Last night's American Civil Liberties Union meeting turned into a heated discussion about whether Penn State should add a mandatory racism class to the curriculum.

At the meeting, many members of the Black Caucus stressed the need for the class while other students said that it was too narrowly defined — only including African American's struggle with racism.

"Diversity will not go away," said Jamie Adgerson (senior-business concepts and cross-cultural communication). "We need to deal with it now."

Stemming from a sit in after December's Faculty Senate meeting, Black Caucus members are working with the senate to develop what could become a mandatory course.

The meeting's guest speaker Cary Frasier, an assistant professor of African and African-American Studies, agreed that the class should exist.

He talked about some problems he has as an educator from a racial standpoint.

"(Some students) did not understand the concept of race, having grown up in a rural environment," he said, talking about the difference in diversity between urban and rural areas.

"We want it to be a class like this," said Black Caucus President Lakeisha Wolf. "There is a problem (on campus) that still remains even when you have white students come from urban areas (as opposed to rural communities). They have come to a false understanding about race. The class is important not to encourage interaction, but to deal with the truth about race and racism, and what that means to all people."

However, some people at the meeting said the class would better be taught in high school, because they said racial misunderstandings have already been established by college.

Those in favor of the class disagreed.

"We are always learning," said Hasan Amenra (senior-secondary education social studies). "Anyone can be taught to change their beliefs."

Students did say that they would like to implement such classes and programs in high schools, but that they had had no success with their efforts thus far.

"We're teaching the future educators here at Penn State," Wolf said. "If we teach them how to teach about race, it will eventually get down to the young people who need it most."

Others Caucus members said the class would create well-rounded students.

"You cannot be a competent professional in your discipline unless you have at least an introductory idea of racism," Chenits Pettigrew (senior-media studies) said. "It's essential to the workplace."

Students addressed the fact that societies are more segregated today than they were fifty years ago.

"We need to talk about the truth of race and racism," Adgerson said.

There were students present who also protested the idea of affirmative action, something stressed by Black Caucus.

"It only guarantees interviews, not jobs," Adgerson said. "Unqualified people are not getting jobs because of this. Besides, most people don't realize that the people who benefit most are white females."

Wolf and others responded by saying that 30 years of affirmative action was nothing compared to the suffering African Americans had endured in the past.

"Segregation still exists," Amenra said. "It's everywhere, all around us."