New to the melting pot

By Koren Temple

For most of Ayako Muto's life, America represented the pop culture to which she had always been exposed. The 21 year old grew up watching American shows, speaking American slang and thinking she was learning about the "real" America.

But when she arrived on the Santa Clara campus this fall from her native Japan, her depiction changed.

"I was walking through the Benson Center doors once and I thought this girl would hold the door for me as I was walking through, but she didn't and she just looked at me as though she was better than me," said the junior English major. "I felt she thought I was inferior to her."

For Muto, it was the first time she had to realize her race. And like many other international students, she is finding a different set of attitudes about culture in America, and she can't help but pay attention to them.

"When I walk in the cafeteria, I notice with my friends that everything is separate. Everybody usually sits with people that are like them. Like white people sit with white people, Asian people with Asian people," she said.

According to the 2002 "Discrimination and Harassment Among International Students" focus study group report, international students had a difficult time defining what race actually was, but concede that it is a big issue in American society.

"There is more of a focus on race in this country for sure," said junior Hector Guzman who is from Costa Rica.

The North Carolina State University report concluded that some participants referred to race as their "ethnic origin" or "ethnic background" whereas others refer to it as color.

The report also found that international students experienced differential treatment as a result of the stereotypes or prejudices Americans may have had.

"I have had students report to me that they have felt or have experienced racial labeling," said Gillian August-Thorp, an international student services coordinator, who has worked at Santa Clara for almost four years.

"Post-Sept. 11, the United States has not been especially friendly to foreign students, particularly those from the Middle East or of Middle Eastern decent. Many students however, simply do not speak about such issues for fear of being further targeted," she said.

Professor David Skinner of the history department believes the 2001 Patriot Act possibly made it more difficult for international students.

"We now have a legal basis to be suspicious of immigrants of all kinds, particularly of west Asian, East Asian or Middle Eastern descent," he said.

International student experiences

Like Muto, junior Celine Cruz also sees the divisions on campus.

"We live in Unity (RLC) and when we got here, we were impressed by the fact that there are so many different types of people. And then we visited our friend at this other dorm, it was a completely different setting," said the management honors major who is from the Philippines.

" It was different at Swig, Casa and other dorms. It was predominately white. But I guess the RLC system has to deal with people's interests," she said.

Cruz's views on race coincide with finding from the North Carolina State University report. She said race was a bigger problem in America than in her own country.

"Here, race is based on the color of your skin. You're Asian, you're black, you're white or this and that," said Cruz who is from Manila. Cruz who has had numerous experiences with people generalizing her, said in one instance a friend refused to take any of her "crazy herbal medicine."

For Muto, who is from Tokyo, she said there are racial labels, such as hakujin for white, kokujin for black and ajiain for Asian, but she maintains that they aren't as pervasive as in America.

Frida Nordlund, a 24-year-old senior from Lund, Sweden, said she was always impressed with the diversity of America.

"But now that I'm here, I realize it is with some problems. But as far as I see, people manage to get along very well for living in such a multicultural society," said the engineering major.

International peer advisor Jasmine Moore says that divisions are to be expected, especially on the Santa Clara campus where segregation is common.

"You're going to tend to congregate with people who are similar to you," said the senior sociology major. "And what's more similar to you than you're color? I don't think it's a good thing, but I don't think it's something that's going to change."

Director of International Programs Barbara Colyar said international students seem to hang out together or with students from similar backgrounds.

But students say that Santa Clara overall has been a welcoming campus and they have been able to fit into the atmosphere well.

"I don't feel like I'm an outsider," Nordlund said. "I find when I talk to other international students, they have had more problems fitting in."

Colyar finds that Japanese students are very enthusiastic to be here and they want to meet Americans. But from what she notices, Americans are not as eager to meet them and they don't have the patience and cultural understanding to include them in activities.

"I think it might be somewhat uncomfortable for them, especially when they think they are coming to America, which is known for its diversity, and then coming here where it isn't diverse at all," said Moore.

According to Santa Clara institutional research data, Santa Clara is two percent black, 18 percent Asian-American, 13 percent Hispanic, and 60 percent Caucasian.

Historical understandings

For many international students who come from countries where the idea of race isn't as potent, students are experiencing what ethnic studies professor Ramon Chacon "racial consciousness."

"Internationally, some people don't understand what race is. But when they come here, then they realize it's classified here: you're black, you're white, you're Mexican, etc. There's a confusion there, because their racial consciousness is weaker," Chacon says.

He says it's a socialization that you are exposed to gradually.

Professor Skinner said the concept of race was picked up by the United States during the Atlantic slave trade.

Although Skinner believes that race obviously creates divisions among people, he doesn't really notice any stark divisions at Santa Clara or in any of his classes where he says students feel comfortable.

Chacon, however, thinks there are divisions and even cites instances in his class where minority students and white students sit separately.

"But things have gotten better with the increase enrollment of different students, as well as with faculty of color," says Chacon who's noticed that there are fewer divisions than when he started working here in 1981. He also says the university President Locatelli, S.J.'s, "Excellence through Diversity" plan, implemented in 1988, brought a whirlwind of change.

Changes through the eyes of international students

"People say, 'it's all okay, there's no more racism.' But when you come here, or when you look at anything from American pop culture, you'll see that it is still there," said Cruz.

Cruz thinks that Santa Clara needs to strive to be more diverse and inclusive.

"The only place (besides the MCC) where diversity is promoted is in Unity. I don't understand how you could promote diversity in this one little area and expect it to spread to the larger campus," she said.

Muto believes it is important to interact with people that aren't like you. Peer advisor Moore acknowledges the importance of international students' perspective.

"With an outside perspective it gives us a chance to really stop and see what we're doing to maybe change it or to at least be more aware of it," she said.

Skinner, who believes that racial problems are still an on-going issue, says that Americans need an international perspective to better understand the world.

"The more international students we have and the more they feel comfortable here, and the more we listen to them, I think the better our university will be."

* Contact Koren Temple at (408) 551-1918 or ktemple@scu.edu.