Last night's Duke Student Government-sponsored forum on the "Asian-American Experience" broadened into an honest discussion of racial problems at the University as a whole. About 20 students, half of whom were Asian, discussed a wide variety of issues.
One central part of the discussion was the relative absence of an Asian voice in University politics. Some students wondered what issues were important to Asians, while others explored causes for Asian apathy.
"In general, Asian Americans are really apathetic about many things on campus," said Trinity freshman Elaine Ho. "[In other campus ethnic organizations], there's a sense of caring. I don't even know what our issues are.... When I think of [the Asian Students Association], I think of a lack of goals and lack of issues. There's just a sense that people don't care or don't want to rock the boat."
Trinity freshman Azra Nanji attributed some of the quietness to the Asian culture and family structure. "We're not used to making waves," she said. "In a lot of Asian households, you're not allowed to say if something makes you unhappy. Part of what we should learn in college is how to express that."
The outgoing president of ASA, Trinity senior Eric Chang, responded to questions about ASA's lack of political involvement.
He said many Asian-American students were reluctant to get involved even when the organization did step up, pointing to the sparsely attended speakout that ASA sponsored last spring after an Asian-American student was the victim of a hate crime.
"I was disappointed but not surprised at the lack of support," Chang said.
Several black students also attended last night's forum, expanding the discussion into one about the minority experience as a whole. Students encouraged minority groups to come together and fight for issues.
Trinity freshman Bianca Williams pointed to the University's separate weekends for black and Latino prospective freshmen. "They do exactly the same thing, but it was separated," she said. "We have the same exact goals but we don't do things together. If we need to get a Hindi major, it should be all minorities saying that-not just the Hindus."
The students broke up into small groups at the end of the forum; one group called for a cultural center where students of different ethnicities could come together, as well as a stricter University policy toward hate crimes.
Students also discussed self-segregation and promoting a cross-cultural exchange of ideas. Other topics included reasons why Asian-Americans were overrepresented in Trent and underrepresented on West Campus.
"Parents focus more on academics," said Ho. "Social goals fall behind. I think that's why you see less Asians rushing or pledging. I think that's why you don't see a lot of Asians on West Campus and you don't see a lot of interaction."
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