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This Amazing, Troubling Book   By: Toni Morrison

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This Amazing, Troubling Book   By: Toni Morrison

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This essay touches on many subjects from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but focuses on the importance that race played in the novel. The idea that Huck was, in some sense, "saved from death" by the fact that Jim was a runaway slave is notable and causes one to wonder how the novel would have been different had Jim ceased to exist (or been white). The point that Jim would eventually be dismissed by Huck in a sense was very powerful. The idea the Huck and Jim's relationship will inevitably end, mainly based off the premise that Jim is a minority shows the significance of Jim's race in the story and says a lot about what the society of the time would have been like. The author also notes how "there will be no 'adventures' without Jim". This makes a powerful statement about both Huck's dependence on Jim as; a father figure; the face of diversity; and a subconscious guide, as well as Twain's necessity of Jim to create the story line and message.

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This project provides an interesting look at many different types of peoples viewpoints on a controversial issue. In "This Amazing, Troubling Book" the author discusses Mark Twain's novel being banned for the use of the n-word too frequently and the negative impact that it would have on impressionable readers. This source directly addresses this issue, and even further connects it directly to people's experiences in present day. It is interesting also to see how people of different ages and ethnicities interpret issues of pop-culture. It is assuring to see a large news corporation not only adressing an issue which impacts many people, but taking the time to conduct research and interview different people and get their input. Watching these videos forced me think more about how hearing the word in popular music encourages its use, especially among those who don't understand the whole story or the different connotations that it has in different cultures or to different people.

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Explore perspectives.
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Add a question or use one of the submitted questions to start a conversation with your social network. (Note: The n-word has not been filtered from submissions.)

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n-word; donte stallworth; neal brennan; dave chappelle show; nfl; national football leagues bans nword; nfl bans the nword; nigger; nigga; nigger vs nigga; kkk; ku klux klan; jay z; oprah;

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The n-word: An interactive project exploring a singular word

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After the National Football League made the controversial decision to ban the n-word on the field this year, a team of Washington Post journalists explored the history of the word, its evolution and its place in American vernacular today.

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Too Many Americans Think Patriotism Means Racism and Xenophobia

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Too Many Americans Think Patriotism Means Racism and Xenophobia

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This powerfully worded article sheds some light on a horrible issue that has plagued our country, specifically since the attacks of 9/11. I chose this article without knowing what a strong impact it would have on me. As I read the hateful words of some people who considered themselves to be fellow Americans makes me not only embarrassed to hold the same title (American), but angry. Angry for the hateful and even deadly things that these "white supremacists" say and do, and for the lack of administration telling these harassers that their actions are unacceptable. This article contained some mind-boggling facts which strengthened the authors point and left an impact on me as a reader. The fact that some people can make such broad and inaccurate assumptions about a whole group/race, most of whom are innocent people who are simply victims of unwarranted violence. If nothing else, this article showed me what kinds of changes need to be made in our country, of which I sincerely hope will be taken into consideration in the years to come.

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After the attacks of September 11, 2001, patriotism took on many masks and many faces. For some it meant planting flags in their front yards and cherishing the rights we enjoy in this country. For others it took on a flawed and dangerous form. Violence against South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Arab Americans skyrocketed in the weeks and months after 9/11. New government policies painted our communities with suspicion and guilt. The notion that patriotism and racism are synonymous was used against us after 9/11, and the horror has lasted 16 years, flowing and ebbing under Presidents Bush and Obama. That notion has only increased in fury under the Trump administration.

I was in New York on 9/11, working downtown not too far from the attacks. In the days that followed I feared for my safety for the first time in my life: not from planes nose-diving from the sky, but from assaults on the subway or on the street. These fears were not misplaced. The first shots fired after the attacks were on September 15 in Mesa, Arizona, when Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh gas station owner, was killed by Frank Silva Roque, a racist gunman who wanted to "go out and shoot some towel-heads." During his arrest Roque screamed, "I am a patriot! I stand for America all the way!" This is how he pledged allegiance to our flag.

Our communities experienced many ensuing acts of hate. In the first week after 9/11, 645 bias incidents nationwide were reported by media organizations. In the months that followed, our houses of worship were surveilled by the NYPD and other law-enforcement agencies, our rights were violated and our dignity stripped at airports, and our children were bullied in school and harassed on the Internet. Government policies such as the Patriot Act and the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System were implemented, the latter of which opened cases against 83,000 Muslims entering or living in the United States. The result of this vast ethnic profiling? Zero terrorism-related convictions.

