NEWS BRIEFS
CHOMSKY:
COLLAPSE IS
COMING
UNDOING
NICENESS
The Oregon chapter of The National
Association for Multicultural Education is
holding its Undoing “Niceness”
Conference at the UO School of Law on
Saturday, April 30.
“As Oregon becomes more diverse and
less white, we have to be more aware of
our racisms,” says conference planning
committee member Sonja Ljungdahl.
Subjects focused on throughout the
conference will include the impacts of
“niceness” on people of color, moving past
politeness to break down barriers,
community activism and issues of local
equity. Keynote speaker Gary R. Howard,
author of We Can’t Teach What We Don’t
Know: White Teachers, Multiracial
Schools and founder of the REACH Center
for Multicultural Education, will be
speaking on the topic of “Growing Good
White Folks,” an idea based upon the
critical assessment of white privilege in
our culture. Mark Harris, a Eugene-based
maroon griot, will also be speaking,
addressing the history of multicultural
activism.
Chinese American filmmaker, author,
and executive director of diversity training
company Stirfry Seminars & Consulting,
Lee Mun Wah, will be the conference
closing session speaker; his lecture is
entitled “Getting Real About Racism.”
— Dante Zuñiga-West
“The first thing we should do is recognize reality,”
Noam Chomsky told the packed house during his April
20 appearance at UO’s Columbia Hall. “We do not live
under capitalism. We do not have free markets.” His
messaged echoed outside as well, as a crowd huddled in
the cold evening air listening to Chomsky’s proclamations
simulcast through a giant speaker.
At 82, Chomsky, a linguist by training, has become
the patron saint of American political discontent, and
his resume is daunting: Professor emeritus at MIT, he
changed the landscape of linguistics with his theory of
generative grammar, and since the Vietnam War he has
been an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign and domestic
policy. The man has more than 150 books to his name,
and he’s even had a study primate, Nim Chimpsky,
named in his honor.
Though he carries the confident, patient attitude of
PHOTO BY SARAH DECKER
an elder statesman, Chomsky’s engaged political action
— judging from his UO appearance — shows no signs of letting up. The scope of his political interests are as broad as his
knowledge is deep, and he covered a series of current topics without missing a beat, touching on such things the responsibility
of journalism, recent developments in the Middle East and past and future financial crises.
Chomsky compared the recent civic protests in Egypt to the labor union crisis in Wisconsin, setting both situations in
historical and social context. He pointed out that, compared to Egypt with its “major popular struggle going on to gain rights,”
the Wisconsin workers were fighting to retains rights and watching them be taken away. Chomsky called this “a microcosm of
what’s happened since the 18th century,” adding that it is only when nations such as the U.S. gain independence that they are
“able to totally disregard laws of economics.”
Chomsky argued that of course there is going to be another financial crisis in the U.S., but added that “it’s just pointless to
sit around and speculate when the next collapse is going to be.” He said the important thing is to prevent a crisis through action.
“Carry out activities from civil disobedience to electoral politics,” Chomsky told the crowd. “There aren’t any magic keys. It’s
a matter of getting down to work and doing it. It’s just hard work.” — Rick Levin
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APRIL 28, 2011 9