America is evolving, but backward. A private housing co-op near the University of California, Berkeley campus has banned white people from their common areas.
Fox News reported, that The “Person of Color Theme House” is a housing co-op located near UC Berkeley that “aims to provide housing to low-income, first-generation, immigrant and marginalized students of color,” according to its website.
White people will be unable to be seen in the common areas unless they obtain consent from other tenants.
This is no different from the segregation practices of the 1950s and 60s.
In this particular housing co-op, White students and visitors are treated like second-class citizens.
Though the co-op is private and separate from the university itself, this new rule certainly affects white students. It also affects any students of color who may have white friends.
In the “house rules,” tenants are instructed to refrain from bringing white guests to the building without “permission” and to keep those guests (if approved) away from shared areas.
“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,” the rules state.
The problem is that races are seen as a hive mind. Your skin is a certain color, and you look a certain way, therefore you are the same and responsible for the actions of others who share your complexion.
This is racism by definition which is simply defined by Oxford as “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group.”
Most white people are not violent, in the same respect most people of color, or members of other racial or ethnic groups are not “violent”. We as people can not prescribe behavior to an entire racial demographic simply based on their demographic. This would be racism.
“Always announce guests in the Guest Chat if they will be in common spaces with you and if they are white,” the rule states.
It continues, “Guests are allowed in common spaces, but please be mindful if there are house members in the room beforehand. White guests are not allowed in common spaces.”
This is undoubtedly a form of segregation perpetuated by a private business.
The story was first exposed by the popular Twitter account “Libs of TikTok.”
The account wrote, “@UCBerkeley off-campus student housing bans white guests from common areas to “avoid white violence” with an attachment that shows the “POC house guest rules”.
If the roles were reversed, this situation would certainly play out differently in terms of public outrage and mainstream media coverage.