Students were treated to free pizza in the Student Union on Thursday afternoon, courtesy of the UB NAACP. Where they were allowed to sit, however, was based on race and ethnicity.
The NAACP hosted an event called the "Segregated Caf?(c)," a simulation of past eras in which segregation existed in the United States. The mock-up featured a restaurant setting with separate dining tables and serving areas for minority and white students.
Patrons were directed to their correct places according to their race, separating many lunching companions. Reactions started off confused and quickly turned to nervous and upset. However, there was a general understanding of the experiment.
"I think something like this is good to do because we get to experience what it was like in the past," said Clyde Strokes, a sophomore business major who was forced to sit in the minority section. "But I'm still pissed."
Strokes' was referring to the rude treatment and unsightly d?(c)cor encountered by those at the minority section, including ripped paper plates on the tables and pepperoni on the floor. Minority students were served half a slice of Franco's pizza and a trickle of soda in plastic cup, while white students were allowed a whole, or even multiple slices of pizza and soda served in champagne glasses.
The whites-only eating section was clean and adorned with tablecloths and balloons, but not even snazzy decorations made this a pleasant experience for the students having to sit there.
"I'm absolutely repulsed. If I wasn't absolutely hungry and if the pizza wasn't free I would not be eating here," said Valerie Daniel, a freshman management major. "My friends are over there. I want to be with my friends."
After a while, people stopped sitting down all together and just lined up to get some of the pizza.
Members of the NAACP acted as servers and even security guards in order to make the experience as authentic as possible. In order to make sure that no non-white students got preferential treatment, many were asked whether or not they were Jewish before being served. If they were, they were directed to the minority line.
"I was surprised," said Niraj Patel, a freshman bio-medical major. "We accidentally went to the wrong line and got sent to the other line."
Some students were even chased to the minority line with derogatory names and some mixed race students were allowed to remain on the whites-only side based on the lightness of their hair.
The demonstration even rallied up a protestor. Custodial worker Lettie Frazier marched nearby holding up a sign that said, "We have rights too, free us!" She was prepared to lie down in front of the whites only serving table to prevent the students from getting food.
"It's a good idea and I understand what they're trying to do, but I don't like it," she said. "It really shocked me, so I'm protesting."
Many began to grasp the meaning behind this event as NAACP members handed out pamphlets and encouraged passersby to read the poster boards that were up, which explained what segregation was and its place in American history,
"At first I got really upset, I almost lost my appetite," said Ivan Leon-Marrero, a junior theater major. "But I'm glad to be reminded and I hope people are getting upset. I hope it encourages people to fight for social equality and justice."
This is the second year the NAACP has held this event that they feel that it was a success.
"We wanted to set off black history month with a bang," said Richard Lawrence, a senior urban planning major and treasurer of the NAACP. "We need to be reminded because segregation was a reality just 50 years ago."
NAACP president and a senior sociology major Sharee Hereford feels that the segregated caf?(c) was a great way to have people experience what they would do in such a situation.
"We knew that there would be a lot of negative emotion, but that's what we wanted. People say that if this how things really were they would do something about but, but they realize that they probably could not," she said. "We wanted to given them as much information as possible. We didn't want them to just walk away mad."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
