What Difference Does Having An Interracial Roommate Make?

Have you ever lived with someone of a different race? Did it change your perspective of what you thought of that person's race? The answer largely depends on the environment in which you were raised. If you grew up in a heterogeneous neighborhood with lots of diversity, living with someone that looks different from you was no big deal. If not, then problems are likely. Research shows that interracial roommates can reduce prejudice among college students...sometimes.

However, interracial roommates were also more likely to break up. Why? Sometimes the differences (i.e. music, friends of friends) are so vast as to be irreconcilable. Of course, roommates of the same race break up often too, so it's hard to say. One thing researchers safely agree on is that it is these instances of living together where efforts at diversifying college campuses really make a difference. In class, whites cluster with whites, blacks with blacks and so on. But, one-on-one in the dorm room? Adapt and acclimate or fight and become embittered.