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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1992)
EDITORIAL Don’t turn over state GOP to lunatic fringe Mainstream Republicans should lw wary of Oregon GOP chairman Craig Berkman s call to form a new par ty. The Oregon Citizens Alliance is on the verge of tuk ing control of the party. Berkman said, and the only al ternative for "real" Republicans is to split off and form a new party. Berkman and other Republicans need to consider the ramifications of such a move. Giving control of (In state GOP to a group of crazed lunatics would create a political nightmare. Too many voters fail to look beyond the party affil iation of political candidates, and when they see the word "Republican" next to a person's name, they will vote for that person. These Republicans will not stop to learn if a candidate is an OCA puppet. They will not necessarily question an (X ’.A-supporting candidate's agenda. Berkman believes that most Republican politicians will join the new partv, tentatively named the Indepen dent Republican Partv. If enough registered Republi cans join the new party, it may gain the accreditation of tin- national Republic an Party. The challenge is to convince enough Oregonians to put their faith in a new party and to hope for accept ance by the national leadership. But what if it doesn't work? What if senior Republicans such as Bob Pack wood and Mark Hatfield don't join up? Berkman should do nothing until he has the com mitment of all major Oregon Republicans. It would bo even better if be remained to light the OCA lor control of the party. Berkman should follow the example set bv the Democratic Party. For years, the Democrats were con trolled by liberals who were considered too extreme for American voters. Conservative Democrats handed to gether and formed the Democratic leadership Council. The UI.G took control of the party and put Bill Clinton and Al Core in the- White House. Clinton is a member of the1 "New Democratic Party." as is Core and party chairman Ron Brown. Berkman should muster what moderate forc es re main within the state- COP and begin an internal cleansing. The potential damage an (XIA-control led party would wreak upon Oregon is unimaginable Virtually every credible Oregon Republican politi cian denounced Ballot Measure!') But if the ()< A gains control of the party and Republican politicians become OCA puppets, the threat of fundamentalist legislation getting passed will grow profoundly. The OCA and its members arc- as far removed from the Republican Party’s ideals as arc- Communists. The OCA has confused people into mistaking fiscal conser vatism with moral < onservatism. Berkman should make- certain that bis actions will not create more harm than good before carrying out any reformation. Whatever happens, it is in the best in terest of all Oregonians. Democrat and Republican, for the OCA to be rendered powerless. 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DttpUy Advertising Clmifitd AtJverTiemg 346 3712 346 4343 I'tTUlX all OUK Cwu'KtN , CAW home To KOUV OK’ luo is THfc TKANStr|f )N TEAM J77T7 Jk. 1,11 35M Multiculturalism’s mixed message By Rya-' Biackotto' (th (he awareness of itiliur.il pluralism on campus, multiculturalisls have rejected I V (hr decidedly l.urtMrntrli philosophy ol traditional academia Racial Intolerant e is a proh lent on many campuses and multicuituralism. in pari, addresses ways to alleviate this difficulty Howovnr. sometimes multicuituralism nxacer halo racial tension, and its advoi ales are often guilty of intolernme as well Whites are often por trayed as the sole perpetrators ol 'insensitivity," and rhetoric that is divisive and racist when es poused by minorities is excused and even em braced In his book. IIIUmt.iI l.thu ulioii. Dinesh D'Sou /a illustrates the (Mitenllal "tyranny of the minor ity" at many universities Leonard Jeffries, dms tor ol Afrlcun-Amerit an Studies at New York City College, warned bis students that the "ultimate culmination" of the "while value system" is per sonified by Adolf Hitler fie further asserted that the while gene pool has been polluted as a result ; I exposure to the Ice age itl.n k genes, however, enjoyed millenniums of motherly nurturing 'In the value system of the sun, he said. It'firies was not disciplined for his overt rai ism Rather, he was praised by many civil rights proponents and invited to coauthor a multicultural curriculum for New York state publit schools Too often, racist views are accepted when artic ulated through the mask of color When Jesse Jac kson gave a spent h to a crowd