​I was leaving the library and watched a car run a stop sign. Luckily no one was crossing the street at the time, so no one was hurt. A student walking near me joked that the driver was probably Asian, clearly finding the stereotype of Asian as bad drivers to be amusing. I told them that their race was irrelevant, and that I was just glad no one was close enough to get hurt. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that people continue to perpetuate racist stereotypes, but I guess I expected better from the students on our campus.

​I overheard a student in the Pitzer dining hall describe a final he had taken by claiming that “I know I did awful, the test was so gay”. Even though I have heard the word ‘gay’ used with negative associations for years now, as a lesbian it certainly bothers me that this phrase persists. People who use ‘gay’ to describe something in a negative fashion only further the association of ‘gay’ as ‘bad’.

​In one of my classes last year, we read a novel by a Japanese American author discussing the struggles of Asian Americans in this country. One student insisted that the author’s issues were unfounded, as Asian Americans were ‘more successful than other minorities’. Perpetuating the ‘model minority’ myth is incredibly harmful to Asian Americans; perpetuating the idea that Asian Americans are more academically, economically, and socially successful than other minorities allows white Americans to ignore very real racism Asian Americans face in this country.

​I was walking to Pomona’s campus the other day and a car drove past playing loud rap music. A student walking with some friends nearby commented on how the driver should turn down the ‘jungle music’. I was absolutely horrified at the student’s blatant racism, but what’s worse is that his friends all laughed.

The other week my two suitemates were talking about a young black man who had been rude to them. One of them justified his behaviour by saying 'maybe he is just from that part of Africa where that is ok'. He's definitely from America.

​Shortly after the election, an unknown individual scrawled graffiti on an academic building on Scripps Campus. The graffiti spelled out ‘M.A.G.A.’ (short for ‘Make America Great Again’), and was accompanied by a broken window. It’s disconcerting to think that Trump supporters on campus/in the community felt comfortable acting out in such a destructive manner so soon after the election results.

My dad likes to wear Dashikis because he thinks it is a cool style and makes him feel like a "hippie" again. When I tried to explain that this is culturally appropriative to African cultures because he has no actual connection to the cultures that traditionally wore Dashikis, he just said that I was being overly politically correct and that he was supporting businesses by wearing them... and he hosts a radical-leftist radio show! 

There are several white people with dreadlocks who attend Pitzer, and this is cultural appropriation and thus a walking microaggression. 

I am a white woman, and I used to compliment black women's hair all the time because I genuinely think black hair is beautiful and incredible, but I would never touch it/ask to touch it. When I learned about microaggressions, I stopped doing this as frequently. Is it microaggressive to be a white woman complimenting a black woman's braids or natural hair? Please comment!