the stereotypical questions that everyone asked were put out in the open. They are ignorant questions, but they needed to be put out there. So, I thought it was very good that everyone got to voice their opinion."