COMMENTARY
‘Emerald’ not committed to diversity
By Sven Orozco
I am writing in response to the
May 6 editorial titled "Apply
ing for staff can only help
paper." and ! disagree with it.
The Emerald basically said. "If
you feel we're a white-only club,
then apply and change things "
But this is one of the biggest
problems with addressing racism
on this campus. Any attempts to
alleviate racism must be strived
for by students of color, with a
few exceptions. The burden is on
us. again The "white man's apo
thv" is our burden. Case in point
being the administration's expec
tntions that Students of Color
Building Bridges will bring about
necessary multicultural changes
It's the same few people doing
the same tremendous task
An advertisement for advertis
ing department positions in the
Emerald says the paper is "com
mitted to a culturally diverse
workplace Minorities are espe
cially encouraged to apply." But
just as the Emerald posed the
offer for help. I pose the offer for
the Emerald to help with uuilti
culturalism. Is the Emerald's
statement of commitment
rhetoric?
The Emerald admit* it lacks
the perspective of "minority" stu
dents: "That's true. If you judge
the Emerald staffers hv the col
or of their skin.”
What kind of reasoning is that?
If the Emerald believes we don't
like the paper because there
aren't enough dark people in its
staff picture, then the Emerald
still hasn't gotten it It's the white,
male, heterosexual-only view that
we feel needs to be taken from its
position of "normal."
To ask a few students of < olor
to come on staff, do their jobs,
confront the white-only work
place and reorganize the paper
(but from lower levels, of course)
is impossible It's ludicrous and
exploitive. That says the Emer
ald really doesn't want to be com
mitted There is no sincerity in
its request. It's setting these stu
dents up for failure. They'll be
marginalized and isolated from
the rest of the staff. They will no
doubt bo seen as manipulative.
And eventually, perhaps, they'll
make a few advances and end in
frustration.
If the Emerald ever comes to
the decision that, yes, it wants to
incorporate muiticulturalism, it's
going to have to accept that
racism decreases productivity
As the Emerald moves from a
monocuItural-oriented publica
tion to one that is multicultural,
it's going to have to critically
examine its organization
increasing the number of stu
dents of color is certainly a step
in the right direction, but that’s
just part of the process toward
diversification The multicultur
al efforts should be supported bv
the whole staff
Work first on issues of f S
diversity and then global diver
sity. And finally recognize the
effort is to create a long-term
process, not a finished produc t
The effort will last as long as the
life of the publication
I'm sun- the Emerald will get a
lot of campus xup|>ort. if it seeks
it. but the motivation and the
vision must be the Emeroltf s. Just
as the Emerald has said to appli
cants that they have "nothing to
lose and everything to gain." so
does the Emerald in ini orporat
ing nuilticulturalism
Sven Orozco is an undeclared
undergraduate and MEChA his
tarinn
CONSutf&K
CON^'OENCE
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WHERE
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CONFiOtNCt
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Multiculturalism fulfills
complete education
By Diane Fellows
The argument of whether to teach multiculturalism cours
es at the University is symptomatic of a society that can
not take responsibility for its historic al past and. there
fore. relinquishes responsibility for its ever-present future. In
a society that practices ethical propriety and responsibility for
all of its members, this argument would not exist at all.
I am a child of a Holes mist survivor — the Holocaust between
the years of 1939 and 1945 in Germany. There were many holo
causts in different places before those' years, and there exists
today many more holocausts, just as treacherous and licentious
as the one that I witnessed through story and image
I was Itortt 11 years after the dentil til all those I would have
called aunt, uncle, grandmother and grundfnther. I was born
in safety; safety that let me witness the beating of blac k men
and women, time and time again, here in my Western world,
safety that lets me witness the terror fell by those of brown
flesh, emaciated flesh, standing in dignity against flailing hatred;
safety that allowed me to watch children have their heads blown
off while I discuss appropriate course c urriculum and cor
rect politic al attitudes
I was reminded a few weeks ago of the tremendous work the
human species has to do to ensure its own existence. In safe
ty, witnessing the holocausts of the latter part of the 20th cen
tury. I was questioned as to the authenticity of my own rec
ollections of the extermination of my own family’s bloodlines.
Ijet mo tell you, my friend, children never forget
And because the memory of such a death rips apart lives,
limb from limb, the choice is c lear. You. as individuals, iis a
society, may either repeat atrocities through your own igno
miny, or you may resolve to tuke responsibility for your human
ness. Responsibility and ethical action are only first under
stood through education.
A university is a place of learning — of attaining the skills
to load a productive life in society and skills to understand,
critically, what productive life moans and to ask what kind
of society is desired. An educational institution, after all. edu
cates successive generations to act upon the learning process
attained while being educ ated. This is a serious and wonder
fully remarkable responsibility.
An educational institution, such as the University, in the
Western Hemisphere, in the tieginning of the 21st century, lias
the opportunity to fully realize what it means to teach and to
learn within a Western historical context.
It means to teach not only Western culture through the clas
sics, science and the arts, but to teach Western culture through
a contemporaneous historical context; as the exchange and
interchange of peoples, their experiences through time and
space, in places that ure as distinct from one another as they
ore similar. Lives that am not isolated, frozen on separate con
tinents. hut depend on each other, across all continents for their
very existence.
Do not squander this opportunity to reach into the depths of
your collective memory and recognize that each generation
is only as good as the lessons taught to it and lessons learned
by it. And in this world, where much of the hatred that intel
lectually maims and physically destroys is perpetuated by those
who hold university degrees, it will undoubtedly be your con
science. or lack of it. that will dictate your actions It is only
through acquiring knowledge of the other can we nurture our
individual and collective humanity. Thus, as a child of one
holocaust, my memory serves mo well.
Diane Fellows is a graduate student in international studies
* SUMMER
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2:30 - 4:00 p.m. June 2& 3
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come by 103 Gerlinger
EARN EXTRA CASH!
The U of O Student Health Center is seeking already
CERTIFIED CPR INSTRUCTORS
to teach CPR and First Aid workshops.
• Applicants should be
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• Time commitment:
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Contact Joanne Frank: 346-2728
at the Student Health Center.
Call by Fri., June 11, to make an appointment.
Hiring for 1993-1994 academic year!