Meanwhile, the body count in our communities has mounted. In 2012, a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was attacked by a gunman who killed six people and wounded four others before taking his own life. In 2015, three young Arab students in North Carolina were murdered in their homes by their white-supremacist neighbor. In 2016, a Lebanese-American man was shot and killed on his own porch by a racist neighbor who had a documented history of anti-Arab hate. Related Article

In 2017, our communities are facing hate violence at levels that rival the aftermath of 9/11. The Trump administration-which is now implementing policies that mirror his bigoted rhetoric on the campaign trail-continues to roll out anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant policies that embolden hate groups to attack our communities. President Trump has test-fired several versions of the "Muslim ban," rescinded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and strongly supported the RAISE Act that seeks to slash immigration by 50 percent in a decade, as well as implementing other destructive policies. Since the presidential election, South Asian Americans Leading Together has documented over 150 incidents of violence against those who identify or are perceived as Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, South Asian, Middle Eastern, or Arab American, already surpassing totals from the year leading up to the 2016 election. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, anti-Muslim hate groups grew by 197 percent in 2016, and, according to the FBI, anti-Muslim hate crimes increased by 67 percent in 2015.

In February two Indian-Americans were shot by a gunman screaming, "Get out of my country." Days later a Sikh man was shot on his driveway in Washington State by an assailant screaming, "Go back to your country." In August a Minnesota mosque was firebombed in what the governor rightly declared an "act of terrorism." In May, Jeremy Joseph Christian, a known white supremacist, harassed a Muslim passenger on a commuter train in Portland. When three men tried to intervene, Christian stabbed two of them to death. Reminiscent of Roque's racism in 2001, Christian proclaimed at his arraignment, "You call it terrorism; I call it patriotism!"

After these attacks, the president remains silent. His silence is a clear signal to the Roques and the Christians of the world that white supremacy and Islamophobia are not only admirable, they are patriotic.

Our communities know that the highest form of patriotism is dissent: We have lived it for 16 years. We've spoken out when we've seen injustice, and we've crowded airports to protest an unlawful "Muslim ban." We've stood united with those from all faiths, colors, and backgrounds, against racism and division in Charlottesville, Boston, Berkeley, and beyond. We've stared down ACT for America-the nation's largest anti-Muslim hate group-and forced them to cancel nationwide Islamophobic rallies originally scheduled for September 9.

The toxic patriotism that hate groups have practiced for 16 years has brought our diverse communities together, anchored in a patriotism of love, not fear. This September 11, I will remember that this is the true patriotism-working with our communities to protect each other, and in doing so, to form a more perfect union.

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Too Many Americans Think Patriotism Means Racism and Xenophobia

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After the attacks of September 11, 2001, patriotism took on many masks and many faces. For some it meant planting flags in their front yards and cherishing the rights we enjoy in this country. For others it took on a flawed and dangerous form.

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Filled with questions and  statements of what it means to be "asian", Alex Dang exemplifies a passion for is work in his reading of his slam poem that is infectious. Throughout our studies of race (including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) we have primarily focused on "Black vs. White" racism, the kind that is depicted in the article "Yes I Am Black, And No, I Am Not A Criminal". However, Dang proves that racism goes much deeper than this. His ability to mix bits of humor with powerful statements creates an entertaining experience for the viewer while, while also conveying his message effectively. While Asians may not be the main targets of the hate violence that floods the media, there are still so many stereotypes and boundarys that these people still have to break down in order to be considered equal. He speaks of how Asians in our society often are forced to take the "secondary role" and never the lead, solely based on their race. Dang's slam poem overall brings light to some darker areas in the broad scheme of racism, and helped me to realize what one should do to be more inclusive of minorities.

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Alex Dang (Ft. Alex Dang) - What Kind of Asian are You?

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So he said to me: "What kind of Asian are you?" / And I said back: / That's a loaded question. / What kind of Asian do you EXPECT me to be? / Because any way you slice that egg

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The beauty of human skin in every color                       TED Talk - Angélica Dass

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The beauty of human skin in every color                       TED Talk - Angélica Dass

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While the concept of racism is the leading topic in this Ted Talk, one of the big reasons why I enjoyed it's underlying positive message. When talking about the effects of race on our society, many people's first thoughts would be what we see in the news: acts of unprovoked violence, as well as spoken or written words of hate. Angélica Dass, the creator of Humanae (a photography project) seeks to celebrate everybody's individual differences instead of attacking them. She uses a mixture of simple photos and technology to show diversity. The project was created to prove that labels like "black", "white", "yellow" and more are not accurate representations of a persons skin, because each and every person is unique in that way. To me, this is long overdue, as our society has become so accustomed to referring to people as a certain color, as if we are all from a basic box of crayons. Not only does Dass's project have a powerful and much needed message, her drive and passion prove that anyone, no matter what background, or even "color", can accomplish their goals and create positive change. I personally am inspired by the idea of this project and respect the story that Dass shared which got her to where she is. Some big questions are: why is it that the majority of media coverage on racism is negative events, as opposed to projects like Humanae? Do other efforts to unite people in this way exist? And finally: What can we do to be the change?

