T EDITORIAL
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Only communication can solve the problem of racism
No matter where in the
country, talking is the key to
repairing the ills of racism
Racism is such a dirty
word. In today’s world, it
is probably the dirtiest
word in the English lan
guage. Those who have been la
beled as racists have a very diffi
cult time coming clean. There is
so much about racism that is un
clear, but the only way to make it
clearer is to talk about it.
Race has been a burning topic
on campus for a number of years.
Is it because the students and fac
ulty are unable to “honor diversi
ty”? Are the ethnic student
unions just making a lot of ran
dom noise? Difficult to say, but if
no one was talking about race and
race issues, then we surely would
have a major problem.
People who know me have
heard these stories a number of
times: how I spent three years en
trenched in the deep South of
Columbus, Mississippi: how I
went to three schools in those
years and made the important dis
tinction between which ones
were private and which were
public. I think it is only after some
distance and maturity that I am
able to fully appreciate the magni
tude of the social issues I was
faced with.
Columbus is one of the many
towns in the South that relies on
busing to integrate the schools.
After my
eighth grade
OPINION
year, the
school was
split down the
middle with
some kids be
Erickson
-u ing bused to
one school and
the rest to an
other. My
freshman year
at S.D. Lee High School is one I’ll
never forget.
The school was 80 percent mi
nority groups and overwhelming
ly African American, thus making
me a part of the actual minority.
School elections and activities
were a racially divided sight to
behold. There was a black home
coming court and a white home
aoming court. Elections for most
:alented, likely to succeed, witti
est, etc. were all divided between
alacks and whites.
The class officer elections were
die only ones that had racially
aombined ballots and the majori
:y of the officers elected were
white. If we assume that the white
Kids vote for white kids and the
alacks for black, that doesn’t work
aut mathematically. I suspect that
i majority of the black kids didn’t
vcAe. A friend of mine suggested
:hat “when you don’t feel a part of
:he system, you don’t feel the
aeed to participate.” Very wise.
There were a lot of things that
went down at that school that still
aonfuse me about conflict be
ween the races. And to say that
anyone could leave that atmos
phere without some prejudice
and confusion is to tell a bald
'aced lie. That was in 1990.
Since the public school system
n the South left — and probably
still does leave — a lot to be de
sired, my parents and I agreed
:hat I was getting zero education.
We decided that I would try the
arivate school, Heritage Acade
my, that was about two blocks
away from where I was attending.
Looking back, 1 see very dis
tinct lines between the social
classes. There was the upper class
that consisted of old, pre-Civil
War money; the middle class that
I feel was made up mostly of the
military families; and the lower
class, who were black. Heritage
Academy was as snobby as old
money could get.
The year before I attended Her
itage, its rival private school, Em
manuel, had forfeited a football
game against the school precisely
for the reason that they had a
black quarterback. Although it
did make the local news for a day
or two, the subject eventually be
came just a piece of the town’s
history.
At the end of my sophomore
year there, we had elected the
school’s very first black student
body president. That was defi
nitely headline news, and you
can bet that there were some par
ents who were not too happy
about it.
The point I’m getting at is that
no one ever really talked about
racism. You simply could not get
a discussion going about race and
equality in that town. The people
in power didn’t care and those
that were vocal about change
were few and faintly heard.
Racism appears on many differ
ent levels. Racism can be in-your
face or subtly ingrained in
thought processes and actions. I
get the message that the ASUO
was trying to send by roping off
the basketball seating section, but
I think it’s even more important
that the incident happened. I
thank whoever allegedly yelled
epithets at the opposing team.
It is a reminder that the struggle
of equality and understanding is
not over. If we forget, then we
have been ignoring the problem,
and if we are ignoring the prob
lem then we aren’t talking. And
without talk, the wounds will
never heal.
Amanda Erickson, a senior ma
joring in journalism, is a colum
nist for the Emerald. Her views do
not necessarily represent those of
the paper.
Code Function Enter
CG Change grades 24
SP Send pizza 77
DC Destroy computer 32
GE Graduate early 43
HL Hit on Duck Call lady 45
U2 Buy concert tickets 82
FU Register complaint 38
EP Eliminate parking fines 37
LT Lower tuition 58
PH Professor’s home number 74
CR Change residency status 27
IMP Change major to pass/no pass 67
PC Prank call Frohnmayer 72
AO Attendance optional 26
CX Change sex of operator 29
EA Erase account balance 32
OC Order clone 62
XX Duck Call: The dirty version 99
TC Terminate call 82
TD Terminate Duck Call 83
WC Switch background 92 ^
music to Wu-Tang Clan
V/
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/SmenM
LETTERS
Game of life
I was truly disgusted to see
Bill Sizemore in your “Win
ners” section on page 2 of the
Feb. 24 Emerald. This man is
not only responsible for the re
cent property tax caps that have
caused sickening cuts into edu
cation funding, but has also not
paid his taxes! A recent article
in the Register-Guard went over
the late/unpaid taxes that Size
more has on his “numerous
properties.” It’s one thing to
own a home and be concerned
about the property taxes of your
land and having money for your
family. But to be well off
enough to own numerous prop
erties, then bitch about the
property taxes you need to pay
on all of them, and then not pay
it, truly deserves a “Loser”
standing, not the “Winner” that
you so narrow-sightedly gave
Mr. Sizemore.
Mike Braden
Chemistry
Editor’s note: There seems to
be some confusion about the
“Winners/Losers" section. Sub
jects are placed in their respec
tive categories based on events
in their own lives. For example,
Sizemore was placed in the
“Winners " column because his
manifesto, Measure 47, passed
in the polls, he has broad na
tional support from taxpayers
and may be making a run for
governor. Regardless of our
opinions of him as a person,
Sizemore is “winning"at life.
Modern maturity
Those cartoons aren’t racist,
they “made just about everyone
look dumb.” Does anyone else
see the fallacy of this statement
by Jonathan Collegio in his let
ter to the editor [ODE, March 3)?
I’ve heard people say more
than once, on and around this
campus, “I’m not a racist, I hate
everyone equally.” This seems
to be the line of thinking that
Mr. Collegio is following. Just
because the Looney Toons
made fun of everyone doesn’t
make them any less racist. Lati
nos, Asians, Native Ameri
cans... they were all represent
ed in less than favorable ways,
specifically playing on stereo
types white Americans held
about those groups. Elmer Fudd
and Yosemite Sam did not rep
resent Caucasian people as a
whole the way the occasional
race-based characters did.
Hunters or pirates or cowboys
were represented, but not the
entire Caucasian race.
I agree that we should be able
to use these cartoons as focal
points for discussion as long as
we are willing to call them for
what they were: racist in their
depictions of people of color.
How mature do we need to be
in letter-writer Jason Fahrion’s
eyes before we can deal with the
racism in cartoons? And when
we are mature enough, does it
mean that we’ll be able to brush
it off as just a cartoon as he
seems to be suggesting?
You should feel embarrassed
by the racism in these cartoons!
Not because you’re not mature
enough to deal with it, but be
cause at one time it was OK to
make cartoons like this, and we
still laugh at them. I will never
forgive the prejudices of the
past. Instead, I will use them to
try and show my son the igno
rances of the past and why we
should strive to be above that.
Robert Wasson
English