People of Color at

Predominantly White Institutions

Thomas Martin

        Thomas Martin teaches in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. You may contact Tom Martin: Martint@unk.ed.

        I received a brochure this spring announcing the national conference of the People of Color at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) offered at the University of Nebraska this November. The conference brochure suggested an assortment of topics as relevant to people of color in predominantly white institutions and invited proposals for papers addressing the following:

*  Feelings and experiences of alienation at PWIs.

*  Mentoring students and faculty of color.

*  Race, gender and authority in the classroom.

*  Future of ethnic studies programs.

*  People of color and the law in higher education.

        From the title of the conference, I assumed the intent of such a conference is to attract “People of Color” who work or attend white institutions (which, obviously, are predominately attended by whites). The people sponsoring such a conference must think there are two categories of people employed at the University of Nebraska: people of color and white people. However, since white is not a color a white institution ought be referred to as a “colorless” institution and, for the sake of precision, the conference ought to be entitled, “People of Color at Predominantly Colorless Institutions.”

        I wondered what exactly qualifies a person to be included in the category of humans entitled “People of Color?” Freckles must count for something as people of freckle have yellow or brownish spots on their bodies that are often darker than any Latino’s skin. Does a person with a ruddy complexion, a person of “rud,” qualify as a person of color since a beet red face is more colorful than a variety of shades of brown or freckle?

        I would like to know whether there is any difference between “people of color” and “colored people”? A person who claims to be a “person of color” is like a person who claims to be a “person of height.” Undoubtedly a person of height, when asked about his height, is specific, responding six-foot-nine, six-foot-eleven, or, tired of being asked, “Howz the weather up there?” five-foot-nineteen to force the greeter into a simple math problem. So, people of color must be prepared when asked what color they are to state precisely their color just as people of height are expected to state their measurements from their toes on up.

        Therefore a colored person, when asked what color he or she is, ought, for the sake of specificity, to answer: brown, brown ochre, burnt sienna, deep ochre, peru, chocolate, mars orange, mars yellow, yellow ochre, aureoline yellow, cadmium yellow, melon, bisque, etc. So now when asked, a specifically minded colored person wanting to be independent of the group, will respond, I am a burnt sienna man, or a mars orange woman, or a deep ochre man, or a bisque woman, and so on.

        This conference for the sake of precision, ought to be entitled, “Shady People at Predominaantly Colorless Institutions.”

        Undoubtedly this opens up a host of possibilities for other such conferences to be held at universities in Nebraska. Several come readily to mind:

*  People of Height at Predominantly Short Institutions.

*  People of Wit at Predominantly Witless Institutions.

*  People of Fat at Predominantly Slim Institutions.

*  People of Courage at Predominantly Cowardly Institutions.

*  Etc.

        A conference addressing the problems facing people of height, “the vertically challenged,” on university campuses deserves attention and ought to draw nationally. Just think of some of the problems encountered by people of height.

        Banging one’s head on door jambs is an everyday occurrence as well as being provided with furniture lacking the necessary support for the torso. Then there are the low altitude light fixtures that short people have attached to ceilings like land mines to bruise and lacerate the skulls of people of height. And let us not forget the ever-ominous ceiling fans that threaten to decapitate the vertically challenged. A person of height employed at a university is forced to ride in state vehicles that require that he assume unnatural positions. When traveling by air, a person of height’s spine is compressed as he is wedged into a seat such that his knees may well be level with his ears. A person of height’s salary does not compensate for the additional cost of clothing, the necessary larger vehicles, or the medical expenses incurred from running into those door jambs.

        Furthermore, there are also the psychological problems facing people of height. A conscientious person of height is forced to sit in the back of a classroom so others may see, thereby fostering the perception of his being a sluggard lacking interest in the class, given that most attentive students—studies have shown—sit in the center of the first two rows. A person of height, in order to be socially acceptable, is expected to make eye contact with whomever he is speaking, forcing him to look down upon the majority of people which is harmful to the neck and the spine. A person of height is naturally looked up to which encourages unwarranted anger in others who view height as a superior quality. A male person of height is forced to humiliate himself by stooping before a urinal to urinate, unless he goes on top of the urinal which traumatizes—studies have shown—the masculinity of a person of height, not to mention leaving spots upon his pants which is especially embarrassing if he is a teacher.

        In addition, a female person of height has a difficult time finding clothes that fit and is rarely asked to dance. In elementary school the vertically challenged are forced to stand at the end of the line when arranged by height. It is not uncommon for classmates to think people of height have been held back a grade.

        In preparation for a conference on People of Height at Predominantly Short Institutions, whichever campus of the University of Nebraska hosts it should, as an act of good faith, raise the door jambs to seven foot two, place a urinal and a toilet for people of height in restrooms, as well as offer several higher desks and chairs in each classroom.

        It is evident that the vertically impaired have some long-overdue grievances against institutions that are practicing heightism, and such a conference would undoubtedly draw attention to this unjust treatment.

        And so it goes.     Ω