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Angélica Dass’s photography challenges how we think about skin color and ethnic identity. In this personal talk, hear about the inspiration behind her portrait project, Humanæ, and her pursuit to document humanity’s true colors rather than the untrue white, red, black and yellow associated with race.

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Yes I Am Black, And No, I Am Not A Criminal

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Yes I Am Black, And No, I Am Not A Criminal

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Written by freelance writer and political activist Kenneth Snodgrass, this article does not only focus on what its title depicts, but expands much further into "Black vs. White" racism in America. The author opens with an anecdote of sorts, which grabs the readers attention. The use of facts and statistics gives the article a sense of credibility and makes it more impactful. A powerful point of then article was the use of African-Americans as a scapegoat, not only in specific instances, but throughout history. The author continues to write of the most extreme of impacts that racism has on individuals and community. "Racism can't be legislated away..." Snodgrass says. This line in particular left the strongest impact on me because it shows the desperation of people who have been impacted the racism at its worst. The fact that these victims, who are citizens just like anyone else, feel that the only way to save themselves is through legislation is horrible to think about. This proves the ability of racism to steal someones voice and make them feel like they have no control over their own lives.

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Racial profiling is defined as using someones race/ethnicity as a reason for suspecting a person of committing a certain offense. This article covers the two main arguments regarding racial profiling, and provides good information for why most people do not believe it is a valid way to determine a criminal. Racial profiling in the past meant using someones appearance to determine whether on not they could be considered a suspect. Today, it has evolved to the extent of innocent people being in question, solely based on their race. Learning about the progression of this practice is interesting and says a lot about America, specifically criminal justice and law enforcement. This directly connects to Snodgrass's article, because what he is describing is racial profiling. The news tells us of shootings, in which the perpetrators are Muslim Americans, who are extremists. With racial profiling, it would be easy to put all Muslim Americans in this box and assume that their beliefs and motives are the same. However, this shows us that the biggest takeaway from this reading is to know the difference between ignorant and unjust racial profiling, and what is a fact.

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Feeling Like A Tourist: Being Black In New England

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Feeling Like A Tourist: Being Black In New England

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This article proves the presence of racism in New England, which may be a concept that is difficult for some to grasp. A region filled with some of the highest Caucasian populations per state in the nation, the majority might believe that racism has become less prominent. However, the authors descriptions of some of her experiences in this article proves that this is in fact false. At one point Beaupre wonders if moving to the South, a place where Black and White communities are more commonly separated, would offer her and her family a safer living environment. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn perfectly showed what life was like for slaves in the early 1800's, and this current article suggests that, in a sense, not much has changed. While legally everyones rights are the same, culturally African-Americans are still not seen as equal in comparison to Whites. But, the author still implies that life would be more enjoyable from a racial standpoint if she lived in the South. This says a lot about the North in comparison, and does prove that racism is still an issue. In specifically this way, society has not moved forward, nor backward, but stayed relatively constant in treatment towards minorities.

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I am a New Englander, born and bred, with the accent to prove it. Originally from Massachusetts, I now live in northern New Hampshire, in an area popular with vacationers. However, as a black woman in an overwhelmingly white state, there are times when I feel like a tourist.

Many residents here have never known a person of color. Some want to; others do not. Problem is, when I leave my own small town, it's impossible to know which type I will encounter.

For example, I am an avid reader who supports independent bookstores when traveling. Bookshop employees are characteristically welcoming. Maybe voracious reading and open-mindedness go hand in hand.

But if I grab coffee and a snack nearby, I have often found myself ignored, or worse. Once, in a doughnut shop, a man flicked a lit cigarette at me when I was visibly pregnant and alone. Another customer witnessed it and froze. Full of righteous indignation, I jumped in my pickup and searched for a police officer, but couldn't find one.

Since then, I've used drive-thru windows when I travel. I've trained myself to be cautious and calculating.

I think racism is like a chronic condition that can be treated, but not cured. It flares up unexpectedly. After a while, though, it manages you - which is why it's so damaging.

Sometimes I think if I lived down South, life might be easier. I've visited places there where racial lines are delineated - where blacks live in certain parts of town, and whites in others.

Sometimes I think if I lived down South, life might be easier. I've visited places there where racial lines are delineated - where blacks live in certain parts of town, and whites in others.

I know many people find this kind of modern segregation very troubling. But I can see how it might appeal to a black person. I could do all the things I do now - cart the kids around, go to a show, shop and entertain - with one difference: There would be so many brown faces that mine would blend in.

But in order to do that, I would have to leave all that is familiar, relinquish all that makes me who I am. All that would remain would be my accent.

I am not trying to be a Rosa, a Martin or a Barack. I am just trying to raise a family, pursue a little happiness, and live peacefully with my neighbors. And until we all have that, none of us can say that we are truly free.
Commentator Debra Nunnally Beaupre writes the TeacherMother blog.

