"South of the Border" Isn't a Party, It's a Disgrace

“South of the Border” Isn't a Party, It's a Disgrace
Race Themed Party at Santa Clara University Makes One Student Reconsider Her Peers
By Victoria Duran of Silicon Valley De-Bug

A few weeks ago I saw a number of photos from a party at the school I go to, Santa Clara University. The photos were of a race-themed party called   “South of the Border.” These photos captured Santa Clara University students dressed as domestic service workers, janitors, Cholos and Cholas(Mexican-American gangsters), along with other stereotypical images of Latinos. The moment I saw these images I was sick to my stomach and disgusted. There are no words to describe what I felt, but surely it was not a surprise. Approaching the final quarter of my senior year, I have seen racism on the SCU campus, but in this case, students were publicly displaying a lack of respect for the Latino community.


The “South of the Border” theme has not been the only racist party that has been organized by students here. The individuals who have coordinated the parties have primarily been student athletes and from privileged, upper class backgrounds. The list of parties includes, “Tall tees and 40's,” “Thug Mansion,” both riffing off of African-American stereotypes, and “Finally Off the Boat, (F.O.B.),” referring to recently arrived immigrants. All of these parties, and there are more, have targeted specific ethnic groups and mocked the individuals of lower classes in portraying us in stereotypical images. Interestingly, not one of the parties invited or included members of the community in which they were portraying. Who knows what may have happened if real thugs attended the “Thug Mansion” or if real Cholas attended the “South of the Border” party.


Back in 2003, when I graduated from Silver Creek High School, my goal was to attend Santa Clara University. As a first generation, college bound, Latina from the Eastside of San Jose I was overcome with such joy when I received the acceptance letter to attend the university of my dreams. This was not only the beginning of a milestone in my life, it was also a special experience that I wanted to share with my family and community, those who have supported me to attain my goal. When I saw the images for the first time, I felt disgusted and speechless. I felt like what I had worked so hard for, to attend a university that could respect me, my people, and our contributions, were no longer valid.


Many students have provided their personal opinions regarding the theme parties across campus, verbally and through discussion boards on-line, and an overwhelming response has come to the defense of the parties. Much of the popular opinion across the campus is that minority students are over-reacting to a simple party where no malicious intent was present. I've heard fellow students say the party is an act of their freedom of speech. Discussion boards online (TheSantaClara.com) included postings from individuals who felt that the “trash” (Latino students) should be sent back to where they came from. And actually, the postings reveal a lot of other sentiments towards minorities on campus, saying that groups such as MEChA-El Frente, the Latino student organization, should not exist. Some even went so far as to say these groups are a terrorist organization conspiring terrorist acts against the government.  


Santa Clara University is California's oldest institution of higher education. The current demographics of the university are as follows: Caucasian 59.0%, Asian/Pacific Islander 17.0%, Hispanic/Latino 11.8%, African American 2.6% Native American 0.7% and Other/Unknown 8.9%. Students, faculty and staff pride themselves on the strong SCU community that supports the philosophy of educating men and women for the “three Cs,” competence, conscience, and compassion – the Jesuit values of our Unive rsity. After over 150 years of providing such a prestigious educational experience to students, our demographics do not reflect the much needed diversity and cultural awareness that one assume would be appreciated at such a value driven institution in the heart of the Silicon Valley.


For a party like “South of the Border” to strike at a Jesuit institution nestled in the Bay Area known for its relatively high percentage of Latinos, and San Jose at that (San Jose's overall Latino population is over 30% of the city's population), provides evidence that although there are many Latinos living in the Bay Area, they are still not welcome nor respected in a community in which they built and work in. How can you imagine the Latino service workers felt when they saw the students they see on a daily basis, students that they clean up after, serve food to and keep grounds for all at SCU, when they saw the mocking images?


Shortly after I saw the photos and read the comments in the discussion boards, I walked outside to attend my class and experienced something new for the first time at the campus, the idea of “me” versus “them.” “Me,” pursuing my higher education for me and for my family while others, “them,” continue to see me as a Chola or domestic service worker. After four years of schooling, these pictures point out to me that we are not the united community we claim to be, students do not welcome their peers who earned their admissions into Santa Clara University, but rather we are a divided campus of the privileged and unprivileged, those who can victimize another group for their mere entertainment.