'Black Only Housing' in California State University Offers Segregated Housing for Black Students

A black only housing made a noise on the internet this week as California State University opened their student housing. The said student residence goes with a controversial name "The Halisi Scholars Black Living-Learning Community."

The California State University built the said specialized housing as a response to a call made nine months ago by the Black Student Union, an African-American student organization in the university. Several black students continue to seek asylum from the microaggressions they receive from their white colleagues.

A part of the call said that they want to have a safe space for the black students to freely assemble, interact and learn from one another. The union also wrote on their demand that they desire to have an alternative housing solution made affordable for black students.

In spite of it being categorized as a black only housing, Robert Lopez, California State University LA spokesperson clarified that the aim of the specialized housing is to focus on academic excellence. He said that their goal is to provide an inclusive learning experience that is non-discriminatory, The L.A. Times reported.

The specialized housing is cited among the 192 furnished apartments inside the campus. These apartments have specific themes uniting residing students. None of the themes, however, were categorized by color or race.

As a part of the Halisi community, there are rules that students must agree upon. First, they are to respect the differences of others and look for ways to learn from them. A resident must also be an advocate for change despite the inadequacy. Finally, they are to accept that they are in the learning process and that they need to be open to new ideas.

As of this writing, 24 students are occupying the "The Halisi Scholars Black Living-Learning Community." The fall 2016 semester list for the specialized housing is full and the university is no longer accepting applications for this season, though the administration confirmed that they already have a long wait list for the next semester, The Fox News reported.

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