Berkeley’s “No Whites” Student Housing

About a year ago, I started an article about the University of California-Berkeley’s latest racist policy… and then decided not to complete it.

The story was definitely interesting: with institutional support, students at one of the most-popular colleges in America were choosing to live in a place that was clearly racist against white people. Take, for example, this gem:

“White guests are not allowed in common spaces…”

or this one:

“Always announce guests in the Guest Chat if they will be in common spaces with you and if they are white.” 

…or this:

“Many POC members moved here to be able to avoid white violence and presence, so respect their decision of avoidance if you bring white guests.”

So, the original story was that UC Berkeley was sanctioning conspicuous racism in its dorms. While that seemed possible to me, it seemed improbable. Even at a school like Berkeley, I thought that was a bridge too far, and it was worth some additional research before immediately reacting to the story. And after the smoke started to clear, it turned out that the housing area was privately-run by something called the Berkeley Student Cooperative, BSC, and not owned or operated by the University.

Additionally, the major evidence of the racism seemed to come from places like Reddit, which is not exactly a credible news source. And when I went to the BSC’s website and looked for myself, I did not see the guest rules that were shown on Reddit.

However, based on reporting by news outlets as varied as Fox News, The New York Post, The College Fix, The Daily Mail, and Black Enterprise, the initial reporting seems at least partially accurate. UC Berkeley students were living in housing with racist policies, but it wasn’t sanctioned by the University. That’s marginally better, I guess; private racism against white people is better than state-sanctioned racism I suppose. At any rate, I let the issue drop and decided not to follow up.

So why bring this up again now, a year later? It’s because this issue keeps rearing its ugly head. According to Forbes, white-exclusionary racist living quarters is becoming more and more popular across America. Just a few months ago, Bucknell University students issued a list of demands that included “more housing options for black students” This “demand” was made despite Bucknell already provided “affinity housing” (AKA racially segregated housing) through their 7th Street House. And just a few days ago, I read an article that sought to justify racial segregation at Ohio State University, the granting of special privileges, and other examples of conspicuous racial discrimination in the name of… you guessed it… Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This just… keeps… happening.

Look, racism is racism, no matter who or what it’s directed against. What happened in Berkeley… and Bucknell… and OSU… and countless other places across America are not one-off events. To the contrary, it’s a trend of racism of the type that just a few short years ago, America was beginning to pride itself on stamping out. Special race-based set-asides and separate living quarters is not the way forward for race relations in America. After all, if the races can’t get along in a place like college, how can we expect them to get along in the real world?

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Scott Faith is a veteran of a half-dozen combat deployments and has served in several different Special Operations units over the course of his Army career. Scott’s writing focuses largely on veterans’ issues, but he is also a strong proponent of Constitutional rights and has a deep interest in politics. He often allows other veterans who request anonymity to publish their work under his byline. Scott welcomes story ideas and feedback on his articles and can be reached at havokjournal@havokmedia.com. 

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.