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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
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Wednesday, May 28,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor:
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Page Assistant
Salena De La Cruz
Homophobic
hate speech
does count
as violence
Guest commentary
I am responding to a commentary by Vincent
Martorano (“Homosexual men should hide their
disgusting acts,” ODE, May 9) and another by
Emerald editor in chief Michael J. Kleckner (“Com
mentary about homosexuals doesn’t rise to the lev
el of hate speech,” ODE, May 12). As I am currendy
writing my thesis on the effects of homophobic lan
guage on queer women, these commentaries
touched a sore spot.
First, because Martorano is so convinced that he
is not homophobic, here’s the definition of hate
speech created by scholars who spent years re
searching the subject:
1) Hate speech has a message of social group in
feriority, 2) is directed against members of a histor
ically oppressed group, 3) is persecutory and de
grading (Nielson, L.). So, Martorano wants gay
people to stop expressing affection and wishes our
culture still considered homosexuality an illness.
Sounds like hate speech.
He also mentions that he is “not one of those
people who thinks they have some sort of author
ity to preach about what is right and wrong.” Be
cause his entire commentary is about how homo
sexuality is wrong and gay people should be
closeted, I would certainly say he feels entitled to
preach about right and wrong. But we will not go
away. You will see more gay people making out
and being out and proud.
In response to Kleckner’s commentary, after re
searching the legalities of hate speech, I am torn
about free speech issues. I can see the dilemma in
deciding whether to print the commentary when,
as the editor of a newspaper, he is obligated to pro
mote free speech.
Nonetheless, I am dismayed by the reasons for
his decision. He wrote Martorano only needed to
be silenced “if he had told others to be violent.”
Maybe Martorano is inciting violence and Kleckner
is condoning it. Here’s a quote by a hate speech
scholar: “Homophobic language perpetuates anti
gay violence by suggesting that it is socially accept
able to exhibit bias against gays” (Leets).
Hate speech and hate crimes are on the same
spectrum of violence, beginning with subtle homo
phobic language and ending in murder. Martorano
encourages ideas about gay individuals’ inferiority
in society and leaves room for more comments or
physical actions to be made in agreement. Each in
cident like this is an encouragement of more anti
gay sentiments, physical or verbal. When people
believe that anti-gay abuse is acceptable, there is
precedence for violence to occur.
Gan Kleckner say that Martorano is not indi
rectly encouraging violence? Who is to decide
what constitutes violence? How about the astro
nomical numbers of queer youth who attempt
suicide because of verbal harassment? When will
the people who are sufficiently harmed by homo
phobic language be able to decide that it needs to
be censored?
Gan we really count on legal authorities, like the
U S. Supreme Court that Kleckner says he agrees
with, to protect minorities from hate speech? The
AGLU even states that “only a handful of several
thousand” of their cases involve “offensive
speech.” The only time courts acknowledge or
prosecute hate speech is when someone yells “fag
got” or “dyke” at a queer individual while murder
ing or raping him or her.
When printing commentaries in the future,
Kleckner should acknowledge the danger of con
doning hate speech and set a new precedent for
what constitutes violence.
Kristina Armenakis is the co-director of the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Alliance.
Steve Baggs Emerald
Bye, not-so-great state
It’s my time, my shining moment... to
say goodbye to Oregon. Oh, wait — I guess
it was just wishful thinking. Nonetheless, I
am leaving Oregon for the summer. I am
saying goodbye to all of the things I’ve
come to love and loathe in the not-so-great
state of Oregon. I can’t
wait to say hello to the
wide-open spaces of
the Midwest.
Don’t breathe relief
just yet because come
fall 2003, I’ll be back,
bolder than ever.
In keeping with the
times of farewells and
final moments, I’d
have to say I didn’t
hate everything while I
was here — but I’m
still debating. So here are the things I love:
5) I love being at a liberal college so I can
“say it loud.” After all, if I weren’t in such
an open community, I wouldn’t be able to
write about all the things that have pissed
off so many.
4) There are women here that define the
phrase, “tough girl.” I didn’t think many
women existed with a “stand your ground,
don’t mess with me, it’s my-way-or-the
highway” philosophy — until I came here.
Salena
DeLaCruz
Say it loud
3) I love the variations in classes and se
quences I can take to explore my major,
not to mention my ultimate career.
2) It may rain almost all year, but when
it’s one of those rare, sunny days, it is so
beautiful. I just want to put a blanket on
the lawn and forget all of my cares.
