Advertisement Looking For Non-White Roommates Sparks National Debate On Racism

When you're in college, your relationship with your roommate makes a significant impact in your school life. This is why most people are particular with who their roommates will be, and when given the opportunity to choose, they make sure they advertise correctly to get the perfect one.

A trio made national news when they were in search for a fourth roommate this summer and included in their ad, "POC only," meaning exclusive for people of color. The three roommates are one black student from Pitzer College and two minority students from Claremont College. Based on the advertisement, they clearly did not want any whites applying for the available roommate slot.

The Claremont Independent reports that the advertisement came from Karé Ureña who posted on Facebook that she was living with two students in a house outside campus and they are looking for a fourth roommate. She added that she did not want to "live with any white folks."

Because it mentioned races, the advertisement expectedly drew a mixture of responses. Some understood Ureña that the post was not intended to be racist and they only wanted a safe POC zone, away from a toxic environment. Meanwhile, most who saw the ad were offended--saying that it was racist to not allow any whites to apply just because of their race.

As per The Guardian, Pitzer College has a diverse student population with 49 percent white, 15 percent Hispanic, 9 percent Asian, 9 percent multiracial and 5 percent black. According to Melvin L. Oliver, Pitzer's new president, Pitzer College seeks to promote intercultural safe spaces by strengthening its community values of diversity, dialogue, inquiry and action. It does not condone isolation of particular races which the Facebook post did (via Inside Higher Ed).

Karé Ureña begs to disagree. She defended her post to The Guardian and said, "These terms are deeply rooted in historical and systemic acts of violence towards people of color that white people have simply not experienced.We want to reframe it so that it becomes a matter of students of color simply prioritizing their need for survival in the face of historical oppression in higher education.”

Inside Higher Ed discusses research about roommates and how their races affect their school performance and relationships. A 2008 study found that more mixed-race roommate pairs change roommates after a year than same-race roommates. A 2009 study sort of supported this when it found out that that roommates of different races experience less positive emotions than roommates of same races.

Some researches turned in positive results such as black students getting higher grades when they had white roommates. Attitudes of white roommates towards blacks also changed when they got to experience having a black roommate.

Do you think that the three college students looking for a non-white roommate is an example of racism or did they have the right to choose who they want as roommates? Sound off your thoughts in the Comments section and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.