Students addressed racial issues in the HUB last night in a forum that literally raised the question: “Is the OMA racist?”

Members of the Black Student Union (BSU) and Whites Against Racism (WAR) hosted the event as a catalyst for discussion about the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA) and other ethnic concerns at the UW.

After having a conversation on a Facebook group, Michelé Prince, vice president of communication for the BSU, got inspired to collaborate and host the event with WAR.

“The basic goal is to talk about whether the OMA is racist or not,” Prince said. “Hopefully people will be inspired to have a general conversation.”

Steve Woodard, the OMA representative present at the forum, explained that since it was a student-voiced forum, he did not contribute but felt honored to be attending the event.

“The Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity includes African American, Native American, Asians, Pacific Islander and low-income white students,” Woodard said.

The evening started with quotes found online that helped spark conversation. One quote raised the concern that people today don’t believe they are responsible for racism because it is a historical issue that no one has control over.

“People should take into account that we are benefiting from what happened in the past,” said Tyson Johnston, ASUW director of diversity efforts. “All people have an equal chance at a higher education and accomplishments.”

Emily Cramer, a member of WAR, brought up an article written by a professor at Brown University about the ideas of separation and color-blindness.

“OMA offers the same thing the rest of our UW campus gives: tutoring at the International Center and help with scholarships,” Prince said. “When you walk into the doors, it’s a space where people will help you achieve your goals.”

Forum members raised the issue that high schools give different levels of information about racial issues, but in the past tense. The fact is, whoever is teaching the issue could be biased.

“White people don’t have control of whether we get privileges or not,” said WAR member Megan Wilbert.

In regard to stereotypes, one speaker believed the way people look automatically sets them apart, although no one can control how different they are, the speaker said.

“I can take advantage of the stereotype,” said Vanessa Vassall, vice president of community affairs for the BSU. “I can look mean if I don’t want someone to sit next to me or I can go up to someone really nicely if I wanted to get directions.”

Many contributors were concerned about languages and terms used at the forum. There seemed to be a fear of offending but not wanting to limit the flow of conversation.

“Everyone has ethnicity [and] an accent, and some of these terms are silly,” said Baba, a contributing voice at the event. “It implies that there is a better ethnicity and that everyone else is a substandard.”

A discussion of how politics relates to racism concluded the forum.

“There is a gap between politics and racism,” said sophomore Courty Stanton. “In regards to OMA [being] viewed as a reverse racism, how come only the OMA is selected? Why not America or the government? We are [a] visual species; to hide behind that and say it’s natural to judge based on appearances … is not a good excuse.”

Reach contributing writer Victoria Lee at development@thedaily.washington.edu.