1) I’d have to say the greatest thing about
being here was the opportunity to be in
volved with the No. 1 four-year college
newspaper in the whole state of Oregon.
Hey, I had to give props to the Emerald for
giving me the opportunity to “say it loud,\”
which is what I really love.
Now, to the things I love to hate:
5) Step away from the bong! Clear your
head and for God’s sake, take off the tie
dyed shirt. You tree-hugging hippies only
personify the stereotypes people hear
about Oregon, but more pointedly, the Uni
versity of Oregon.
4) I love my opinions. And I love that I
voice my opinions because I can, but living
here I noticed I get a negative reaction if
they aren’t like everyone else’s. Fire and
brimstone to me if I dare utter what people
don’t want to hear. You’re not as open
minded as you thought, are you?
3) You know them well: the instructors
that want you at every class but only to tor
ture you with their boring monotone lec
tures that make you want to fall asleep. I
can remember at least two classes where I
came out bleary-eyed and couldn’t remem
ber what the lecture was about. For the
love of God! Please liven it up. I’m not
learning anything. ,1 am trying (ootyard to,
stay awake; a one-liter of Mountain Dew
doesn’t even help.
2) So, I’m Mexican-American and my
name is Salena. But for the record, it’s
spelled S-a-le-n-a. Just because my name is
Salena (not like the singer Selena, who was
murdered by the president of her fan club)
does not mean I can carry a tune or that I
automatically know who you are talking
about. Quit stereotyping me! Not every
person who is classified as a Latino knows
every Latino in the world. Geez, I mean not
every black person knows who Eazy-E is.
1) Enough with the peace rallies already!
I get it. We all get it. People die in war. In
nocent people. But as I’ve said in my other
columns, sometimes it’s our time to fight.
Out of all of my time here, I’ve learped
to agree to disagree because let’s face it,
I’ll never agree with any of you, and you’ll
never agree with me, but I will keep “say
ing it loud.”
Contact the columnist at
salenadelacruz@dailyemerald.com. Her opinions
do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
Segregated proms, racism aren’t new in South
Guest commentary
I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed
Salena De La Cruz’s column (“Turning back
the clock on civil rights,” ODE, May 12)
about the first integrated prom.
I wanted to inform your readers that it is
not only going on just in Georgia. I grew up
in Louisiana, and most schools in South
Louisiana have never had an integrated
anything! (And I do not see it happening
any time soon!)
To be honest, I never knew that it was
any other way. I just thought all schools had
a “white dance” and a “black dance.” The
reason I say “dance” is because it is not
only prom, it is for homecoming, Sadie
Hawkins, spring dance... and so on.
I am very sad to have missed out on my
10-year high school reunion, but I am told I
did not get invited because I married some
one “not white.” I am married to a man
who is Arab.
In my school, I remember being friends
with kids whose fathers were in the Ku Klux
Klan. I remember some boys who could not
attend the football games because they had
a KKK meeting that night. This was in 1999.
For homecoming, we could dress up in
costumes. Some people just wore their fa
ther’s KKK outfits to school... and there
would be this one small kid who they would
dress up in black (paint his face and all) and
call him “nigger,” and for the lunch break
they would chase him around school. I am
not proud of this at all! I am just surprised
that the rest of the United States does not
realize that the South is like this.
I had lots of friends in the public school
system. From what I know, the public
school system in my parish, and any parish
I know of in Louisiana, has two proms.
They claim they do this because of music
choice. One dance is for people who like
rap, and the other is for people who like top
40 and country. I guess Eminem would give
Louisiana a shock they would never forget.
A white boy going to a rap dance? We all
can tell what they mean by this!
The students even call it “the black
prom” or “the white prom.” Funny thing is,
in my hometown, you had to jdin a “club”
in order to go to the white prom. Only the
club members were allowed to attend and
bring a date. All members were white, by
the way.
I have lost contact with most of my
friends from high school because I do not
agree with most of their ideas. The ones I
do still talk to agree that we were raised
wrong. I am happy to not live there any
more because I am a mother of two and
plan on bringing my kids up where they
treat people based on how people treat you,
not on the color of your skin.
Your column brought me back to my high
schools days, and unfortunately, I have a lot
of kin who are still living this way. May God
show them a change of heart.
Koddie Al-Rahbi lives in Eugene and attends LCC.