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December 08, 1993 - Image 4

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Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1993-12-08

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4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 8, 1993

1~e rdt' mraw tilg

- - --------------
Jim Lasser:

420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed
by students at the
University of Michigan

JOSH Dueow
Editor in Chief
ANDREw LEVY
Editorial Page Editor

Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Daily editorial board.
All other cartoons, articles and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.

Affirmative action remains necessary*

By EUGENE BOWEN
For many years now, the concepts
of equal opportunity hiring and
affirmative action have come under
scrutiny and attack. Many claim
these particular programs are
elaborate forms of "reverse racism."
These people say that because of
these programs, and others like them,
African Americans, women, Native
Americans and other minority groups
are being given unfair advantages
over white males. Many courts have
begun to denounce equal opportunity
programs (especially those with an
affirmative action base) as
discriminatory against white males.
I've thought about these
arguments. I abhor discrimination; as
a Black male I obviously would.
However, I'm forced to concede that
equal opportunity programs, even if
they could be considered somewhat
discriminatory, are necessary at this
time, and their existence must
continue.
Perhaps the first formal setback
against equal opportunity came in the
form of a court case filed by Jim
Bakke -- who was denied entrance
into the University of California at
Berkeley Medical School because a
certain number of seats were
reserved for minorities only. He
claimed that choosing minorities for
medical school seats instead of him
based, in part, on their differences, is
discriminatory.
I both laugh and cry at Bakke's
hypocritical stance. We live in a
world infused with discrimination
used to the benefit of Anglo-
European men. The purpose of equal
opportunity programs is to combat
discrimination. Now, men like Bakke
cite equal opportunity programs as
proof that they are "victims" of
discrimination. But the question to
be asked is whether or not the
discrimination suffered by white men
as a result of Equal Opportunity
programs (if any such discrimination
exists at all) is comparable to the true
Bowen is an LSA first-year student
and member of the Daily's Editorial
Staff

discrimination suffered by Blacks,
women and all others for centuries
past and present.
Let's see. White men aren't being
raped by their female dates because
she paid for dinner and feels he owes
her something in return. White men
aren't being pulled over by the police
to have their cars randomly searched
under suspicion of drug possession,
based solely on their skin color.
White men weren't lynched,
enslaved and made to live in fear
because they were considered
inferior. White men weren't on the
Trail of Tears. White men didn't
have an entire generation killed in
concentration camps. Now, I ask
you; is the "discrimination" suffered
by white males comparable?
Perhaps the strongest argument
made by white males who support
the abolishment of equal opportunity
programs goes like this: "White men
today didn't enslave blacks. We
didn't kill entire communities of
Native Americans. We should not
have to suffer as a result of what our
ancestors did."
Whether or not white men today
are being discriminatory or racist
(and believe me, many are), white
men have better chances of making it
in the world today because of their
ancestors' centuries-old histories of
mass oppression of minority groups.
Many whites in the past and today
attained their positions of power on
the backs of the oppressed,
subsequently crushing these
minorities in their ascent. The only
way historically oppressed groups
can gain their fair share of "the pie"
is by replacing some of the white
males in positions of power.
Many white men do support the
right of minority groups to get their
share of power and prestige. Butj
look at our society. Who holds an
disproportionate share of the world's
power and money? White men do.
For minority groups to get their fair
share of this power and money,
much of which white men have no
claim to, as their ancestors stole it
from minorities, white men will
have to give up some of their power.

Of course, white men don't want to
let go of their dirty money made,
both historically and currently,
through oppression and racism. So,
as a last resort, they argue that equal
opportunity programs, whose
expressed purpose is to reverse the
many centuries of unfair hardship
and loss by minorities, is racist and
discriminatory.
Equal opportunity is a far cry
from equality in the workplace. For
every business that would hire me
over a white male as a result of my
race, there are hundreds of businesses
which would hire white males,
however underqualified, over me for
the same reason.
The only way white males could
redress the centuries of oppression
their race is guilty of committing
would be to subject themselves to
being slaves of blacks for a few
centuries.
Then they would have to be made
second-class citizens to women for a
couple of millennia. Next, they
would have to have millions of their
number killed by strange Native
American weapons and diseases. All
this, not to mention reparation to
Latinos, immigrants, Jews, Catholics
and homosexuals.
Obviously, white men don't want
to suffer this. I don't want them to
suffer either. There's been enough
suffering. I suggest that white men
who are anti-equal opportunity quit
wasting their energy screaming
racism.
Instead, they should put their time
and energy into working with
oppressed minorities to fight racism
and discrimination in the workplace,
in education, in the police
departments and in the hearts of the
ignorant.
The true battle is not against equal
opportunity or affirmative action. It's
against the racism that makes equal
opportunity programs necessary. If
white males will work to end the
discrimination in their race and
gender from which equal opportunity
programs were born, this will lead to
the dismantling of such programs, as
they will be no longer necessary.

