Why Do Students of Color Tend to Group Together?
By AnnaBelle Medina, featuring interviews with Aisha Baiocchi and Habiba Sayma
Written originally for a Journalism class
It is a typical day of high school: I walk to the cafeteria, buy a burger off the grill and go downstairs to eat. As I look around, I observe an all-too-familiar sight in specialized high school: a group of white kids, perhaps a group of Asian kids, and finally, a group of kids of color. Most people think of high school as being separated into “the Jocks,” “the populars” and even “the emo/Goths” because of how it is portrayed in movies and shows, but in reality, race is always a factor. This sight, common amongst all racially diverse high schools, leads me to pose the question--why do all the students of color tend to group together?
New York City specifically is home to over 400 high schools, 8 being specialized. Though one of the most racially diverse cities in the United States, the demographics within these schools do not reflect this: in all 8 schools, only 9% of Black and Latino students are offered a seat, even though they make up 68% of the city’s population. One school in particular, High School of American Studies at Lehman College in the Bronx, holds students who are 57% white, 21% asian, 13% Hispanic 4% black. Although mixed, it is one of many NYC schools trying to diversify its student body even more, participating in initiatives like the Discovery Program which helps to admit disadvantaged students into these elite public schools. However, even with all the attempts to create greater diversity and change a segregated system, the ways in which students segregate themselves is undeniable.
This is not a foreign concept in schools--the novel Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum was published 22 years ago, but the idea still remains relevant in 2019. For years, students of color have been self-segregating, perhaps because they feel more comfortable with other student minorities they can relate to, or without even noticing the circumstances. This is apparent in the way students pick who they sit with at lunch, or even who they decide to hang out with outside of school. Of course there are other factors, like proximity, personality of their peers, etc; however, it is clear that something, a factor that changes for each student of color, brings minority students together.
“I always thought that friend groups were people that have the same interests and who are supportive,” says Habiba Sayma, a senior at HSAS, “but I can’t help but notice that everyone in my friend group is also of minority status or knows what it’s like to be part of a minority group.”
Every student dreads the first few days of high school--many are lost and confused as to who they are, what they should wear, and who they are going to befriend. But for many students of color, there is an additional stress: a lack of people who resemble them. This differs from their white peers, who are bound to find more students who resemble them since they are the majority.
“When I walked in I was one of two girls wearing a hijab,” Habiba describes, “I was one of two girls that were brown and everybody else was mainly white.”
Countless students can remember the cultural shock of what it means to be a student of color in a predominantly white school, as the specialized ones are, which has become a theme in why students decide to segregate themselves: most students under these circumstances find comfort in being surrounded by people who relate to being a minority. When these students look around and see that very few of their peers look like them, they find it discouraging and hard to adjust to this environment. Aisha Baiocchi, a junior at HSAS, describes what having a friend group of primarily people of color means to her: when they are together, they can all put aside the constant stress of having to portray themselves as being the best representation of a minority and just be who they are, without feeling like they will tarnish their images.
“When people are from the same racial background, they tend to think similarly,” says Habiba, “Sometimes when I sit with my other upper west side rich friends it’ll be weird to say ‘I don’t have lunch money today’ or ‘I can’t pay for Blacktap because it’s $20 for a burger.’”
In her group, they share morals and understand things that they believe no one else from their grade would be able to get. Often times, students of color tend to be the ones who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds since many come from the Discovery program, which only admits low income students. Because of this, they are more likely to have shared experiences and understand each other’s struggles.
Looking around in a room full of strangers, a person is most likely to go towards someone they relate to, and the first thing people usually notice about a person is their race. That being said, no matter how diverse schools get, the students will always go towards those who are more similar to them. In high school, students will always want to fit in, and for many students of color, their mostly friend groups of color reflect a sense of comfort.
“It’s not like i was going around the school like recruiting the kids of color from my friend group,” says Aisha, “but I think based on like the music we play and the way we dress, kids of color just kind of gravitate towards us.”
