Racial/Social cliques. Why must some of them act like jerks?

[Ashtaka]

I work at a community college and of course, we have kids of all colors and religions on our campus. Many of them go to their classes and are, for the most part your typical "as seen on TV" student. They hang out with their friends, do their homework, etc.

Of course, it's easier making friends with someone who's the same race as you since you know for a fact that you have at least 1 thing in common.

I hate to play on stereotypes here, but if you wandered the halls, you'd break the school down into 5 groups.

1.) Your typical student. Goes to class, goes to bed, does homework.

2.) The gang bangers. They never go to class since they're always in the lobby watching BET. They scream and hoop and holler at the top of their lungs, oblivious to the fact that they are on a college campus. This group however, seems to thin itself out as the semester goes on. Outside of the noise though, this group doesn’t look for trouble.

3.) Your D&D nerds. It’s 2am on a SATURDAY. Don’t you kids have homes to go to? They sit in the student resource center and play games all day. They LARP in the SRC building on Tuesdays, walking around with giant props, causing campus security to watch over them. While not as loud as the gang banging group, their altercations can become quite loud. The worst part is, they try and dictate which doors you can and cannot use. They put signs on doors stating “Do not use this door” because it inconveniences them. They physically block doors with garbage cans and ash trays. They leave garbage all over the place and expect people to clean up after them.

4.) The high school posse. “Hey, I knew you in HS. Let’s hang out and then go to Abercrombie after class!” The “cool” kids from high school are back. They hang out outside the buildings and chain smoke or play cards in the student lounges. The nice thing is they keep to themselves do not disturb others.

5.) The Middle-easterners. This is the source of most people’s aggravation on campus. Not all of them are like this, but the “clique” is. They are the loudest group, screaming, talking loudly in the library/labs, using their cell phones 24/7. They gather in the halls, but seem to find the narrowest points to gather in. They do NOT move when you ask them to move politely. They drive their rice burners like idiots through the parking lot, blowing past yield and stop signs as if they didn’t see them. When you ask them to move, they do so reluctantly, as if they’re the most important thing in the world. When they wash to prepare for prayer, they leave the washrooms in disarray. The counter top is flooded in water and wet paper towels. They ignore “authorized personnel” signs when they seek out places to pray. Yesterday, while moving some computer equipment, I noticed they were right in front of the locked door I had to go through. They saw me coming, they saw me swipe for en, yet they continued to block the door. They shouldn’t have even been in the hallway. Ever since 2001, this clique has been walking around the campus thinking they own the place, and I think it’s driving everyone crazy. I don’t want to say everyone is doing it, because they’re not… but they are a large minority group here, and it seems that a very large percentage are in this clique. They are representing their race, and in doing so, are pissing off a lot of people on campus.

Is this a common thing elsewhere? I go to my GF's campus quite often (she goes to a private college) and it's totally different. While there were cliques, they were respectful. If someone was carrying a large box, instead of standing there like a tree, they'd help you out. Kids respect each other there, and there's much less tension between groups then there is here.

[Cockswallow]

The cliques exist, but in my four years of attendance I've never actually encountered rudeness except for a group of frat fags trying to pick a fight with me after 9-11.

[Nano]

Originally posted by Nigel Cockswallow
The cliques exist, but in my four years of attendance I've never actually encountered rudeness except for a group of frat fags trying to pick a fight with me after 9-11.

Did they think you were mid eastern?

On topic: It seems like you kinda just filled in for everything, but the anger towards the mid easterns was the focus of your writing. I can personally say the gang stereotype prevails at my school, but I can honestly say I've never heard them being exceptionally loud. I hang out with most of the D&D types, but they arent loud...perverse, but not really loud. Anyhow, your stereotypes dont seem to hold true at my school, but it sucks that they're rude to you. Perhaps if you were forcefully rude back ( 'accidently' start dropping soda on them for instance ), they will cease to be such cock smokers.

[Cockswallow]

Originally posted by Nano
Did they think you were mid eastern?

Yes

[jaXonbrown]

cuz they can
for them that's reason enough to act like dicks and if they make a white boy's life harder, well that's just whiteys problem if he doesn't like it

[AgentCheese]

Originally posted by Nigel Cockswallow
Yes

what are you?

[isugoat]

the gang one made me laugh...i remember my first couple years when i was in the dorms i lived a few doors down from some black guy. he was pretty cool and fun to hang out with playin some dreamcast or whatever but him and his friends were loud as hell.
and whenever you went to the dining hall if you wanted to do any talkin you couldn't sit anywhere near the "black" table. apparently they're havin such a good time that they not only scream and yell the whole time...but when somethin is funny they stand up to laugh and swing their arms or somethin. it was funny at first, but kinda got annoying after a while.

[electric!sheep]

Originally posted by Ashtaka

2.) The gang bangers. They never go to class since they're always in the lobby watching BET. They scream and hoop and holler at the top of their lungs, oblivious to the fact that they are on a college campus. This group however, seems to thin itself out as the semester goes on. Outside of the noise though, this group doesn’t look for trouble.

This is the only one I saw at my campus, perhaps except for a group of people apparently in frats who would sit at a couple tables next to the student union. For all the diversity, everyone pretty much stuck to their "own"; asians with asians, blacks with blacks, indians with indians, and whites with whites.

[Cockswallow]

Originally posted by AgentCheese
what are you?

Lots of stuff. :P

[Slacker]

I haven't really ran into any cliques on campus here. Then again with about 20,000 people a few high school classes just dissappear with everyone else. There's also the fact that the Northwest is about as white as it gets, we've got plenty of Asians but for the most part they were born here and act just like anyone else.

[Faget McMasterbasion]

The Jews: Think they are better than everyone else, use their jewish ethnicity as an excuse for wrong doing.

[HybridPyro]

Originally posted by ForeverLurk-MK2
The Jews: Think they are better than everyone else, use their jewish ethnicity as an excuse for wrong doing.

Oh right the large Jewish population that causes some much trouble on campus. You are an idiot, who's only way to get along in life is to use the Jewish as a scapegoat.

[Faget McMasterbasion]

Originally posted by HybridPyro
Oh right the large Jewish population that causes some much trouble on campus.

You didnt go to any of my schools then, if your being a sarcastic dipshit.

[Ashtaka]

Well, much anger has been funeled at the Middle-Eastern group because on campus, they flaunt their arrogance. Whatever. I've been ignoring the ones that are loud, I move around the ones that stand in the halls, etc. But today, I walk past a group of them, and one of them starts going "ching ching chooong".

You bitch and complain about how people treat you unfairly on campus, how people are prejudiced against you, yet you do the same crap. The entire college has been doing this whole "Middle East Awareness" thing. Having brown bag lunch seminars, exhibits, etc. to show everyone what the Islam culture is like. It was sponsored by one of the guys I work with. Yet, these kids are the exact opposite of what these seminars show us.

The gloves are off. Today, at the IT meeting, I brought this up. Now, if I see one of them in the back hallway (Where it's clearly labbeled "Off Limits")where they shouldn't be, I will bring it up to our department manager and tell him that they are in my way and I cannot do my work. Bah, it just pisses me off... they think they're lasse faire because of their race/religion.

[HybridPyro]

Originally posted by ForeverLurk-MK2
You didnt go to any of my schools then, if your being a sarcastic dipshit.

Did a Jew call you a name once?