of fi.OOO on the KMC law ii, he spoke of rac ial tolerance and in structed the faithful to "keep hope alive Howev er. after the l.os Angeles riots, mam Americans lost hope for Jesse When Hill Clinton exposed Sister Souljah. a blue k rap musician, as a rac ist lor imploring rioters to burn down the houses of whites, |,u kson scolded Clinton for rac e; baiting Jesse, rat ism is w rong, period, even when it is es pousod by minorities At this university many students, primarily middle-class whites, wear T shirts entitled. "Love S.a- No Color Aside from laung ungrammatical and trendy, this message contradicts a central te net of multiculturalism; namely, imillu tilturahsts believe color is of paramount com ern in allirm mg one's culture Some hlac k students on campus wear T-shirts with, "It s a black tiling, you wouldn't understand inscritwd across the chest These students don such slogans in reaction to a perceived intolerance on campus, which is ac • curate to some degree But the message these T shirts convey certainly isn't a plea for cultural harmony They seem to say We have affirmed our culture based on the tolor of our skin. You could never understand us. so let's remain sepa rate " In other words, multiculturalism does see color I cannot fathom the uproar that would en sue on campus if white students wore T-shirts en titled. "It's a white thing, you wouldn't under stand " I'hey would rightfully he regarded as white supremacists An attitude prevails on today's campuses that all "people of color" share resplendent lineages that can be traced to an indigenous utopia where people were compassionate and sensitive. But the legacy of some cultures of color does not trumpet such indigenous hospitality Upon capturing pris oners of war, the Aztecs killed their enemies and streti bed their stomachs to a four-foot radius to ire used for new drum sets. And dominant Afri can tribes kept slaves well Indore an introduction to tin1 West Through a multic ultural lens, Western civiliza tion is the sole oppressor of humanity and its onlv legacy is the1 extermination of indigenous people Columbus, testosterone frothing from his mouth, spewed the corpses of the innocent across the plains of the1 New World, etcetera. We un taught to despise tint "dead white males" who forged the course of the Western world and to dis miss all of their achievements as the product of racism. : Suc h historical revisionism has taught many minority students to feel victimized and helpless A Hispanic student in a Comparative Literature course of mine viewed the reading list, Virgil's Am will and Homer's Odyssoy, as a white, patriar chal indoc trination When the c lass watched a film depicting Odysseus' return to kill the suitors, she* commented that the interpretation w as archa ic A truly "progressive" analysis, she said, should loc is mi the racism of the Western world, Illustrated by Odvssous' bludgeoning of Cyc lops, a creature she deemed emblematic; of oppressed people everywhere. 1 hope white students who encounter the writ ings of Trederick Douglass on their c lass reading list cio not regard the experience as merely a poli tic al subjugation of another's cultural dogma His autobiography illustrates the perseverance of the human spirit a lie managed to educate himself as a slave 'This should be an inspiration to all stu dents regardless of their culture. Radical multiculturalists in the c lass room have learned nothing from Douglass' fight for inclu siveness, as they do not tolerate those who dis sent from their orthodoxy. In an American history c lass I took, a white student admitted that he ac - tually admired Western civilization, and worse, lie even liked Americ an culture His words were met with a barrage of acc usations, all of which as serted "racism" and "lack of intelligence However, rac ism is not endemic to Western culture Compare the white student’s ’racism" with this statement by Afrocentric poet Wanda (oienmn "There is this war of the gods going on lielween the dark people of the world and the lair c omptec led people of the* world The dark people will win, eventually, simply because we’ve been endowed with a genetic gift (Emei gem v f/orve magazine, summer 1992. pgHj " Rac ism festers on both extremes of the politic al spectrum, and the walls of bigotry that divide our campuses must («• destroyed. But we must chal lenge racism everywhere, even when it is found in the rhetoric: of minorities If multiculturalists do not practice acceptance of Western culture, their mission of sensitivity and tolerance will fail Ky.m llhu krttrr is a senior in English ut the University