0 OPINION Page 4 3be itejdaQnan Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Tuesday, November 15, 1988 Wald 4 The Michigan Daily misinformed Vol. IC, No. 49 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. Unequal protection By Marc J. Berman Alan Wald is severely misinformed. Wald attacked the Union of Students for Israel, "The real anti-Semitism," (Daily, 11/9/88) for carrying on "a campaign of harassment and smears against Professor Ali Mazrui." This charge is completely false and libelous. USI is a pro-Israel student group that supports Israel as an independent demo- cratic state and as a valued and trusted ally of the United States. Its goals are achieved a LIE. Not only was Mazrui's class not infiltrated by any USI member but in a letter to the Daily (10/6/88) the individual in question identified herself as "not be- longing to any Jewish organizations." Furthermore, USI's two meetings since Mazrui's speech consisted of presentations on Israel-Diaspora relations and Israeli elections, respectively. Mazrui was neither mentioned nor discussed at either meeting. In fact, the diversity of organizations and individuals disturbed by Mazrui's comments indicates that the issue is much THE CONSTITUTION of the United States guarantees its citizens equal pro- tection under the law. For the gay male and lesbian community of Ann Arbor, this right has been consistently denied. This allegation stems mainly from the manner in which Ann Arbor police have been handling assaults against gay men and lesbians that occurred during the summer, and have continued into the fall semester. The Anti-Violence and Discrimi- nation and Task Force, a group formed in response to the increase of assaults against gay men and lesbians, has gathered details about the assaults, as well as alleged police mishandling of the assaults. This group recognizes the police's history of harassment against minorities and the economically disen- franchised. The task force challenges the police to handle cases of assault against these groups fairly and compe- tently and end the harassment that these groups consistently receive. Three specific incidents illustrate the incompetent handling of assaults against gay men or lesbians by the po- lice. In one case, a young woman claimed she was beaten around the face and verbally abused. One companion of hers pursued the attacker. A police officer arrived on the scene and al- legedly refused to pursue the assailant. According to the companion, the officer was persuaded to follow the assailant. The officer allegedly proceeded to walk towards the area where the assailant had been cornered by the victim's companion. By the time the officer had arrived at the scene the assailant had escaped. Reportedly, the officer further disre- garded the survivor of the assault by not offering any medical assistance. Nor did the officer ask the survivor if she wanted to file a report, her com- panion allegedly had to insist that the police officer take her name. This inac- inaction and insensitivity is inexcusable. In another incident, two men and a woman claim they were verbally abused and threatened by i group of men, near the Union. The abuse cen- tered around accusations of the three persons being gay. A police car was parked nearby, the three victims re- quested help from the officer. The officer reportedly claimed that the po- lice could not offer assistance, because verbal abuse is not a crime. However, this is not true. In Ann Arbor, verbal abuse is a crime. Besides ignoring laws that police are sworn to enforce, the officer reportedly did not even offer the threatened victims a ride to remove them from a situation of potential vio- lence. The police have insensitively handled assaults against gay men and lesbians. How could such a police force possibly provide equal protection under the law? In another alleged incident, a group of men and women standing on East Liberty were shocked one night when a police car drove slowly past them, and through the loudspeaker shouted at them, "Faggots!." This group was not offered equal protection under the law, and would suffer at the hands of law enforcers if assaulted. Imagine knowing that the institution that is supposed to protect every indi- vidual has just verbally abused you and your friends. The University that you and your friends attend prefers to sup- port the CIA and the armed forces in recruiting on campus even though these institutions discriminate against mem- bers of your minority, instead of mak- ing this university one that states that it does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Institutional support for the gay community does not exist. These in- stitutions must be challenged until all people, gay and straight, are equally represented and protected. I concur that not all those who criticize Israel are anti-Semitic (read: anti-Jewish); however, those who are anti-Semitic fre- quently mask their feelings through the more accepted channel of anti-Israel propaganda.' experiments really go on," he nonetheless incorporated this hearsay to conclude that "the claim is that genetic differences among Jewish communities, Polish and Yemini, are smaller than those between Gentiles and Jews, and that emphasizes the purity of the Jewish gene." Mazrui's anti-Semitic overtones have been reflected on other occasions at the University. In a lecture given Saturday, November 4, 1984 that caused similar