Racial Divisions Lingering on Campus Despite Obama Appeal

With the best of both worlds this season - a woman and a minority candidate to choose from in the Democratic race - there's bound to be some angst and uncomfort on the left of the spectrum (remember James Wolcott's great piece on the Democratic split in the left blogosphere).

It seems, though, among young people on the nation's college campuses, Barack Obama's captured the spirit of change.

Yet support for Obama across the range of college-age demographics has yet to break down the entrenched self-segregation of in-group racial dynamics: Young white and black voters are still sitting on opposite sides of the cafeteria.

The Wall Street Journal's got more on the Democrats' campus disunity:

Walking into his "Race and Politics" class recently, David Sparks, a white Duke University political-science graduate student, considered whether to move from his usual seat in the group of white students who always clustered at one end of the seminar table to sit with the black students who typically sat at the other end.

Mr. Sparks didn't do it. "It would have felt too conspicuous," he says. Still, on Tuesday's primary here, Mr. Sparks plans to vote for Sen. Barack Obama for president. That's an easier choice, he says.

"When you're actually trying to change your behavior, you are putting more on the line compared to voting in the privacy of the booth," he says. "There are millions and millions of people voting for Obama. In no way are you sticking your neck out."

Across the country, college campuses have become hotbeds of support for Sen. Obama. Nationally, 70% of Democrats ages 18 to 24 favor Sen. Obama compared with 30% for Hillary Clinton, according to a recent poll by Harvard's Institute of Politics. Many black and many white students wear their Obama buttons and "Got Hope?" T-shirts proudly as a sign that they are part of a post-Civil-Rights generation more welcoming of change and diversity than their parents.

But after classes -- and after the occasional Obama rally -- most black and white students on college campuses go their separate ways, living in separate dormitories, joining separate fraternities and sororities and attending separate parties.

"It's much harder to be a white person and go to an all black party at Duke than vote for Obama, says Jessie Weingartner, a Duke junior. "On a personal level it is harder to break those barriers down."

Jazmyn Singleton, a black Duke senior agrees, After living in a predominantly white dorm freshman year, she lives with five African-American women in an all-black dormitory. "Both communities tend to be very judgmental," says Ms. Singleton, ruefully. "There is pressure to be black. The black community can be harsh. People will say there are 600 blacks on campus but only two-thirds are 'black' because you can't count blacks who hang out with white people."

The racial divisions among college students are striking both because of the fervor for Obama and the increasing diversity on campus. Colleges offer a unique opportunity for students to get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere where many of the issues that often divide blacks and whites, like income and educational levels, are minimized amid the common goals of going to class, playing sports and going to parties.

I wonder what that means, "there's great pressure to be black"?

Is it that "the poison of identity politics" has drastically consigned the races to their respected quarters of campus racial politics, with race grievance and victimization as the driving forces of separation?

A black conservative would likely be just as out of place at one of those "all black parties."

I don't think this is what Dr. King fought and died for, but hey, at least we have Obama's "post-partisanship" and purported "post-racial" appeal to heal the country of its divisions.

And not a moment too soon!