| We live in a time described by some as "post-racial" (Carter, 2009; Fordham, 2010; Lum, 2009; Metzler, 2009; Steele, 2008). While the idea continues to be debated, those who think of the U.S. as such claim that racial boundaries no longer have significant import for daily life, or at least not the same import as in past eras. Some would even point to America's elite college/university campuses to demonstrate that our nation has moved beyond the rigid and strained racial boundaries that once characterized our country.;Indeed, selective colleges/universities have become increasingly focused on fostering racially diverse campuses over the last 40 years (Espenshade, Radford, & Chung, 2009). Further, campus cultural/racial student groups have also begun to have members who do not self-identify with the culture/race being represented. Thus, the question emerges regarding the meaning members---both those who self-identify with the culture/race being represented and those who do not---make of their participation in these groups.;The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College provides a unique context for this inquiry. Kuumba is the university's oldest black student organization, as well as the largest multicultural organization on campus with members representing a variety of backgrounds, including ethnicities across the African diaspora, as well as white, Asian, and Latino members. Using the methodology of portraiture, this research explores these specific research questions: How, if at all, does Kuumba as an organization address race/ethnicity/diversity? How do students of various backgrounds come to participate in Kuumba and what makes them stay? How do individual students in the organization negotiate race/ethnicity/diversity and related tensions and potential benefits? And, what is the role of music and performance in this process of negotiation?;Through this research I found that Kuumba pushed beyond the bounds of representational diversity---focused on numbers of "kinds" of students on campus---to create the opportunity for dialogue about more critical forms of diversity, which question unequal power relationships. Utilizing music and history as a shared unifying focus and platform for disseminating their message, black and nonblack Kuumba members were able to examine structural inequality and work in community to bring about change. |
