Comm Studies C30

Looking back now, Jess hated those half-slips of gold paper more than almost anything else in the world. She copied them at Kinko's one Thursday afternoon and didn't think twice when the cashier gave her a slightly funny look about the survey. Jess thought it was the huge headline on top, "My Views on Race Relations", but when the red-smocked clerk handed the change to Jess he looked right at her and said, "Interesting last question. You think anyone will tell the truth?" She glanced down at the questions before answering:

(1) What is your race?
(2) Do you think race relations at Lakeside are strained?
(3) How do you think race relations could be improved?
(4) Do you know any racists? What race are they?
(5) Are you a racist?

"Yes, actually I think they will," she countered. Who was this kid to challenge her on what she was getting copied? He was a dumb copy guy at Kinko's, and besides, they're not supposed to read what they copy. Jess drove home angry at Kinko's and angry at herself for getting angry, and although she couldn't pinpoint exactly why--just angry in general.

But the survey went well. She passed out over 100 in the cafeteria on cheeseburger Monday and got back almost as many. "Not bad," Jess thought to herself as she tallied the results before Melrose Place that night...

Almost all Lakeside students thought there was a major problem with race relations. The most common reason suggested as the cause of poor race relations was "self-segregation", mostnly on the part of blacks. Although almost all the students said they knew a racist, and slightly more said these racist students were black as opposed to white, only 10% of students actually admitted to being a racist.

..."not bad at all." This was good stuff. She stayed up almost all night writing her paper, finally typing the 36 point title-- "Racism in our Midst"-- just hours before the project was due to be presented in class.

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http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/commstud/freespeech/