My housemates and I often joke that our house is the mini-union of Africa and Europe. We have thermostat wars in the wee hours of the morning because the two who live on the east side of the house are always too hot, while the two who live on the west side can never have it warm enough.
It just so happens that the two of us who want the house to be incessantly toasty are black - we live in the African wing - and the other two housemates are white and inhabit the European wing.
There is no political correctness in our "Europica." We hurl mock insults at each other through the hallways that serve as our continental divides. While always good for a laugh, these playful taunts can sometimes lead to some serious examinations of stereotypes.
The willingness to sidestep pretenses has made the vibe in my house an enjoyable one. It is not uncommon to hear some comments that would be considered incredibly offensive anywhere else floating freely about the house.
"Why are you black people always laughing and talking so loudly and making so much noise?" someone might say in a teasing but semi-serious manner after a particularly loud outburst on the west side.
" Clearly because we have more interesting conversations than you boring white people," might come a playful, half-teasing retort.
These random exchanges would almost always be followed by a "No, seriously I always wandered ..." and a serious discussion would ensue.
Sometimes I try to imagine what the rest of the world would be like if everyone shared some of our "Europican" ideals.
How interesting would it be to witness an old white woman randomly stop a young black man on the street and say something like: "I don't really know any young black men, but I always thought black men in baggy clothes were criminals, because that's what I see on television."
In this brave new world the young black man would proceed to tell of his status as an upstanding citizen and to speak of his goals and accomplishments; and there we would have the hindrance of the formation of a stereotype.
A sentence like, "He doesn't seem gay," would have no place in this new society because we would have eliminated the taboos that obstruct honest communication and there would be no standardized conception of how all gay people act or speak or dress.
If we extended "Europica" to the rest of the world there would be no typecasting in movies, everyone would get a chance to play a crackhead or a corporate criminal or even a serial killer.
Oh yes, there would still be crackheads, corporate criminals and serial killers in this new world because it wouldn't be a perfect society, just an honest one.
There would be two critical "Europican" social laws: "Don't Hesitate to Say it Aloud," the "it" being whatever questions dominate your thoughts when it comes to people unlike yourself. This will lead to open discussions that will in turn lead to wonderful understanding.
The second "Europican" law would be "Get to Know Your Neighbors- All of Your Neighbors." Because stereotypes are bred in ignorance, the only way to avoid them is by being surrounded by many different types of people and learning about them.
My housemates and I are still working on perfecting our little "Europica" and so far the only serious problems we've encountered are those late-night thermostat wars. We still have a about a semester and a half before the end of our little social experiment. I'll let you know how it all turns out.
