Recently, two Daily Iowan writers have discussed the topics of black tokenism. These columns have created quite the debate throughout the online community as people try to define what tokenism is and if it is indeed racist.
First, I would like to say that tokenism is racist — there is no question about that. It singles out people of color and forces them into situations in which they must represent their entire race or ethnic group, and it can ultimately be damaging to individuals.
According to Merriam-Webster, tokenism is defined as “the policy or practice of making only a symbolic effort (as to desegregate).” Tokenism is an attempt to combat racism and encourage diversity, but it utterly backfires, and it only proceeds to do the opposite, as it encourages racist mindsets instead.
Tokenism can come in many forms — for instance, placing black individuals in “symbolic” places of power to paint the illusion of diversity. It can also be seen in classrooms when professors single out students of color when discussing race, as DI writer Nicole Shaw describes in her article “Racial microaggressions are still apparent, discrimination persists in the classroom.”
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One reader left a comment on Shaw’s column that said, “The diversity rationale is that the university needs to have black students in each class to do exactly that, namely, provide the black perspective. If it is improper to ask for that perspective, why does anyone need them in the class?”
This mindset is damaging toward black students, and all students of color, because it puts them in a situation in which their only purpose is to represent their race and do nothing outside of that. When the reality is, just as with any other student, we came here to learn and earn a degree, not to educate others on the black perspective.
The current assumption is that a majority of students of color are here on affirmative action and that they are here solely to increase diversity. This assumption is wrong, and the equitable goal of affirmative action is lost in that process.
Affirmative action’s main goal is to create an equal playing field for everyone regardless of race. Even with its efforts, according to a study by the Brookings Institution, black students make up just 4 percent of undergraduates at the nation’s top-10 universities.
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Diversity is naturally a key benefit of affirmative action, but that does not mean students of color who use it to enroll in college should be forced to act as tokens for their race. This problem is not just in the classroom either — it persists into society itself.
This is the true reason tokenism is racist and wrong. It robs people of color of their uniqueness and treats them as a percentage or quota to fill the role of diversity, claiming a system is diverse without putting any real effort into improving diversity.
“When I’m in a meeting or on a committee, I’m often the one [person of color],” said Nadine Petty said, the executive director of the Center for Diversity and Enrichment. “So sometimes when I’m asked to join committees, I have to ask myself, ‘Are you asking me for my expertise because you know that Dr. Petty knows some stuff, or are you asking to fill a quota because you need to have more of a diverse committee.’ ”