Being a White Student at a Historically Black College

I know College is really about getting an education but here you can get like an education academically as well as education through life also so much of it is that Brotherhood component that I thought was it was rare and so when it came time to apply to schools did you apply anywhere else or no more houses at the only school that I applied to walking down Brown Street and having people acknowledging you and affirming you that's something that if they do here and I love that try to culture shock southern hospitality is a beautiful thing students here they are extremely hardworking and creative we produce more black attorneys we produce the most black doctors anybody around you they're black students they're black artists this place is secret I think this is a safe space for black students and this school was gonna challenge me in ways that I probably would not have gotten at other institutions and if we had white people just come in here I will feel disrespected I am as a result of you know this school do you feel like you really belong here I feel like I belong here if I'm putting in the word decibel we're on the campus of Morehouse College Morehouse is an historically black men's college that was founded out of the necessity to give a culturally safe space to black students who are being excluded by predominantly white institutions in 2018 their existence feels necessary for a lot of the same reasons in the past year alone hate groups are openly marching on college campuses a white student admitted on Instagram to tampering with her black roommates personal belongings another black student had the police called on her while sleeping on a couch in the common area of her dorm and others are still victims of racially motivated attacks the thing is Morehouse like so many other HBCUs is navigating one of the most difficult financial climates it's seen since its establishment and in order to keep their doors open they've turned to the recruitment of non black students that we want to come together but for some of you coming together means ignoring our experiences and while shows like dear white people have dramatized the tension around white students entering black spaces on college campuses that tension is very real at places like Morehouse so we're here to meet Thiago he's a non-traditional freshman at Morehouse and we're gonna find out what it's like being a non black student at an all-black school Tiago what's going on what's up homie are you doing what's your name man Chris Chris so I got to actually put on my my outfit before we start do you mind if I sit on your bed Oh respect to you I'm sorry now I got you I got you always ask first I appreciate it I'm not trying to violate so I was freshman year Ben it's a little bit of a culture shock having it be a new setting a new city you know when I first got here they told me you know people are gonna always come up to you and ask you why'd you come to Morehouse you know people looking at me like oh wow who is this person so that's something that was totally different but the cool thing is that it's like representative southern hospitality which I really appreciate so my middle name is actually Jimmy because we share the same birthday that's cool yeah my dentist gave this to me that he's been saving for decades you know growing up in predominantly black kindergarten and elementary school and then transitioning to a more white affluent community in my high school you know you get to see the two different levels I think it was just psychologically just like you know put me into this position where like I'm naturally more gravitated towards the black community than the white community what made you want to come to this school why Morehouse I think I just wanted something you know different how did your friends and peers and your family how did they respond to this decision my family was cool with it but I don't think they really believed that you know it was gonna end up happening and that's no knock on them I love my family and then you know peers they didn't respond initially well to the idea of more house so my kids they like ridiculed you yeah definitely first so it was a hard process this was like my dream right if people were trashing it so I had a ton of self-doubt and going through this like sort of like identity crisis kind of realizing oh what am i doing you know am i doing what's right because everybody's saying it's wrong but every time I took a trip up here at morehouse people told me oh man they're gonna love you here I was like okay why am I being treated better here more house by strangers then you know people back home Morehouse like many of the 101 HBCU still operating in the United States was founded in the late 1800s to educate freed slaves who were refused access to predominantly white institutions over time they evolved in the culturally safe spaces where black students were encouraged to be free thinking and could escape the oppression that lived outside their campus gates and these environments help sculpt the great black minds of America and Morehouse in particular has produced alumni like Martin Luther King jr. Spike Lee and samuel l.jackson but this legacy is put at risk with the active recruitment of non black students like we've seen at West Virginia State or Bluefield state both HBCUs with black student populations of less than 10% so I spoke with Damon Phillips from the school's Communications Office to find out why I mean ultimately it's about finances ultimately we need to find ways to fund our