Attendees learned the history of desegregation at Del Mar College in the 1950s along with other discussions of racial issues at the “Race Matters: An Afternoon on the Subject of Race” symposium hosted by the Social Sciences Department.

The symposium held Feb. 26 featured five professors who each spoke on topics about race, including a timeline of the college’s personal history with integration presented by History Professor Mark Robbins.

Robbins explained Corpus Christi’s period of segregation and how it impacted “the day-to-day actions in everybody’s lives to, also, the hallmarks of where we get our opportunity educationally, culturally, or even in employment.” Such discrimination occurred at Del Mar College until 1952.

A decade after Del Mar College opened its doors, classes were offered to Black students in a separate school.

“The facilities were described by the son of the president of Del Mar … as deplorable. Another faculty member … said basically it was a thorn in the flesh of our institution,” Robbins said. “They didn’t have the same labs, they didn’t have the same library. Mind you, that Memorial Classroom Building … was pretty much brand new at the time, so, a state-of-the-art facility that African American students didn’t have access to.”

Robbins explained that the Board of Regents’ vote to desegregate their schools, notably two years before Brown v. Board of Education was ruled, was only a small contribution to that change.

“Most things in history happen because of … the actions of everyday people really doing something courageous at the grassroots level,” said Robbins.

Because of the community at Del Mar College, seven Black students were admitted and integrated within clubs, sports, and classes seamlessly. But “softer day-to-day forms of segregation” continue to trickle through the progress we have made.

Toward the end of Robbins’s speech, he relayed a story of Del Mar College’s resilience despite such discrimination.

“In the 1960 Sugar Bowl, Del Mar College was invited,” explained Robbins. “The only condition is they couldn’t bring the one African American player they had on the team. They all voted to not go. That’s the everyday courage.”

Other topics discussed were the inequalities young Black and Latino children face in public schools, the racial identity of Jewish people in America, funding for senior centers based on previously segregated subdivisions, and understanding our prejudices and voluntarily bettering them. Presenters were presented Instructor of Sociology Will Rushton, History Professor Bryan Stone, Asst. Professor of Sociology Isabel Araiza, and Asst. Professor of philosophy Andre de Avillez.

The two-hour symposium was an opportunity for extra credit, but others added they were also interested in learning more about the topic.

“Minority, majority, race, ethnicity, gender—we’re studying all of it because data is important, facts are important, and what’s even more important after that is communication. You don’t ever want to stop having these critical conversations,” said Beatriz Alvarado, chair of the Social Sciences Department. “Please don’t ever think that there are words like ‘diversity’ that you need to be afraid of. They can be our strength if we keep talking to each other.”