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Feeling Like A Tourist: Being Black In New England

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I am a New Englander, born and bred, with the accent to prove it. Originally from Massachusetts, I now live in northern New Hampshire, in an area popular with vacationers. However, as a black woman in an overwhelmingly white state, there are times when I feel like a tourist.

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the overwhelming majority of the population of the United States is considered white. Because of this, it would be expected that colleges in the US would have a white majority. However, this article suggests that the minorities at these schools are commonly grouped all together, even when they have very different backgrounds. One of the main points tells the ratio of American minority students to international students at America's colleges and universities (specifically in Boston and surrounding). The concern is why these schools are looking abroad for diversity instead of looking around for all the African-American students who are being denied, possibly due to their race. It was interesting to hear some of the statistics that were gathered for this article, and while statistics cannot provide all the answers, it helps provide a more practical view on a topic. The issues written about here a small example of something that is clearly a persisting problem in our country. By being inclusive to all, and not using practices like racial profiling or stereotyping before getting to know who someone actually is. College students represent some of the future leaders of our nation, and showing them both American and international diversity could show them they can be the ones who can change the rest of society for the better.

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One day this fall, Rachel Domond, a third-year student at Northeastern University, conducted a counting exercise that has become all too familiar for many African-American students. She sat on the red couches on the second floor of the Curry Student Center and scanned the room for others who looked like her.

It didn't take long to count. It never does.

"I see one black person over there," she said, motioning across the room to a group of about 40 students. "But for the most part, I see white faces, and I see all of these international students."

For many black students in Boston, the word "diversity" is taking on a global, multicultural meaning that has little to do with them. Boston has become a leader in attracting foreign students, but at the same time it lags behind other parts of the country when it comes to enrolling black college students from closer to home.

In this Athens of America, packed with top colleges, the enrollment of African-American students in Greater Boston's universities was less than 7 percent in 2015, notably less than most other major metro areas, according to the most recent federal data on students at every level. Nationally, the average for black enrollment is 11 percent.

At the 10 largest private universities that give this region its renowned reputation in higher education, it was even lower: about 5 percent.

Perhaps most troubling: In some universities, the percentage of African-American student enrollment has barely budged since 1980.

Meanwhile, international recruitment has become Boston-area universities' new growth industry, with those students already representing more than twice the percentage of black students.

The Globe Spotlight Team examined Boston-area universities' enrollment patterns as part of its exploration into why Boston is seen nationally as a city unfriendly to black people. It looked at the role area universities play in educating a critical mass of African-American graduates - people who could, as in other cities, form the next generation of civic and political leadership. It found that Boston-area universities are not producing that critical mass.

The reason? Some area universities do not appear to have shown the will or creativity required to aggressively recruit black students, or simply have not made it the kind of priority that recruiting international students has become. Less easy to measure is whether Boston's high costs, unwelcoming reputation, and scarcity of other black students on campuses here discourages them from the start.

Either way, the city loses.

Diversity of a different sort

Students such as Chantel Haigler, 18, question whether her university - Northeastern - has skewed priorities, which only reinforces alienation from the black students whom administrators say they care so much about recruiting and retaining.

Northeastern's enrollment of international students has more than tripled over the past decade. Three in 10 students last year hailed from abroad, with many from China and India who can pay full private tuition.

"The school likes the 'diversity' that gives them the status to claim they're diverse, while getting the money from these students to fund the school the way they need to," said Haigler, a first-year student from New York. "Bringing in more black kids would cost them more money because in the end, many of us can't afford these schools because of institutional issues. So why spend more when you can get diversity and get money at the same time?"

The intense recruitment of international students has always been a touchy subject. Universities say that bringing foreign students into US campuses is part of helping American students adjust to a globalizing workforce, but critics of this view say international students are primarily money-makers for schools.

In an ideal world, there is no reason recruiting international students automatically comes at the cost of black enrollment. But in this era of limited resources, critics still wonder whether there's a connection between the aggressive recruitment efforts for students abroad and the low numbers of black students.

College officials deny aggressive recruitment of international students diminishes a robust commitment to boosting minorities from within the United States and say both goals can be pursued rigorously at the same time.

"It's not a zero-sum game," said Michael Armini, senior vice president at Northeastern. "Recruiting students is important across the US and around the world. One doesn't come at the expense of the other."

But some metrics can raise questions. At Boston University, for example, two admissions officers are dedicated to developing plans for recruiting underrepresented minorities for all undergraduates. Meanwhile, seven people - one director and six admission representatives - are dedicated to international admissions, according to the university's website.

The notion that black people in Boston are getting left behind, even amid growing diversity, bothers such people as Carol Fulp. "We like to think of ourselves as a 'global city' and unless we provide opportunity for all citizens of our city, we're going to lose out to other cities that are even more progressive and even more diverse," said Fulp, the president of The Partnership, an organization dedicated to supporting a diverse workforce in the city.

