As Dutch as they come, but still ‘allochtoon’
According to psychology student Beau Cox, promoting diversity at universities is counterproductive. She was born and bred in Limburg, but as her father comes from Jamaica, she can be labelled 'allochtoon', the term broadly and controversially used in the Netherlands to describe someone of an ethnic minority.
As a student, Beau Cox (24) has never felt that she is treated any differently because of the colour of her skin. That was until two weeks ago, when an article about the ethnic diversity of students in Nijmegen suddenly appeared on voxweb. ‘After I’d read it, I started looking around the lecture rooms to see how many black students there were.’ She posted a reaction to the article on the website.
She was shocked to find herself suddenly taking note of the colour of people’s skin, and even more shocked when she realised that she considered herself as an exception. ‘I felt uncomfortable. I don’t want to think about what colour my skin is. It shouldn’t be important.’ She doesn’t agree with the arguments put forward by political philosopher Anya Topolski, who thinks that the University should take measures to increase diversity. ‘It goes without saying that universities should be open to all, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they will reflect society as a whole. It’s a great ideal, but it’s simply not feasible. Universities are there for the people with the ability to study at them.’
‘A diversity officer could magnify the role of ethnicity and even increase polarisation’
Cox thinks that appointing diversity officers, as suggested by a committee at the University of Amsterdam, would be a bad idea. ‘I’m worried that it will magnify the role of ethnicity and increase polarisation on the campus.’ You must be careful with positive discrimination, she says. ‘I for one wouldn’t want people to think that I’m only here because of the colour of my skin.’
Aspiring to diversity should begin much earlier: at primary or secondary school. ‘All children, whatever their ethnic background, should be encouraged to aim for higher education from an early age. If black children hear that they’re destined to become mechanics for eighteen years, they won’t suddenly decide to try for university.’
At primary school, Cox sometimes felt she was different. Not because of her ethnic background (she was born and bred in Limburg), but because of her appearance. ‘The other kids teased me because I was darker than they were. I was one of just three black children at the school in Voerendaal and at that age, I wanted straight hair like the other girls.’
Allochtoon
Cox doesn’t identify with the stereotypes attached to Jamaica, the country where her father was born. ‘Reggae is too slow, getting stoned is boring and I’m not remotely interested in the Rastafarian culture. As for relaxed – I’m more of a live wire.’ To her mind, the characteristics attributed to the Dutch suit her better – direct, tolerant, open-minded. ‘But I’m still labelled as allochtoon. If one of your parents has a non-Western background, you’re pushed into that pigeonhole. I don’t want to be compartmentalised like that!’
She is pleased that the Scientific Council for Government Policy has decided to stop using the terms allochtoon and autochtoon. ‘The word allochtoon is often associated with people who have not mastered the Dutch values and standards. As if they’re something they still have to learn. This can be problematic.’
‘I have a love-hate relationship with pigeonholing’
The term being used to replace allochtoon – ‘a person with a migration background’ – isn’t much better. ‘It’s just getting vaguer. I’ve never migrated (apart from around the Netherlands) and it still emphasises my father’s background.’
But as a student of psychology, Cox understands that people like to compartmentalise. ‘I have a love-hate relationship with pigeonholing. It can be very handy in social situations, as it helps you to identify with a particular group. I’m proud of the pigeonhole ‘student’, for example. And when I meet other people from Limburg, I can’t resist saying that I’m a Limburger too. But pigeonholes can also be stigmatising; it depends on what you do with them. To my mind, making a big thing of ethnic pigeonholes doesn’t work to anyone’s advantage.’
Xeni wrote on 5 november 2016 at 13:13
They probable took this out of context, this whole article and interview maybe, but I still want to respond to the following quote:
“It goes without saying that universities should be open to all, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they will reflect society as a whole. It’s a great ideal, but it’s simply not feasible. Universities are there for the people with the ability to study at them.’”
