OPINION
Anger, silence, racism and change: Let s talk for real
Ll\S\l( KTI \
"And of ( ourse I am afraid,
because the transformation of
silence into language and a< lion
is an act of self-revelation, and
that always seems fraught with
danger "
- Andre horde
Gulp. This is not easy to
write Hut to remain silent
on the issues of racism,
anger and failure to open dia
logue that now hang silently
heavy on the shoulders of the
Emerald would be betraying
myself,
I'm referring to a recent series
of events: the mug shots of three
African-American men accused
of sexual assault that ran front
and-center in the Emerald: alle
gations of racism, and that the
only reason the photos were
printed was to reveal that these
men were black; and a flyer cir
culated around campus consist
ing of jumbled headlines, the
three aforementioned photos,
and the words, "PORTRAITS
OF VVHITK RACISM," threading
together photos of Emerald
staffers, including the one you
see above.
Emerald columnist Marlin
Fisher already defended the
printing of the photos and
denounced the flyer, and staff
members have met with repre
sentatives of several student
unions to discuss portrayal of
people of color in this paper.
Why bring up this touchy issue
again after things are dying
down? Why not just let it go?
I can't. Not when my face is
being used to represent a mode
of hatred of which I do not feel a
part. Not when there are people,
even one person, who believes
this paper may be racist Not
when this paper has not ade
quately addressed charges of
racism.
In his column (ODE. Nov. 12),
Fisher says the photos of the
men would have been printed
had the men been white. He
uses as an example the printing
of a photo of Michael Patric k
Ryan, a former University stu
dent who raped a woman in the
dorms and fled to Idaho, where
he killed himself.
Fisher also cites other exam
ples of newspapers, including
the Register-Guard printing pho
tos of alleged criminals who
were white people, and nobody
suggested that all white people
were vilified
l.et me suggest that tin* issue
is more subjective, less black
and white I look at that front
page and see mug shots of
Perkins. Shelley and Harries
The combination of the classic
"criminal mug shot” photos, the
placement of the pictures on the
front page, in the center of the
top of the page remind me of a
"wanted” poster. It was the
image of three largo, staring
black faces leaping out of the top
of the page assaulting the read
er before anything else, copy
included, that is offensive to
those who called the printing of
them racist.
I don't believe it was the
Emerald's intention to appear
rai is! However, I have lo ques
lion the judgment of those who
l ookin'! understand why [«>ople
thought we wore rn< ist
Without a thorough examina
tion of ourselves. our values and
our praiiices regarding sensitive
issues we i 111 I not hope to elev ate
ourselves above the level of a
high si hool paper
As a university paper, we
need to address the images we
are presenting, espec tally when
we live in a town where black
people are truly a minority, and
where mans students, not know -
ing many people of color them
selves. get their impressions of
them from crime reports This
paper does not exist in a vacu
um, and if we are responsible for
just one white person's urge to
cross the street w hen they see a
black, face approaching on the
sidewalk, then we need lo hold
ourselves accountable.
Without asking ourselves the
often emotional questions.
"Who w ill be offended? Do we
have the right to offend them for
the sake of news? Why do alle
gations of racism offend us so
much?'' then this paper will
never reach out lo those who
have turned their hai ks on it
already
And that's why 1 have to
address the "portraits of white
racism" flyer and the win it
made me feel I cannot, as some
have suggested, let it go so that
the person/people who i rafted
that fiver would hold no more
power over me Nor can I write
it of os a juvenile act Nor < an I
accept the argument that "peo
ple who know you know you’re
not a racist."
Again, mu issues arc not mat
simple Sonuihodv saw those
photographs of the three men on
the front page of the Emerald
ami believed they indicated
white racism. Somebody
believed that discussing their
anger with us was a waste of
time and chose to anonymously
charge the entire staff of racism,
and cut out pictures of our w hite
faces to substantiate those"
charges against boring, pointless
Emerald "
If the placement of the pho
tographs of the three black men
— beneath the word "Charges"
— suggests to any reader that
Hint k Man equals Rapist, then
the fiver suggests by the plat e
ment of the photographs of the
six men and two women,
beneath the word "Charges
suggests that White Emerald
Employee equals Racist
That is the charge that I
believe has been leveled against
me, and that is the charge to
which 1 must respond. And to
whomever crafted that piece of
paper — which ended with the
word "Think," printed in large
letters — I have thought about
this a lot. 1 am still thinking
And I now must speak to you.
I wish you could feel like you
could come forward and speak
your mind instead of hiding
iiehind your anonymous anger. I
understand that you may feel
like you would be wasting your
time.
But that doesn’t change the
fact that by placing my photo
graph on a flyer as a way to
demonstrate white racism, pre
sumably without knowing me or
the others whose pictures you
have reproduced you have
at cused me of being something I
have worked my whole life not
to be And you hurt me And
you made me feel afraid.
Afraid that 1 may have been
unconsciously harboring racist
notions .ill along Afraid that il
someone is capable of this ty pe
of anger, they are capable of
more serious manifestations of
rage Afraid that if 1 write this. I
will both alienate those whom
I’m trying to reai h, and those for
whom I work Afraid that tins
column will he viewed as noth
mg more than an expression of
white guilt
"Guilt and defensiveness are
bricks in n wall against which
we all flounder, they serve
against none of our futures,”
writes black feminist lesbian
poet activist Audre horde I'his
writer has helped clarify1 for me
that I must not remain silent
about issues that hit my heart
When I read Fisher's i olumn,
I saw defensiveness When read
ing mine, some mnv claim to see
guilt Hut to bring up another
valuable lesson I have learned
from horde, though both guilt
and defensiveness lire counter
productive. I would rather he
ace used of both than to slay
Why bring up this touchy issue again
after things are dying down? Why not just
let it go? I cant. Not when my face is
being used to represent a mode of hatred
of which I do not feel a part.
silent
Him ause silent.e, nr the mabil
il\ to express anger. breeds not
only misundBrstanding but
eventually hatred And. if 1 nutv
tiring up another wisdom of
Andre I orde. "Hatred is the furv
of those \\ ho do not share our
goals, and its objti t is death and
destria turn Anger is a grief of
distortions between peers, and
its obje< t is i lunge
Mv goals are nothing short of
opening a dialogue between
peers m order to understand the
distortions between us Hie larg
er implii ations of rat e differ
ent es, and media represent.i
lions of them, need to he
addressed nnd not swept under
the run.
Mv goals it" lode tin hotli our
st.itt unit for tlie student txuh we
serve to look deep into our
hearts and examine the rat.iill
divisions that threaten us all,
.mil to provide an environment
in whu h the person who made
that fiver would feel i oiufortahle
(aiming forw ard with the at t u
sations he or she has leveled
Ml "objw.t." like that of the
"we" in horde's essnv. is
i hnnue
And until i limige ot t urs. I
won't be silent
l.itt Siih min is o columnist
for the Kmerald
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FRIO AYS IN THE.EMERALD