but long forgotten uproar, the Ann Arbor News reported that Mazrui said that "because Jews wield enormous power in the United States media, government, and economy it is easier to criticize the United States government than Israel." (Ann Ar- bor News, 10/11/84). Wald is blind to the fact that this age- old rhetoric of "Jewish control" of the media, government, and economy serves to harbor resentment against Jews and is the same impetus that drives Neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, White Supremacists, various skinheads, and other anti-Semites to violence. In conclusion, anti-Semitism must be exposed for what it truly is - prejudice against Jews. Anti-Semitism is more than a swastika carved on a wall or an outspoken "Jew hater." Anti-Semitism is an element within a certain few individuals which can lurk silently for years, surfacing at the most remote and opportune instances. Al- low it a platform and an audience an the results can be tragic. The results have al- ready been tragic. To Alan Wald, libelous and naively ide- alistic, I propose this is the real battle against anti-Semitism: its recognition and exposure. by uniting the pro-Israel community (students, faculty, and community mem- bers) and its presence on campus through cultural, political, and social program- ming. Its. methods, however, have never consisted of an organized effort to intimi- date or slander Mazrui or any other indi- vidual. Wald charges USI with distributing fly- ers attacking Mazrui. This assertion is a LIE. USI was not responsible for the fly- ers which were designed and distributed by a different organization as reported in the Daily (10/4/88). Wald further alleges that a USI member "made statements in Mazrui's class declar- ing him 'anti-Semitic."' This assertion is Marc J. Berman is an LSA senior in Economics. more complicated than Wald realizes. I concur that not all those who criticize Israel are anti-Semitic (read: anti-Jewish); however, those who are anti-Semitic fre- quently mask their feelings through the more accepted channel of anti-Israel propaganda. I did not agree with Mazrui's anti-Israel tirade but political opinions are respected in the United States and at this university; anti-Semitism and racism are not. Thus, I did not morally object to Mazrui's politi- cal beliefs but took offense to those views that contained anti-Semitic elements and to statements not worthy of an academic professor in an academic forum. In his Sept. 22 lecture, Mazrui referred to "genetic experiments at Tel Aviv Uni- versity." Although he admitted that "I re- ally haven't checked whether such genetic You t~t T! C IMANV9, VON- . Ui. LET ME ASK You MT~iNt4s~ u WA~T tDO I Do kOan -MS DEF~c1T? 3LM 1I ON C99TFIZR /n Sa' I -.i'. 1 :: 40w:: I I paeLze ws LU LIoe . uf Trend bodes badly LAST THURSDAY, conveniently two days after the election, President Rea- gan asked the Supreme Court to review their 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Under the decision as it now stands, states may not make laws restricting abortion. Twice now, when such a case has come before the Supreme Court, Reagan has asked them to con- sider repealing or limiting the Roe v. Wade ruling. These repeated requests exemplify the continuous pressure the courts are under from anti-choice ac- tivists. The anti-choice movement has been trying in two ways to erode women's access to abortion, both of which suc- ceeded in this election. Proposals like Michigan's Proposal A, which denies poor women Medicaid-funding for abortion, passed in three states and the attempts to have courts outlaw abortion were given terrifying momentum by the election of George Bush. In 1986, when Reagan first chal- lenged Roe v. Wade, the Court upheld the previous ruling 5-4. However, many of the Supreme Court justices are nearing retirement, providing Bush with the opportunity to appoint four new justices. Three of the four most likely to retire from the bench in the next four years are also three of the Court's most liberal justices: Harry Blackmun, William Brennan, and Thurgood Marshall. Bush, who has modified his views on abortion to conform to the Republi- can party's increasingly hard-line, anti- choice stance, is sure to appoint anti- choice justices. He might only need to appoint one more to overturn Roe v. Wade the next time it comes up for re- view. This far-reaching judicial powe threatens women's right to choose an abortion and unfortunately only mirrors a national trend to pass proposals re- stricting abortion. Mandatory classes dangerous To the Daily: This letter is in response to the editorial entitled "Make course required" (Daily, 11/1/88). In this editorial, it is asserted "Racism is a significant phenomena (sic) in society and the University, and this course will increase student understanding of the issue. The (proposed mandatory) course is essential to any liberal arts education...unless it (the LSA curriculum committee) approves the course as a requirement for all undergraduates, the class will be nothing but another ineffective token gesture. The course must be mandatory. If the course is optional, it is unlikely that the students who most need to be educated about racism will choose to take it. Students should not have the luxury of choosing whether or not to be educated about racism and other cultures." I disagree with the proposal that such a class be made mandatory. Why should such a class