While some studies show that Boston has a hard time keeping college graduates of all races - blacks and whites leave at about the same rate - Census data on millennials suggest Boston fares especially poorly in boosting its population of young black adults, graduates or otherwise.

For every black millennial added to the region from 2010 to 2015, more than two whites were added, along with nearly two Asians and more than two Latinos, according to an analysis by William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C.

Black students say they are reminded daily of the lack of diversity.

"You start looking at it, and you start saying, 'Are you guys not making an effort? Why aren't more black people coming to BC?' " said Aadon Penny, who graduated from Boston College with an MBA in 2016 and is now in New York. "They advertised the program as so diverse, but the diversity in Boston was so different. They're building up diversity in some ways, but it really doesn't feel that way."

The efforts that schools make to recruit foreign students are substantial. At Northeastern, the university began a "pathways program" to guarantee foreign students admission if they could pass intensive English language classes - and without taking the SATs and ACTs that are required for American students. Harvard administrators took frequent visits to China, where the interest for American college educations had exploded.

Besides a boost in diversity, the increase in international students has meant more full-tuition revenue, because foreign students don't qualify for need-based financial aid at many schools. In contrast, African-American and Latino-American students disproportionately rely on offers of financial aid.

Administrators say they're not just chasing money from international students. In fact, a Harvard spokeswoman said 75 percent of its international undergraduate students receive need-based financial aid.

Northeastern says that in 2016, the school had a number of international students from such countries as Ethiopia and Nigeria, which added to the diversity of school.

Many black students say they appreciate seeing campuses that are less exclusively white. Northeastern reports that in 2016, its percentage of black students was 5 percent, reversing a downward trend from the latest federal data.

Schools also point out that they've grown their Asian-American and Latino-American populations in recent years. More American students also identify as multiracial, a category that the federal government started counting in 2008. Of Northeastern's American students in 2016, for example, 3 percent were multiracial.

But critics of aggressive international recruitment persist. At a recent conference in Boston, in front of thousands of high school counselors and admissions officers, a professor from the University of Southern California lamented how colleges will "go to the ends of the earth" to recruit star athletes or wealthy international students. But he said they have a limited playbook when it comes to finding more black students, especially those who are not among the most elite minority students with the best grades and SAT scores who are intensely sought after by top schools.

"International students are often full-paying students, and there's an economic incentive for institutions to recruit them," said professor Shaun Harper, who has studied the achievement of black and Latino men in higher education. "It enhances their brand."

Campus culture

Although Boston universities enroll a relatively small percentage of black students, the collective number still reaches into the tens of thousands. Those students - lured by glossy marketing brochures showing ivy-lined campuses full of students of all races laughing on the quad - flow into Boston each fall.

But they soon realize they are part of a small population on campus - one of the reasons that may drive some black students away from enrolling here.

Fresh from their first day of classes this September, freshmen slowly filed into a meeting of the Northeastern Black Student Association in the John D. O'Bryant African-American Institute, named after the first black member of the Boston School Committee. They were there for advice.

After Pictionary and pizza, the new students turned their attention to upperclassmen telling them to reach out to professors, study abroad, and regularly check the online syllabus.

But they were also honest about the subject that united them: What it was like to be black at Northeastern.

They laughed about their favorite barbershops or hair braiders, and the older students hinted at the kind of subtle, offensive comments that would be familiar to any black student: Are you on a sports scholarship? You're really a student here? Do you think medical school is really for you?

Sitting in the front of the room, one junior told them to stay strong together.

"The little microaggressions will eat at you," said Kyumon Murrell, a 21-year-old from Long Island. "And if you don't have that support network, it will crush you."

The Globe spoke to more than four dozen students and alumni from Boston-area schools, and many had similar experiences: While they were grateful for their educations, they felt the isolation of being the only black student in classes, they questioned how to fit in at overwhelmingly white campuses, and they sometimes experienced overt racism that made them ready to leave Boston.

Colleges have long known such issues exist. In 2011, a Boston College survey revealed to administrators that black students, compared to students of other racial groups, were the most dissatisfied with their time at Boston College.

The same survey, an administrator said, revealed that many white students were "tired of talking about diversity."

The lack of black faces isn't apparent just in the student population. At nearly every school in the region, the proportion of black professors is even smaller than its proportion of black students.

At Boston University, Roscoe Giles, an engineering professor who is black, said that black students say it's not uncommon for them to go four years without having a professor that looked like them. At his institution, 2.6 percent of the more than 2,500 full-time instructional staff were black in 2015, according to federal data.

Giles was part of a 2016 task force that focused on diversifying the faculty, and its final report described a culture that included "subtle vestiges and overt expressions of racism and ethnic discrimination" and noted how the region's high cost of living could hurt retention.

