Ernest Hemingway once said Oak Park  is “a place of broad lawns and narrow minds.” Granted, this was sometime in the early 20th century, when racism was about as common as breathing, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still true. There may not be “whites only” signs hung on bathroom doors, but there’s still a significant amount of white privilege on a nationwide level. And while Oak Park isn’t actually located in DuPage County, it isn’t that far off, and a number of College of DuPage students live there. This leaves us wondering: how far have we come?

About five decades ago, DuPage County was white. As in, all white. We are known as a county built on the concept of white-flight, the shift of the white population as a result of African-Americans moving into their neighborhoods. Today, diversity is more apparent here than ever before. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the majority of the population of DuPage County is white at nearly 70 percent, with the second highest being Hispanics at nearly 14 percent. Asians account for 11 percent, and African-Americans account for roughly 5  percent.

College of DuPage has similar student demographics, with slightly different proportions. Here is a breakdown of race at the college, according to the 2013 COD Factbook: 55 percent identify as white, 21 percent as Hispanic, 10 percent as Asian and 7.5 percent as African-American. So what does this say about our county and, more specifically, our school? Well, for starters, we’ve grown significantly in both size and diversity. The more people who move to DuPage County and, subsequently, the more people who attend COD, the more diverse our community becomes. However, we still have a long way to go when it comes to celebrating all races and cultures.

Take for example, the Black History Month celebrations happening on campus right now. The college definitely did its part in planning events to honor African-American culture — the school hosted a film festival, an art exhibit, a daylong celebration, and other events to recognize African Americans and their cultural background. Despite these actions taken by COD, there was still an issue that plagued the festivities. Looking around during any number of the events on the roster for Black History Month, it was easy to tell what was missing: attendance. Some faculty members were present and even a few board members could be seen, but few students seemed to even know about the celebration taking place around them. The problem didn’t lie in the content of the events; it was the lack of marketing and outreach to students that made the school’s efforts go to waste.

Perhaps this wouldn’t have been a problem if there had been more effort put forth to spread the word of these activities. Classes that focus on culture, race and ethnicity could have offered extra credit to students who attended one of the events, or even entire classes could have taken part. As for marketing, there was hardly any noticeable push of information other than a few sheets of computer-paper sized posters hung sporadically throughout the halls and a full-page advertisement in this newspaper. This isn’t a petty complaint when one takes into consideration the numerous ways the school could have boosted attendance for something so important. Keep in mind most students did not receive one email message regarding Black History Month activities, at least through the student email system.

It’s subtle, and not at all intentional, but the oppression is there. This sort of oversight in advertising led to a failure in properly celebrating diversity and culture within our school and county, and when dealing with these issues, an oversight means everything. While the administration was so focused on what the events would be, they forgot to publicize them sufficiently and, thus, they became essentially insignificant. The same can be said about the school’s lack of recognition of other cultures that don’t have a month dedicated to them; the college makes no public effort to honor their heritage. If diversity is celebrated and no one is there to experience it, did the celebration really happen?

What we are still lacking in racial recognition can be fixed quite easily, but that isn’t to say it’s a small issue. Minorities of all races and ethnicities are discriminated against every day all around the country, and that doesn’t exclude DuPage County or COD. It’s tempting to dance around the topic because of its sensitivity, but it’s more important to address the problem head-on. The only way to increase awareness and change perceptions of others and their cultures is to educate ourselves. To reference Hemingway, we shouldn’t rest until our minds are as open and broad as our lawns.