2008 Woodie Awards
Racism is about division
Issue date: 1/31/06 Section: Letters to the Editor
Where, oh where, to begin?
Like many, I thought Melissa Westmoreland's column last week missed the mark, just not for the same reasons others assert. My thoughts more accurately reflect the first half of Joe Killian's column this week. Still, if this week's Right Angle is to be believed, then Ms. Westmoreland was right to call out Ms. Davis on the matter because her tirades focused less on her common goals with Dr. King and more on her personal, contemporary opinions.
However, student reactions to both the aforementioned columns and to the speech seem to be mixed and varied with each showing their own level of ignorance and personal bias.
I was most struck by the "guest column" by Letitia Jones. Ms. Jones proclaims herslef a black student speaking on behalf of the black student body on "our celebration of Dr. King" (her words). Racism isn't just viscerally hating others for being a different race, it's dividing along racial lines and treating people differently because of it. Asserting herself as black, drawing attention to and identifying herself by race, nudges the wedge that keeps racism alive.
The gap is widened by an "Us v. Them" attitude prevalent in a declaration of "our celebration" as though non-blacks are unfit to acknowledge King (not that I'd care, but that's another matter) and her attempts at justification of the violent acts of the Black Panthers because they were reactionary to "racists cops" (sic). I'm glad most Black Panthers did nice things for their communities, but that still doesn't excuse the criminal behaviour of anyone associated with the group; what they're most known for. I'm sure Mussolini's Black Shirts did some good deeds too.
Disagree on argumentative merits if you must, but the person who draws race into the fight is the one growing the racial divide. Even socialist Dr. King was for ending racism. Hyopcrisy abounds.
In response to Ms. Davis and her like-minded legions, however, I'll meet you halfway and give you three valid reasons to NOT impeach President Bush: President Dick Cheney.
Jonathan Ettinger
Like many, I thought Melissa Westmoreland's column last week missed the mark, just not for the same reasons others assert. My thoughts more accurately reflect the first half of Joe Killian's column this week. Still, if this week's Right Angle is to be believed, then Ms. Westmoreland was right to call out Ms. Davis on the matter because her tirades focused less on her common goals with Dr. King and more on her personal, contemporary opinions.
However, student reactions to both the aforementioned columns and to the speech seem to be mixed and varied with each showing their own level of ignorance and personal bias.
I was most struck by the "guest column" by Letitia Jones. Ms. Jones proclaims herslef a black student speaking on behalf of the black student body on "our celebration of Dr. King" (her words). Racism isn't just viscerally hating others for being a different race, it's dividing along racial lines and treating people differently because of it. Asserting herself as black, drawing attention to and identifying herself by race, nudges the wedge that keeps racism alive.
The gap is widened by an "Us v. Them" attitude prevalent in a declaration of "our celebration" as though non-blacks are unfit to acknowledge King (not that I'd care, but that's another matter) and her attempts at justification of the violent acts of the Black Panthers because they were reactionary to "racists cops" (sic). I'm glad most Black Panthers did nice things for their communities, but that still doesn't excuse the criminal behaviour of anyone associated with the group; what they're most known for. I'm sure Mussolini's Black Shirts did some good deeds too.
Disagree on argumentative merits if you must, but the person who draws race into the fight is the one growing the racial divide. Even socialist Dr. King was for ending racism. Hyopcrisy abounds.
In response to Ms. Davis and her like-minded legions, however, I'll meet you halfway and give you three valid reasons to NOT impeach President Bush: President Dick Cheney.
Jonathan Ettinger