"When there is low representation of yourself, it becomes hard for people who are coming in and considering coming to widely identify that the conditions exist for them to be successful," he said.

Some black students worry that they're losing spaces and traditions that have helped them adjust. Sernah Essien, a Boston University senior in charge of its black student union, lamented that the university didn't hold its annual reception for black students this year. Instead, the school invited various multicultural organizations, the College Republicans, and several fraternities to a larger group event. A Boston University spokesman didn't say why such changes were made.

Others struggle with blatant racism. At Boston College this fall, hundreds of students rallied on the campus after someone defaced a sign to say "Black Lives Don't Matter." And at nearby Salem State University, an anonymous vandal wrote a message telling a black person to die, using the n-word.

Melissa Potter Forde, who left New York City to attend Northeastern, recalls being taken aback when a classmate handing out Valentines asked her about whether she would want one with a "colored" Disney princess on it. She remembered waiting in vain for cabs after nights out, only to be told that many of them don't pick up black people. It was far from the carefree sanctuary for college kids that she had imagined.

"I had the impression that it was this liberal city and that the race relations were on par with Los Angeles or New York," said Forde, who graduated from Northeastern in 2006, but finished her last semester in New York. "But I realize there's still a time of evolution that's still taking place in the city. Racism was a big part of why I left."

Best practices

There are plenty of reasons Boston-area colleges must work harder than schools in other regions to attract African-American students. For starters, Boston has a smaller black population to draw from, compared to other cities. It's expensive to live here. Boston's national reputation does not help. Nor does the dearth of black students and faculty on campus.

Yet, with a focused effort and a little creativity, drastically increasing the proportion of black students is certainly possible. Other metro areas, particularly those with larger black populations, have demonstrated how it can be done.

Federal statistics show that African-American students make up about 12 percent of enrollment in universities in the Chicago area; 13 percent in Philadelphia; 22 percent in Washington, D.C.; 20 percent in Miami; and 32 percent in Atlanta. Of the top 10 metro areas in the country, only Los Angeles has a smaller proportion than Boston. It has 6 percent black enrollment, one percentage point lower than our region.

At least one selective private school in Massachusetts has found a way to match those numbers.

Amherst College, a small liberal arts institution with about 1,850 undergraduates about two hours away from Boston, counts black students as nearly 12 percent of its student body.

While Amherst educates far fewer students than larger universities do, its minority recruitment efforts stand out. Officials there attribute some of their success to longstanding generous policies that have eliminated loans for all students who need financial aid. But it's more than money: Officials say they also pay for travel for many prospective students to visit the campus, even before they apply, and they make sure to visit many low-income and majority-minority high schools regularly.

Some Boston-area colleges are using some of those techniques, to good advantage, particularly at the undergraduate level.

Part of the growth of Boston University's African-American enrollment in its freshman class this past year - to 4.3 percent - resulted from a financial aid policy similar to Amherst's: giving enough aid to most low-income undergraduate students to ensure they wouldn't need to take out loans to attend. Tufts and MIT have implemented similar measures.

We like to think of ourselves as a 'global city' and unless we provide opportunity for all citizens of our city, we're going to lose out to other cities that are even more progressive and even more diverse," said Carol Fulp, president of The Partnership, an organization dedicated to a diverse workforce in the city.

But that's still a step behind Amherst, which takes away loans for all students on financial aid and largely replaces them with grants. Out of the dozens of four-year colleges in the metro area, only Harvard appears to do the same.

Officials at Harvard were reluctant to comment on its recruitment of black students or its current involvement in a US Department of Justice investigation related to race. That investigation focuses on whether it has discriminated against Asian-Americans. They directed the Globe to its latest first year undergraduate enrollment figures from this fall, which classified 13.2 percent of the students as black, though that also includes multi-racial students. This figure differs from how the federal government reports university racial statistics.

Another step aimed at boosting minority faculty hiring and student enrollment is the appointment of a senior academic administrator with authority for diversity issues. BU took that step this year, appointing a provost for diversity and inclusion. A task force at the university reported that 11 of 16 other similar colleges across the country - including Northeastern - had already done something similar.

Some schools, such as Boston College, also offer summer programs that provide extra tutoring as a way to make sure that students who enter college succeed toward graduation.

But critics say such initiatives won't, on their own, solve recruitment issues. Advocates for more diversity in higher education point to colleges' obsession with national rankings as part of the problem. Overreliance on those rankings can systematically shut out many black students, they say.

In the widely read U.S. News & World Report rankings, standardized test scores, grade point averages, and the percentage of alumni donors are some of the most important criteria for general rankings. Student and faculty racial diversity are not.

Every year, schools continue to rely on the SATs and ACTs as some of the primary gatekeepers for college - even though many black students, disproportionately educated in lower-performing public schools, score below the desired scores required for admission.

