International students ask for American students to combine the conversations on race
About 80 people gathered Friday night to continue a conversation prevalent on campus — the issue of racial discrimination.
This time, however, the focus was placed on the international perspective and efforts needed to reach out to American students at Ohio University.
Four student panelists were brought in for the “Racial Discrimination Deserves Elimination Panel,” where they weighed in on their experiences with and points of view toward racial discrimination.
Panelists discussed the importance of local conversations on international issues, the difficulties dealing with racism, why society needs diversity and even how homogenous countries approach immigrants.
The panel was hosted by the Fulbright Scholar Association.
Faisal Saleh, one of the panelists and a graduate student in communication and development studies, said the attitudes toward “otherness” from America’s colonial period is synonymous to outsiders in the 21st century.
“The colonial period had the idea to make the New World civilized, and this discourse is still happening,” Saleh said. “Those attitudes of the uncivilized world — the savage — don’t belong.”
Natalia Buitrago, a graduate student studying communication development, attended the event and said she is glad that there was a venue available for students to speak freely about racial discrimination at a school that has one of the bigger international populations in Ohio.
She said the conversation was nowhere near finished, however.
“There should be more encouragement from undergraduate Americans to attend and join in on the discussion,” Buitrago said.
At the end of the day, the FSA’s initiative is to focus itself on cultural and academic exchange, and panel discussions like these move that forward, said Sankerdas Latthanhot, a graduate student studying communication and development and FSA president.
“We want this organization to be the platform in which we can combine that cultural exchange and help other organizations with the same initiative,” Latthanhot said.
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