According to a study released by Ohio State University, African American students who are paired with white roommates earn better grades during their freshman year than those who are not.

Researchers found that an interracial living arrangement led to as much as a .30 GPA increase; a same-race one, on the other hand, had little to no effect.

To further compound our confusion, the study also revealed that the benefit was completely one-sided, and white students were affected more by their roommate’s academic ability than their ethnicity or race.

Physorg.com reports:

However, white students' grades were virtually unaffected by the race of their roommate. White students earned higher GPAs when assigned to someone who was more successful academically.

"It's a predominately white institution, so their roommate is not a means by which they can get integrated into the community. So the race of the roommate proves irrelevant and the day-to-day environment becomes more important.

[…] Even though the race of their roommate did not affect them academically, the researchers believe that living with an African American benefits whites in another way.

Unsurprisingly, the main benefit, referred to here by lead researcher Russell Fazio, is cultural enlightenment, i.e. the dispelling of racial stereotypes.

Hmm, self-enrichment or better grades?

If you answered ‘grades,’ then you’re a closet racist.