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The differences are stark: A Brookings Institution study estimated that on the math portion of the SATs, roughly 6 percent of whites and a quarter of Asians who took the test scored at least a 700 out of an 800 scale in 2015.

By comparison, only about 1.7 percent of Latino test-takers are estimated to have done the same. And black students, who made up about 13 percent of test-takers, were even less likely to score that high: About 1 percent scored at least 700, according to estimates.

While some research has pointed to SAT scores predicting college success, one large 2014 study has shown that high school grades can be a more important measure for predicting how well a student will do. The study used data from several schools that no longer require SAT scores for admission - an option that some hope will help more minorities and low-income students get into college.

"The hardest part, by far, is getting them in," said Marvin Loiseau, a former Babson College admissions officer who is now a dean of recruitment at the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston.

What next

The question is whether universities will make black enrollment more of a priority - and whether, over the next many years, that would help change the view of Boston as an unwelcoming place.

It's no small task. When Avery Bullock, a University of Virginia senior originally from the South, attended a Massachusetts General Hospital program meant to encourage minorities to pursue medicine, she recalled hearing vague warnings about the city from her aunt, who told her to keep racism "in the back of her head."

She kept it mind when she and a group of black friends were thrown out of a jazz club for not buying drinks, she said, even though a white couple hadn't done the same and got to stay. Or when a black physician told her program that he had been called the n-word twice in as many days. The whole experience made her wary of returning to Boston for medical school, she said.

Meanwhile, many of the black students who have enrolled here say they are working to be heard on campus. This spring at Harvard University, a group of black students organized the first "Black Commencement" across all graduate schools at Harvard University. Hundreds of black students gathered with friends and family near the law school, clad in dark robes and colorful stoles made of traditional African kente cloth.

Looking out at his peers on a sunny May day for the occasion, Duwain Pinder, a Harvard Business School graduate who spoke at the commencement, candidly talked about his feelings about the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. He made people laugh when he said they have all had to explain that Africa isn't a country. And he returned to the "microaggressions" so commonly associated with higher education, black students, and Boston - but this time, there was a tinge of hope.

"We have endured the constant questioning of our legitimacy and our capacity," he said. "And yet, here we are."

He paused, and the black graduates applauded.

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One day this fall, Rachel Domond, a third-year student at Northeastern University, conducted a counting exercise that has become all too familiar for many African-American students. She sat on the red couches on the second floor of the Curry Student Center and scanned the room for others who looked like her.

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How the 2016 Election Exposed America's Racial and Cultural Divides

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How the 2016 Election Exposed America's Racial and Cultural Divides

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The Presidential election of 2016 was undoubtedly one that caused divide throughout the nation, but how much of that separation can be attributed to race? According to this article, there seemed to be "voting blocs" in this election. Two that were specifically highlighted were the "whites without college degrees" bloc, who shifted decisively towards one candidate, and non-white overwhelming support for the other candidate. This connects in a sense to the article about college, showing the effects of the divisions of two groups of opposing views in a real world setting. The two major candidates of the election seemed to be polar opposites, catering their campaign trails to meet the expectations and win the votes of certain demographics. This attests to the amount of subliminal racism that occurs, even on something as professional as the presidential election. Many of the extreme acts of violence that have occurred in the last year can be drawn back to racism, and unfortunately seem to be coming more and more common. Questions arise, especially after this election, if the country has gone too far to become more inclusive to all, or does the future of America look brighter and more equal?

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The 2016 election exposed an America of deep divides over race, ethnicity and culture - a nation carved into two large coalitions, roughly equal in size but radically different in demographics and desires.

Those contrasts were brought into sharp relief in the hours after Donald Trump was elected president.

Voters in the Rust Belt and rural regions of country who felt left out of Obama's vision of economic prosperity and progress celebrated, in part, because they felt they once again had a champion.

Meanwhile, across the country, thousands of minorities, millennials and women in urban enclaves went into a period of mourning and took to the streets in protests fueled by frustration, fear and disillusionment in a country they feel that, by electing Trump, is now entering a dark and divisive era.

"The biggest difference between the two parties is the urban-rural divide. That gap widened. Politically, that translates into race and identity as the main political dividing line. Rural and exurban America is very white, and generally inward-looking. Urban America is very diverse and cosmopolitan," said Lee Drutman, a political scientist at New America, a Washington-based non-partisan think tank.

Whites Without College Degrees Voted Like an Ethnic Bloc

The electorate coalitions in 2016 were similar to the 2012 election, with one major exception: white voters without college degrees, already a Republican-leaning bloc, shifted decisively to Trump.

Related: First Read: How Rural America Fueled Trump's Win

According to exit polls, whites without college degrees favored the real estate mogul by 39 percent (he won 67 percent of their votes, compared to 28 percent for Hillary Clinton.) That gap was only 25 percent in 2012, when Mitt Romney won 61 percent of the non-college white vote, compared to Obama's 36 percent.