institutions differently than we have in the past and so a lot of schools are now recruiting what we consider non-traditional HBCU students but white students Asian students Hispanic students there's a big push has that been met with any criticism from alumni or current students a lot of people have issue with it you know you guys occur more how students how does that make you feel when you think about the idea that there could be a growing number of white students on this campus I'm on the fence about it because I feel like you know I should still accept people who they are however at one point in time we weren't allowed in high school just because of the color of our skin now am i saying because of the color their skin they're not welcome here no but I am saying here at Morehouse College they're known for producing black what's taught here is not only how we fight for it for where we are but how we fight for who we are outside of these gates if you grew up in an environment where you were mistreated and abused and just you know belittled by white people you really don't want to see them when you come to a black space that bothers me because we have to provide a safe haven for our children so there's a frame of thought that's based in fear that if you let one person in then before you know it everyone will come in in their schools that we've seen historically they've had that where you've got Kentucky States and Tennessee States in West Virginia States which is 95 percent white but still an HBCU so people are afraid of that type of thing happening you'd be where kind of tipping if you have 10 black student white students at Morehouse that's not gonna affect the culture 100 maybe if they made the decision to come to an HBCU you have to expect that there is a level that they are at you know you have this fear that they're at a base level if they decide to come to an HBCU the white student that conceivably would come here wouldn't necessarily have the same commitment because they don't understand the struggle if they're not coming in with like a base level of knowledge you know this is the knowledge that you need to have have you ever gotten a how to navigate white America Hamza I I miss my papi I'm very comfortable with things not necessarily being integrated do you feel like your presence here you're infringing upon what's supposed to be a culturally safe space for people that don't look like you I see how people would like think of it from that perspective I know that like I come here as a white person white male in this country we do have privilege now how can we use our privilege for the betterment of society how do you feel like this experience is changing you thus far the most fundamental change right out of everything is turning me away from a self-absorbed experience is both decentralizing the attitude of whiteness right the attitude that I'm smarter that I deserve this opportunity more than you the attitude of supremacy understanding that had I not come across Morehouse I probably would have never delved deep into learning about you know the true history of this country all the you know the things that the US government has done to keep people down I wouldn't think it's fair for someone who characterize you as a person that is seeking a black experience but how do you respond to people who think you're here because you want to be black um just just recognizing that that's just not my truth no I don't want to change you know the color of my skin or act like they stereotype of black people in society but there are elements to black culture like the hospitality besides yeah they're listening CIA's monitoring right now man I know they are losing wine that's what the grilled chicken yellow rice dish yellow right yeah I'm sure all of you had sort of like an idea of what Moor house is gonna be by the time that you got here did you guys think you were gonna have like a white friend when you got the moor house next to me - so when I seen him on moving bed I hadn't expected UTI though and even after I did meet together I didn't expect to talk to the ttio after all right well at first I didn't know his intentions so I didn't I didn't trust the alcove too much everyone was a little bit skeptical of white person in this black space just because an America weekend if you have a history of white people coming into black spaces doing that's okay then right but see how that's a great dude like he's not doing this to be in some experiment he's doing this for the same reason that I'm here I was abandoned and when he explains to me why I was like wow like that's my loss you know he kind of has the same vision that you know a more automation so their only reason that like I'm being able to be cool everybody is because of these sort of interactions that godlike Kaleo guys like Brandon Johnson Jackson Kip men and Morehouse and Morehouse men throughout my life that have like helped me develop as a person so really I'm just another person here ultimately I have to speak in Thiago for the first time I knew the wrong thing to do was make her feel like she's not loved she's a mute injured so in order for me to change his mind said I needed to be cool what is the thing that you love the most about Morehouse is what do you value the most about this place what I pretty much love the most is the mission or Morehouse that sort of unique mission of having men become leaders that just changed the world practically and that's something that I wanted to be a part of have you taken any leadership positions since you've arrived to you so I am the president