be placed above other classes in this way? The argument that comes back to me is that the subject it covers (racibm) is a serious, urgent, and timely subject which needs to be addressed. I do not doubt that these assertions are true, that racism is a significant phenomenon, or that a class concerning it would help people understand it better. What I do doubt is its special placement above other concerns. I am a history major, and I firmly believe that to understand the makeup of the world today, one must know chemistry, and she feels that a grounding in the sciences, especially chemistry, is key to a good grounding in life. Another friend feels that the learning processes one learns in a math class are invaluable. Yet, if one takes the Pattern I distribution (which most people do), one does not have to take any history or chemistry at all, merely some "social science" or "natural science" courses. Furthermore, under this pattern, no math whatsoever is required. Why should some people's very valid concern about racism be elevated to mandatory status, while other people's equally valid concerns still remain very much optional? I do not believe the fact that a class is an ineffective token gesture merely because it is optional. If that is true, all my various history, math, and chemistry instructors' efforts have been "ineffective token gestures" because none were specifically mandatory. I simply do not believe this, and I find this argument spurious. It is true that some of the people who most need a racism course would probably avoid it if were optional, the same way that some people who need a math course avoid them or some who need a history class avoid them. An "essential liberal arts education" is a noble goal; in fact, it is one to which I aspire. Yet, this education requires more than one can fit into a four-year program. Ideally, it should include a firm grounding, if not a thorough knowledge, in each of LSA's departments and programs. This, however, is simply not workable - it should be a life goal, not a goal for four years. The path towards mandatory classes is a danerons one. for statements as, "Students should not have the luxury of choosing whether or not to be educated about racism and other cultures." Why should they have such luxury about such pressing issues as history,, political structures, or modern economics? A university education is, at its finest, true, unfettered learning in action. Let us look to this goal before decreeing what "luxuries" a student does and does not have concerning their education. - Chris Bradley November 1 Suspect sketches misused To the Daily: There has been a lot of talk about the Daily's recent publi- cation of composite drawings of a suspected rapist. For the most part it has been just talk; no one has really addressed the central issue here that has caused the protest. Composites are helpful when they are pre- sented correctly, but they can be very damaging when they aren't. I will try to show that this is how the Daily and the police erred, leading to the November 3rd protest of the Daily. Everyone who is reading this letter put yourself in the place of a young woman on this campus. You have been hear- iug a lot about rapes lately and naturally you are concerned. The Daily prints two compos- ites claiming they are of the same person. Now you know that there is a Black rapist in our midst, but you have two completely different compos- ites of the rapist. Which means you have essentially no idea of what this person looks like. So supplying of "tainted" information can lead others to fostering and believing in stereotypes. This has been known for ages. Hitler's propaganda is a well-known example. In no way am I say- ing that this was the intention, because I don't believe it was. The police erred in providing these composites and saying they represented the same per- son, which is obviously not true. So, in essence, the police are indeed fostering the myth that all Black men are rapists. The Daily erred in not being able to see the damage that would be caused by the publi- cation of these pictures, even though their intentions were good. To tell a young woman that there is a rapist out there who may be Black or white without giving-her an accurate descrip- tion of the criminal may cause that woman to create an aver- sion for every man in that par- ticular race. Wouldn't it have been much better to say that there are two possible suspects for the crime? -Danny Peterson November 10 Celebrate The General. Union of Palestinian Students is holding a celebration of the Declaration of Independence for the Occupied Territories. To- day will be marked by major commemorations both inside and outside of Palestine. The struggle is at a critical juncture, and the need for international solidarity has never been greater. A rally and a march will begin on the steps of the Michigan Union at 11:30 a.m. fol- inun-iA I.., £laalra.re at 1-nn Hurricane Relief LANNArborites will have a chance to contribute to the hurricane relief ef- forts in Nicaragua tonight by at- tending a benefit party at the Michi- gan Union. Proceeds of this week's Reggae Night beginning at 9 p.m., will be channelled through Oxfam of Hurricane Gilbert this fall, Nicaragua won't get a dime from the U.S. government. Instead, U.S.-backed contras have launched a series of attacks on civil- ians and hurricane relief efforts in recent weeks. On Oct. 29, contras