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Perspectives
City, campus don’t always provide
With continued action, the Eugene
and campus communities could
improve by making all citizens feel
comfortable in their own homes
I * . The experience in Eugene and within the Uni
1 A versify has been quite the opposite of utopia for
some. The City of Eugene has made them feel uncomfort
able and sometimes unwanted.
Whether deliberate or not, this is not an encouraging sign
in a city that is touted as progressive and a campus often la
beled as liberal.
Citing racial strife for his departure, University music pro
fessor John Gainer, who is black, left Eugene earlier this
year. Gainer had accused the Eugene police of taking him
off of a crowded bus to search him because of his race.
In April, Eugene and its surrounding community suffered
a rash of racist vandalism. Vandals spray-painted swastikas
in an alley near the First Christian Church and wrote “Zyk
lon-B,” a reference to a chemical used to create poisonous
gas in Nazi death camps.
And just Friday, a Lane County Circuit Court judge ruled
that former University Office of Public Safety patrol officer
James Williams, who is black, was subjected to a hostile
work environment. Although he was not awarded any mon
etary damages, the ruling is still symbolic of the discomfort
many minorities are feeling.
Kameron Cole, an Oregon Daily Emerald columnist last
year, wrote a column on her thoughts about the Universi
ty’s racial diversity (ODE, March 4). Cole, who is black,
wrote about sometimes being the only minority student in a
class — even some of the large lecture classes.
In May, the Oregon Students of Color Coalition held its
first annual Zero Awards ceremony, giving the awards to 13
University academic departments without any tenured or
ugene isn’t an innocent utopia. And more specifi
cally, neither is the University.
tenure
track
profes
sors of color.
vviiai uuca an ui n mean; u
means that Eugene and the Univer
sity are not the happy melting pots some people think they
are. It also means there are people fighting the overt and
subconscious racism and exclusion.
After the spree of racist vandalism, more than 200 people
protested on the Ferry Street Bridge. When Williams felt
cheated, he took action. And when students felt their edu
cation was being compromised by the lack of diversity, they
organized and handed out mock awards.
Eugene is not a hotbed of racism, but it is discouraging to
know that a town that has successfully fought so many bat
tles over rights is still fighting a battle as important as this
one. On the other hand, it is encouraging that the communi
ty is still fighting the battles, and it is fighting loudly.
tnen are they truly part oi tne community r Resi
dents of Eugene and students of the University must cele
brate this kind of community action because although this is
no utopia, it can certainly improve.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial
hoard Responses may be sent to ode@oregon .norepon .edu.
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