In 159 counties, mostly in the Midwest and Appalachia, Trump ran 12 percent better than Romney, according to TargetSmart, a political data firm.

In effect, non-college whites voted as a bloc for Trump, in the same way that blacks, Latinos, and Asians have overwhelmingly supported Democrats and that evangelical Christians have backed GOP candidates in recent elections.

Clinton's support among minorities did not reach Obama's levels in some areas. But she still won about two thirds of the votes of Asians and Latinos, and nearly 90 percent among African-Americans, according to exit polls. (Some experts on the Latino vote say that exit polls understated Clinton's support in the Latino community, and that she won about 80 percent of their votes.)

White college graduates were essentially equally divided between the two candidates, with white college educated men favoring Trump while college educated women favored Clinton.

Trump's electoral margin came in part from very narrow wins in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, states with large groups of non-college whites. Clinton is likely to win the national popular vote in part because of her huge advantage in California, the nation's largest state and one that is about 39 percent Latino.

How This Division Is Different

America has long been deeply-divided politically.

With the exception of Bill Clinton's 1996 victory and Obama's in 2008, recent national elections have been very close. Democrats bitterly protested the 2000 Supreme Court decision that helped ensure George W. Bush won that election. Down in a very close race, John Kerry refused to give his concession speech the night of the election in 2004, like Hillary Clinton this week. Mitt Romney's defeat in 2012 was narrow and some pre-election surveys had shown him ahead.

What has shifted-and became more apparent during 2016 and was cemented on Tuesday-is the nature of that divide.

Many of the defining arguments of elections from 1980-2012 were about national security and the size and role of the federal government. Republicans tended to be more skeptical about expanding programs while more assertive about deploying U.S. military power abroad, while Democrats were more pro-government and anti-war.

Now, the political divide is much more about culture, identity and race.

"In 1992, a majority of the voters in both parties were white Christian. Today, the GOP has essentially become a party of white Christians, while Democrats rely on a coalition of religiously, racially and ethnically diverse voters," said Daniel Cox, research director at the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute.

Cox added, "There is not much demographic overlap so it's not only that the other party has different ideas from my own, it is comprised of very different types of people as well. This exacerbates the problem of political polarization."

Hillary Clinton ran a campaign that appealed to the new Democratic coalition.

Her aides, trying to emphasize that she was truly committed to the African-Americans who backed Obama in 2008 and 2012, regularly noted that she gave one of her first major speeches in her 2016 campaign on issues of race and criminal justice. She strongly supported allowing undocumented immigrants to become citizens, a direct appeal to Latinos.

Clinton gave more speeches about racial issues than Obama during his runs and strongly embraced the Black Lives Matter movement. Her casting of some Trump's supporters as "deplorables" fit with Clinton campaigning as the champion of whites and non-whites who take pride in inclusion and racial diversity.

Clinton tapped Tim Kaine, a white Catholic, as her running mate, a move that seemed aimed at religious voters.

But Kaine also fit with Clinton's strategy of winning the election in part by increasing Latino turnout. He frequently spoke Spanish on the campaign trail.

The Anti-Trump Coalition Could Fight As Aggressively As the Anti-Obama One Did

Defeated on Election Day, Clinton's coalition is frustrated, like Trump supporters have been much of the last eight years.

"Race remains the organizing principle of American politics, and racism is alive, well, and in fact, popular," says Heather McGhee, president of the liberal group Demos Action. "White America elected Donald Trump, just as the majority of white voters have supported every Republican presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.

She added, "Voters of color overcame voter suppression tactics instituted by Republican state legislatures and shielded by the Roberts court, but it was not enough to counter the pro-Trump white vote that responded to explicitly racist appeals. This is our country's unfinished business, and we will redouble our efforts to uproot the false belief in racial hierarchy and finally create one nation out of many."

Early in Obama's tenure, the Tea Party movement emerged in opposition to him, and conservative resistance has endured over his eight years in office.

Now, an anti-Trump movement appears to be organizing, even before he officially takes office.

"I'm not going anywhere. This is my country, too. We will organize, plan, & fight for a better America. But I'm not going anywhere," said Deray McKesson, an activist heavily involved in the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Campaign for America's Future, a liberal activist group, sent out a message to its members on Wednesday night with the subject line, "Massive Resistance to Trump Agenda - It Begins NOW."

"The peril cannot be exaggerated," the message reads. "Depression and despair are a luxury we cannot afford. We must organize and prepare to use all the remaining tools of citizenship- in the courts, the press and, when needed, the streets with massive civil disobedience."

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The 2016 election exposed America's deep racial and cultural divides

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The 2016 election exposed an America of deep divides over race, ethnicity and culture - a nation carved into two large coalitions, roughly equal in size but radically different in demographics and desires. Those contrasts were brought into sharp relief in the hours after Donald Trump was elected president.