of this dorm which is deemed as a big deal right because of you know the obvious wait what's the obvious obviously you know a white student and by the most famous dorm being the president of that mmmthat's uh feel like very ironical right that's the right word so you're being the president of graves rubbed some people the wrong way oh definitely how did you become president I ran an election I remember like I wanted to run for Vice President or treasurer because I didn't think you know president was possible I didn't have that courage but people in this hall encouraged me and then I ran what somebody taught me was that it's never about somebody voting for you it's always about the message have you had to confront your minority status here at this institution yeah um you know a student earlier this semester you know stopped me and asked me why am I here and we're like a condescending undertone right anywhere you know people are not gonna like you so I was a little bit you know anxious and whatnot not scared but anxious you know I hope people will accept me people might say something or look at me a certain way it's fine it's not personal especially because like most of those people you know they don't know me but it's okay the history of this country right and all the oppression has led people to feel this way and I would say 99% of my experience this year have been extremely amazing about 1% I don't take it personally well at the end of day everybody has their own individual judgment I judge you know you judge we all judge but when people get to know me I think people will have their own perspectives ok we're gonna go talk to Professor Robin Marcus an HBCU alumni and former professor to get her perspective on why historically black colleges and universities are so important when you're walking across a campus and you're reminded of who also walked on those on that lawn right who said in those rooms the legacy is palpable to be able to step into that space know that it was carved out for you when the rest of your life says something very different about your value your intelligence your potential at least for four years you're not gonna have to think about racism and so when a white student says you know I wanted to try something different or you know I felt this calling to the mission of the school what is what are you here um well that's nice but you can't you don't understand what it meant for this grass to be this this sod to be here you you don't know that what does that mean though that means that the shared the body the full weight of history what that institution has stood for what it has meant for us us black people is it reverse racism to have schools that are only for black students okay so I don't even understand that word that term for real and I get that is an argument it's a specious one it's a dumb one racism has to do with structures with systems with legislation all of that not it's not fair because you're black and you can do it and I'm white and I should be able to do it that ain't if that's what you call reverse racism I'm trying to conversation with you do you guys feel like it is problematic that we've come here to showcase the experience of a non-black student at an all-black school well I mean I genuinely want to know yes why why do you say controversial because of course it's already frowned upon that how come they can get into where we want to be but we can't get into where they can this is a space where people that have been consistently marginalized for the last 400 years have come to change that narrative yet when we get here when the national media comes to have a conversation with us who do they want to speak with the only perspective that's relevant is the perspective of a young person it doesn't look like us I do like the fact that you're here in order to in order to allow us to drive our narrative but at the same time there is nothing that a young non-traditional student can bring to the culture of Morehouse Spellman o'clock it's us culturing here so you asked about this question of bringing I'm gonna just be blamed bringing a lot more white feeding into a predominantly black space where Morehouse right now I'm slightly uncomfortable that only because so many students came tomorrow specifically to feel human and to not be the humanized be the most human that they could possibly be in a society like this do you guys take issue with the fact that there are a certain number of recruitment dollars that are reserved to attract a non black student to Morehouse or Spelman or Clark is that a fact this place is sacred our ideas who we are as people we feel safe here and if we had white people just coming in here and taking over a 40% of the population I will feel disrespected I would love if a white person with reddington's came here and learned about us as black people you have a lot to offer and I think it's just a shame that we want to keep that to ourselves come see what black people can do like I don't want to do that you can learn my history like in an African American diaspora class I'm in pain because you all don't see the bigger picture you see what's in front we just see the bigger picture here's the bigger picture Morehouse and Spelman recruit the best and the brightest girls and put them next to the best and the brightest boys there's always been white students here always when I was a student here we called him white Mike that was his dad any student that comes of this school regardless of their intent they're gonna be influenced by you all they have no choice the reason why we don't