Do you know the meaning of terms like "dipset" "what’s good" and "730?" If you do not know what I am talking about, it’s all right; most white people don't. I understand, because I didn’t until I met one of my good friends here at Vanderbilt, an African-American student from Harlem. These are terms used mostly within the African-American community, and because most of us do not know a lot about black culture, we do not grasp their meaning.

Yet the influence of African-Americans in shaping pop culture is everywhere. At fraternity parties, the music put on basically all the time is rap because it has a good beat for dancing. However, if we don’t stop to examine the lyrics, we miss much of the meaning. Everybody who has been within earshot of a radio during the last three years has heard Lil Jon’s song with the “skeet skeet skeet” chorus, but, as Dave Chappelle said, “You know what's so dope about ‘skeet?' It's that white people don't know what it means yet. When they figure it out, they're going to be like, 'My God, what have we done?'"

The reason I bring this up is that in addition to the recent celebration of MLK Day, this school year marked the inaugural issue of a new campus newspaper, The Talented Tenth. This publication, named after a term coined by W.E.B. Du Bois, aims to provide campus views from a minority perspective. For many of the minority students here on campus, the Vanderbilt experience is drastically different than that experienced by white students. On an individual level, they are often the only non-white student in a class, and the Greek life so intrinsic to the school’s social scene largely ignores them. I try to put myself in their shoes. What would you do if you went to a school where 80 percent of the student body were black, 10 percent Asian and Hispanic, and 10 percent white? School would be a lot different.

Unfortunately, when The Talented Tenth made its debut the word got out that it was only meant for black students. According to a friend of mine who edits for the paper, this is not the case at all. The Talented Tenth is meant to provide a different perspective on campus issues than one would find in The Hustler as well as to spark consciousness about the relatively lesser-known multicultural side of Vanderbilt. They need writers, and students of all races and persuasions are invited to join in this effort. Finally, if you don’t feel comfortable trying to make friends of other races, at least you could pick up The Talented Tenth and see what “the other side” is thinking. You might learn something new. Isn’t that what we’re here for?

Knowles Adkisson is a senior in the College of Arts and Science.