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Set in Los Angeles shortly after 9/11, the movie Crash tracks the intersecting lives of a Brentwood housewife and her attorney husband, a Persian store owner, two police detectives who are also lovers, an African-American television director and his wife, a Mexican locksmith, two car-jackers, a rookie cop, and a middle-aged Korean couple. Through the course of the movie, the lives of the characters collide without realizing the similarities in the various acts of racism that each one encounters, yet not understanding the acts of prejudices that they each perpetuate through their silence.

Hamline, a predominantly white institution, prides itself on making its campus a diverse and inclusive environment with students at its center, transforming lives in hopes that one day we will become compassionate citizens of the world.

However, students of color, white students, faculty, staff, and administration continue to collide in our definitions and understandings of what diversity is and why it matters.

As we travel along the sidewalks and buildings on campus, we bump into people we don’t have relationships with.

We affect the lives of others whether we are aware of it or not. Our worlds collide through the exchange of words or simple eye contact. We “crash” here. We may not realize it, but issues of all kinds cause us to be slammed out of our spheres of reality.

Our political opinions differ, our Hamline experiences vary, our student-faculty-staff relationships need major improvements, our status differences limit the possibilities of change in the workings of the institution. The university tokenizes students of color on the Hamline website and in brochures. The campus is not completely accessible to people with disabilities. Our administration is predominantly white. Sexual harassment and hate incidents continue to target women and GLBT students. Candid conversations about race are rare. The pace of communication between administrators and others is slow. The visibility of academic leaders in diversity initiatives is limited.

So what do we do now? We need to counter our own acts of racism by taking responsibility in acknowledging our everyday interactions and lack thereof on this campus. We must take deliberate steps to begin the necessary conversations to understand the deeper issues behind small acts of prejudices perpetuated by ourselves, our friends, and our institution. We must seek to increase our knowledge and understanding of others’ experiences that are different from our own.

There is a wide range of possible initiatives that students can take. Each of these initiatives falls on a continuum from supporting to challenging the race relations status quo on campus. The most ambitious acts will push us as individuals; for example, interrupting racist jokes or completing the HUCORE experience. On the other extreme, doing nothing at all reinforces “business as usual.”

Examples of this would include ignoring racist jokes that you overhear, surrounding yourself with people who will not challenge your racial understandings.

Between these two poles there are many options, for example, choose forms of recreation that are likely to broaden your perspective (going to movies like Crash, parties and concerts that stretch your comfort zones). Attend events on campus and in the community that are sponsored by organizations or communities of color.

Within your formal learning experience, choose research topics, specific texts or entire courses that will increase your knowledge of race and racial dynamics. No one can tell another person what they need to do. Each reader can begin by thinking and acting for him or herself and not by asking others what she/he should do to begin dismantling the system of racism.