have everything is about money it's about money it's not about anything else but money but look what we do what we have who do we have I think that students have a right to be on concerns these schools have for a long time been the only place where you can get an education but more importantly a place you can get an experience because a lot of our students are coming from environments where they've never seen a black instructor that fear of oh my god they're gonna take this from me too is rooted in a really personal place for a lot of students and I understand that it is a good thing to expand the applicant pool that you're looking for people that criticize that have to understand that the school is trying to figure out a way to bring in more dollars couldn't the introduction of the non traditional or non black students of the HBCU campus uh sure in the gentrification of the HB to you either we change and we adapt to what's around us or we're gonna struggle a lot and some schools are gonna close because they didn't want to embrace what's coming what is your response to someone that says you're only here because your wife essentially that you are an affirmative action admittance in my case you know it's not true like I genuinely care about this school and this mission so I'll just pass these around is that part of the reason why he felt it so important to become a student ambassador that's definitely the main reason behind it so this is probably not you what you were expecting right a white student and HBCU giving you the tour right when I was a freshman in high school we had a Morehouse man and she really embodied that spirit of a leader and regardless of the racial dynamics of this campus I saw that potential in myself but I like to know a little bit more about you so can anybody tell me where they're from today Indiana cool Philadelphia how about you okay okay are you guys happy about the Superbowl and whatnot oh yeah I'm in the 76ers they just won last night right I'm a Celtics fan just how to put that out there a lot of those first individuals to gentrify a cultural space of some kind recognize the value or an opportunity that exists and I'm curious what the difference between you and that person is I guess the way I try to look at it is how can I contribute to the campus how can I get involved how can I be engaged how can I make you no one else a better place in the truest sense so we're about to enter King's chapel this is a kind of a sacred space at Morehouse I think this is a safe space for black students and other students and I think it should remain that way I don't want this to spark a lot of like white students come here I don't like that's not what I want yes better pay more house I don't know those numbers I do know that there might be three white students in the entire school me somebody that's in the ROTC program and then a Japanese exchange coming here meeting Thiago this is the first time I've ever seen a white male as a minority why you would want to immerse yourself in a completely black space I think there was a lot of people off in the beginning but meeting Thiago and hearing his very honest desire to initiate change and acknowledge the privilege that he was born with I think it's a good thing you look this way right this is century campus every year in May we graduate I think the most african-american men in the entire world all in one place this used to be a civil war site think about that from like a spiritual standpoint the most graduating african-american men are on top of there like the remains of fallen Confederate soldiers yeah you are going to diversify its students like Thiago that you want to recruit here not people that want to come here and take something away and feel no calling to give something back but it's important to keep in mind that there are only so many beds and so many desks and when you give one away to even the most well-intentioned non-traditional student you could be taking that opportunity from a young black student that may have needed it more so do you have any feeling of regret or guilt that you took a position away at this school from a young black man that needed it I will I would be in a and I will be if I don't

Channel: VICE

Views: 5,994,696

Rating: 4.2272825 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, docs, interview, culture, lifestyle, world, exclusive, independent, underground, videos, journalism, vice guide, vice.com, vice, vice magazine, vice mag, vice videos, film, short films, movies, morehouse man, HBCU, historically black college and university, college, university, affirmative action, controversy, white, black, race, racism, equality, civil rights, black history, america, usa, united states, segregation, racial inequality, african american, morehouse college, morehouse

Id: ccZk_e3Tc5s

Length: 25min 22sec (1522 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 20 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/easyonthebacon]

I appreciated this doc for this one point: Many of the comments against a white person attending a HBCU are literally the comments white folks were saying about the end of segregation in the 60s. I’m fascinated by this 180 degree turn that has happened in 50-60 years

[u/bimyo]

I bet he is just slaying that purple bacon night and day.

[u/ngubuNumber1fan]

crazy how openly anti white these blacks can be knowng that if a white kid said any of that theyd be kicked out in a second

buy hey white privilege is totally real.

[u/GodEmperorScorch]

Society is cliched.

[u/Yeshua-Hamashiach]

Vice really has fallen