0

0

College Robandup
Tak bak heN " PacePa za

Nowhere is the influence of the
Brand New Left (as opposed to the old
New Left, which has thankfully been
completely discredited) more evident
than here at IU. The latest campus
transgression against the protected class
-- that is, anybody that is not a white
male - involves IU Student Associa-
tion senators and Latino Unidos of IU.
LUIU is asking for the resignation
of four senators who allegedly made
racially derogatory comments at a
meeting earlier this month. Those com-
ments include:
U Central Greek Senator Tonya

president) and the words "Latino
Unidos." Ricci then reportedly said,
"LUIU, you know what I mean."
The first charge carries the most
weight, but in an understanding society
should be read as more of an attack on
Taco Bell than on i's Latino popula-
tion. The fast food restaurant is clearly
not a cultural restaurant - hence the
humor. Ifit wasn't an attempt at humor,
it is insensitive, though not grounds for
expecting resignation.
The second is a case of ignorance-
Hamm didn't know the name of the
restaurant and replaced it with a Span-
ish nhrbcP. P ~rvAnaln childarns in

Latino Services.
In the eyes of the Brand New Left,
it is now offensive to not be able to
pronounce names. Hear that kids? So
next time you're in class and your
Asian, French, Southernor, alas, Latino
professor or instructor can't pronounce
your name to your satisfaction, scream
discrimination. Call the P.C. police.
Better yet, demand that the class be
stopped until the situation can be rem-
edied to your content.
When Parliamentary procedures
dictated the meeting continue,
Burgueno wailed "How can they use
the exrcp rof narl ia~menta~rv7nrnr .du re

Onl4hree statistic
Is accurate
To the Daily:
In response to Abraham Bates'
11/9/93 complaint that SAPAC is
using "scare tactics and efforts to
create an inflated rape-crisis
mentality," SAPAC is right on target.
Women still don't report many
rapes for various reasons, so the one-
in-three figure is far more accurate
than one-in-eight. Buried deep in the
hearts and minds of many a woman
are memories of a rape, sometimes
long forgotten, sometimes long
remembered. Crimes that never were
reported, but nevertheless make the
higher numbers of rape no less real in
a woman's mind. Sometimes she is
able to get on with her life with few
scars. Sometimes she is permanently
and emotionally damaged.
I speak from experience. I was
raped once by a former boyfriend

women getting the courage and
strength to report and emotionally
survive rapes. Those who can't do
gain some strength from the
knowledge that people are working
to educate and provide support. We
will never know the true figures on
rape, but rest assured, they are far
higher than what we do know now.
SHALANE J. SHELEY
Ann Arbor
Belie In Jesus
doesn't fl"Iht AIDS
To the Daily:
I am writing in response to the
letter that was printed in The Daily
on December 2 by Michael Martz
concerning AIDS. This letter was
printed less than 24 hours after
National AIDS Awareness Day had
ended. The purpose of this national
event was to educate and inform
people on how to prevent AIDS. You
are still at risk of contracting the HIV

nothing to do with whether or not
you will contract AIDS.
It seems that along with the
religious views that are being
imposed here, there also comes a lack
of understanding as to the
significance and reality of AIDS.
Ignorance in this sense can be very
dangerous. As it is said over and
over, AIDS does not discriminate.
Whether you "believe in Jesus" or
not, AIDS is still a fact of life that
every single person should be aware
of.
It has been medically proven that
there are specific methods (regarding
sexual practices, intravenous needle
usage, etc.) to prevent AIDS. These
means of prevention that have been
stated over and over by doctors are
the only ways to prevent AIDS.
AIDS cannot be combated by a belief
in God, Jesus Christ or the.Bible. So,
you can "pray daily for those ... who
are caught up in this web of sin," but
I would like to say that ignorance

"

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