Amidst the tens of thousands of students and myriad of nationalities andraces roaming Sacramento State, ethnic groups cluster together on campus.

Blacks at the River Front Market. Vietnamese in the University Unionpoolroom. Filipinos in the Quad.

Let’s face it. We’re segregated.

We’re divided, even though long gone are the days when “separate butequal” was considered a legitimate educational doctrine. The right for menand women of all colors and backgrounds to coexist together, only a dreamto civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.,is real for manyAmericans in the 21st century.

Though formal segregation as America knows it – the Native AmericanReservations, Jim Crow laws and the Japanese internment camps – are dirtystains on America, there still exists a voluntary form of separation inmultiethnic communities, which sociologists call “racial polarization.”

TIME magazine last year called Sacramento “America’s Most Diverse City,” and described the many ethnic communities clustered here. Naturally, suchdiversity – and separation–appears in miniature in schools, communitycolleges, and, yes, our university.

So what are the 46 percent of white and 54 percent of “minority” campusstudents to make of this polarization of ethnic groups? Is it a normalby-product of an increasingly diverse pool of people from differentbackgrounds? Or is it a sign of emerging divisions in the student body,causing tension among us?

Searching for answers to those questions led me to sociology professorDavid Monk’s Ethnic and Race Relations class last week, where I wasinvited to question students about their views and experiences.

Christopher Burton, who moved here from Del Paso, said he notices moreethnicities in California than in Texas. He also sees the visibleseparation between different groups on campus, which, he said, “issomething I’m not used to.”

“I see in the ethnic groups a follower mentality. People like to beassociated with something, a feeling as part of a group,” said LawrenceMouton, a black senior marketing major.

Michael Gracon, a white communications student, explained what he learnedfrom an Intercultural Communication class: that in some Asian societies,members don’t associate with outsiders easily.

“It’s a comfort zone,” said Tina Harris, a white Child Development andBusiness major. “(Polarization) is not detrimental to the campus, but itis as soon as any type of disrespect is shown.”

The class and Monk seemed to have a mostly positive outlook , with many ofthe vocal students believing that most of their peers are open-minded andreceptive to each other. I truly wanted to believe that they were right. But as I walked throughcampus the next day, surveying the various groups in their normal spots, Isighed as I realized that the class’ rosy view is far from reality.

My experience as a Filipino-German-Chinese-Spanish student tells meotherwise.

Since I don’t look “exactly” Filipino or act “exactly” Filipino, “true”Filipinos weren’t quite sure what to make of me at first. Interacting withthem became a sort of subcultural immersion. Slowly they got used to me. Igot used to them. Bridging those cultural divides is rewarding, but whydoes it have to be so hard?

We don’t have separate bathrooms at Sac State for “coloreds” and “whites.”We’d be righteously outraged if school officials decided to enforce suchbrutal laws. And courses like Monk’s class heighten awareness. But beingaware of diversity and celebrating it are two different things entirely.

On campus, and in society at large, we tolerate each other…but littlemore. Is that the best we can do?