Really? It doesn’t go without saying. Clearly University is NOT open to all., being even more discriminating then wider society. Saying the University is there for people with the ability to study at it, is then suggesting people from different color of skin are less able to study at University?
And are they less able to study here because of their intelligence, and you are one of the few exceptions? Or are they less able because society doesn’t allow for people that look different, whether it is because of skin color or disabilities, to study here? At least not at ease? Not the speak of the under representation of women in certain studies.
I would like to invite you to the closing lecture of the Postcolonial Europe course I followed to change you’re perspective on how inclusive University and our society is.
Konijntje wrote on 5 november 2016 at 23:34
I would presume that she meant that no, people with a different skin color are not less intelligent. The ratio of people that are of diverse backgrounds other than white that meet the requirements to apply for university is simply lower than that of white people. Why that is, is debatable (I’d say yes, mostly racism), but the student interviewed argues positive discrimination in applying to university is not the solution.
berational wrote on 7 november 2016 at 13:15
How is the university in any way discriminating? The university simply accepts those who want to register for a particular study. Anyone is allowed to study and no application trajectory is necessary. Surely, it is possible to study without external financial support or some sort, as long as you have the right attitude, skills and are strongly motivated.
However, it may be stat studying just does not come to the mind of a higher fraction of school students with different ethnic background, because they are not as motivated by their parents, or by people in their environment (teachers may underestimate them, but they may also underestimate their own capabilities) as ‘white’ school students. My personal experience is that the work ethic of people with different skin colors is often simply below the mark in order to become eligible for joining an university. Another important reason may be that they are more often hold back by financial reasons than ‘white’ students (which is worrying).
I agree with the argument of Beau that is fine that the population in the region of Nijmegen is predominantly white, because this is comparable with the proportion of ‘white’ school students in the VWO/Gymansium classes in high schools in the region, meaning that the differences have already been made long before these become students. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the current skin color distribution in Nijmegen, but I do agree with the notion that foreign students may have a positive impulse on the university by offering new ways of thinking.
World citizien wrote on 6 november 2016 at 11:32
At first, I was also shocked when I read the part Xeni quoted, but then I read this:
‘Aspiring to diversity should begin much earlier: at primary or secondary school. ‘All children, whatever their ethnic background, should be encouraged to aim for higher education from an early age. If black children hear that they’re destined to become mechanics for eighteen years, they won’t suddenly decide to try for university.’’
This part is standing right after the part Xeni quoted and summarizies the uniderlying problem quite well. If one will go to university is not decised directly after highschool but way earlier!
Concluding, I also agree with Xeni that the University is a inclusive world, and this is linked, from my point of view, on one the whiteness of dutch academia, and on the other hand on unconscious racism…
Beau Cox wrote on 6 november 2016 at 11:37
Konijntje has the right idea 🙂 My point was exactly that there simply are much more white people in the Nijmegen area, so that it makes sense that there are many more white people at the university. The ideal that university should reflect society as a whole is quote I responded to, because I disagree with it being possible. As you said, university “discriminates” a lot in itself, being only accessible to the ones with the capabilities to study there so in that matter it can not reflect society as a whole because university students are not a very big percentage of society (if I’m correct and not too sleep deprived, about 1,5% of the total population in the Netherlands, according to data from DUO). So how then can they reflect the other 98,5%? That was my point.
And Xeni, if you speak of under representation of women in certain studies; in my study, Psychology, there’s an underrepresentation of men. So what, we have to drag more men into Psychology and limit the amount of women, just to make sure we’re all equal? No. In my opinion, changing things at university is simply too late. If you want more (wo)men interested in certain studies, start at primary school. Start early. I absolutely agree that there are less people of colour in university than perhaps should be. But I think there is something more fundamentally wrong with that system and trying to fix that at an age where most people have had to have made up their minds about what they want to become, is not the solution.
On that note I’m quite interested in the closing lecture you mention 🙂 Because hey, all of the above is my opinion as far as it’s informed, and there’s a lot that I don’t know off.