M
EDITORIAL
NAACP selects
excellent leader
Tho NAACP softiiu set to return to the civil rights
debate after electing a new chairwoman over th«> week
end.
Myrllo Evers-Williams. tho widow of civil rights
leader Metlgar Evers, was elected chairwoman of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People on Saturday, replacing embattled chairman
William Gibson.
Evers-Williams, a resident of Hand. Ore , Is an exc el
lent choice for the post Having seen firsthand tho harm
that discrimination caused when her husband was mur
dered during the civil rights struggle over 30 years ago.
Evers Williams will bring a valuable perspective to the
national organization that few others could. She will also
help to attract attention to the c a use of civil rights in
America
When oUh ted. Evers-Williams stated that a goal of hers
was to got the NAACP back into the civil rights debate
With affirmative action being questioned by the now
Congress in Washington, now is the time for the NAACP
to have a stronger ami more vocal representation nation
wide than over Evers-Williams has stated that she wants
to he active in the fight against repealing affirmative
action.
She also stated that she wants to return the organiza
tion to tho grassroots, the same people who started the
organization and kept ft strong for almost 90 years.
Unfortunately, civil rights questions have been over
shadowed by alleged mismanagement of money in the
NAACP over the past year. Gibson had been charged by
some with misusing NAACP expense accounts and
charging a number of limousine rides and hotel suites to
the organization Although it is necessary for the group
to investigate these charges, it is even more important
that tho NAACP attempt to stay focused on the goal of
fighting for civil rights
The division continued when about 700 NAACP
members passed a no-confidence motion expressing
opposition to Gibson's continued leadership. It was clear
that it was time for something to change at the NAACP
The change came from Evers-Williams
It is clear that, just like in tho civil rights struggle,
division among people does more harm than good. With
powerful leadership, Evers Williams is one person who
can help bring the group back together again.
The reasons Evers-Williams belongs on the NAACP
are clearly stated by Evers-Williams herself. "I am here
because 1 love the NAACP. I believe it must survive. I
believe it must thrive.'* she said. “Duty beckons me. 1 am
strong. Test mo and you will see."
Hopefully the NAACP wiii take her up on her offer
and restore the group to its position of greatness, con
tinuing to work for civil rights throughout the country.
It's what the NAACP does Iwist. and it’s what the coun
try needs now. Myrlie Evers-Williams will help the
group deliver.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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■ OPINION
Racism wrong in all instances
...■I * ■■■k k i
Briw Womack
Something in (hi* country is
very wrong People are
being judged not by their
latent or skills, but bv their gen
der or color of skin
These victims of disi riminn
tion are becoming more and
more resentful toward the peo
ple that judge these criteria
This rampant duw rimination I
sjHvik of is. of course, affirmative
action
Minorities and women in this
country are being hired ahead of
equally or more qualified white
males simply be< ause a quota
must lw filled
Americans aren't entirely flop
py about it either
In a r/me/CNN poll of H00
adults taken last month. 77 per
cent of whites thought affirma
tive action sometimes or fre
quentiy discriminates against
whites Kven among blacks
polled, 66 percent answered the
same wav
In a survey taken by the LA
Timex in late January. 39 per
cent of respondents said affir
mative action programs have
"gone too far." This is up dra
matically from the 24 percent
who had the same opinion a
mere three and half years ago
Hob Dole has recently ques
tioned the very reasoning of
affirmative action Possibly hint
ing at the second 100 days of the
Republican reign in Congress,
he said. "Should future genera
tions have fo pay for that ? Some
would say ves I think it's a
tough question."
Why have these feelings
grown to such a degree?
A good example comes from
the newspaper industry where
white men are purposefully not
being hired The following three
examples are from an article
published in the November 1993
American /oumalism Review
In 1990, at the Dalitjs Morning
News. Kevin Merida leapfrogged
ovt>r whit*' staff workers who
had been editing his copy to
become their boss.
Another case involved n white
male editor in his mid-forties
with 10 years at a California
(taper who s}«*nt a year ac ting as
stale editor while lobbying for
the position to become perma
nent Instead, a Hispanic woman
from another newspaper was
named to the job of state editor
with no editing experience.
IA Times Washington bureau
chief Jat k Nelson was quoted as
saving, "We don't want to bring
any more white males into the
bureau In the interest of more
"diversity," he says he must hire
in this manner
The biggest problems with
these stories and others similar
to it is that the relationship
between races is not helped, but
strained
It doesn't make co-workers
happy if they're leapfrogged for
a job simply because they aren’t
African-American It causes
resentment
White students who get the
same sc ore on their SAT's as
Hispanic s but don't get into a
highly-rated college will be
resentful as well.
These building feelings of
resentment will only roll back
the progress we've made in race
relations.
As Bemie Richter, a California
state legislator said, "When you
deny someone who has earned it
and give to someone else who
has not earned it... you create
anger and resentment."
Another fruit of this affirma
tive action tree is the suspicion
white males will have toward
women and minorities
In the bac k of their mind is
the nagging question of, "Did
that person get that job because
they were really that good, or
was it because the person Tilled
a quota i1'
This also punishes those
minorities who don't need affir
mative ac tion to get ahead in the
job or college markets. Their tal
ents and skills might be belittled
because now they're put into the
same boat of those who needed
a quota to get ahead.
Sometimes affirmative action
can cause the absurd — minori
ties are actually punished.
It makes us wonder why we
instituted affirmative action.
The reason was, as Dole said,
to "right" past wrongs.
There were clearly times in
the nation when racism kept
many minorities from having a
good chance at getting the job
they actually wanted. It exists,
of course, to a lesser extent
today, too.
Vet we must remember all
cases of minorities not being
hired are not necessarily cases of
racism; in some cases, they are
simply not qualified.
With the black middle class
growing substantially over the
last two decades, one has to ask
if punishing present generations
for past wrongs is really pru
dent.
The logical end of affirmative
action should be when rac ism is
no longer a problem in America.
Hut affirmative action will never
bring us c:loser to that day, but
farther from it because it is
grounded in racism.
Color should not be the litmus
test in hiring or for college
acceptance,
Martin Luther King Jr made
the best argument for this when
he said. “I have a dream that my
four itttle children will one day
not judged by the color of their
skin, but by the content of their
character. I have a dream ..."
Brian Womack is a columnist for
the Emerald.
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