4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 8, 1999 ~~fte £kigun Qag F Q {ing the right ords: a s vaI pfo r Wshington employees 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 daily.letters@umich.edu Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan HEATHER KAMINS Editor in Chief JEFFREY KOSSEFF DAVID WALLACE Editorial Page Editors Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. A weekoPdde LGBT Visibility Week promotes acceptance Uto lnguage is cryentmricate and comn- plex ^Aording to Roget and Webster and other people who keep track of these things, there are approximately 1.2 jillion words the English language. And with the possible exceptions of Alex Trebek and Ben Stei no one knows all of them., This all became painfully evi- dent a few weeks ago w hen a white Washingon D.C. city clerk was forced to resign for using the word "niggardly' in a conversation with a black coleague. David Howard, the ' director of the Office of SCOtt the Public Advocate in Hunter D.C., used the 50-cent word which inciden- Roll m- . tally hasn't received tx much airplay since S Shakespeare died -- during a routine meeting with two aides. All hell broke loose when Howard innocently tried to underscore the need for cautious spending in the office: "I will have to be niggardly with this fund because it's not going to be a lot of money." Party foul! After this verbal smack in the face, a black aide stormed out of the room in a huff. Apparently, the guy must have left before Howard could explain that "niggard- ly" means "miserly" or "stingily," and that it does not ofen appear on a 2Pac album. But, nevertheless, between a formal com- plaint about Howard's alleged slur and a whirlwind of ridiculous rumors that he was also closet Klansman/Skinhead/Nazi, the poor guy was pressured to fork over his res- i gnatin A . iiv the capK tolps new bla may uu epted it. But mounting mpne media and from the pubi ed ilams to reverse his decision ad a Howard to resume his poston (i he stil w ants ii). So. lef's see w hat h ome o this whole fiasco. M The country s now lghtl more liter- ate * I have somethng to wite about this week, * And now it's pretty -,ch plain-as-day that America has a itle more work to do on improving the level of racl talks I'l be the first to admi that when I first heard about this incident, I had to laugh. After all, the whole thi seems kd of silly' An innocent man loses his lob for having too big a vocabulary and a werd ainty fr arcane words. In a perfct worl, the guy would have just laughed the whole thing off No, no, no Nggrd! I said nggard!" "Niggard?" "Yes, you know: The old arcane Scandinavian word tha means miser and has no racial connotations whatsoever!" "Oh, 'niggard'! a Ha! Ha! Good one, Dave!" But this isn't a perect world. And people aren't really that easygoing when it comes to talking about racial matters. In fact, talking about race is kind of like trying to discuss the Starr report during the Victoran era. In our world, people are really tense and uptight about these kinds of things. In fact, we are so uptight that the use of the word was grounds for a national blitz of media cover- age and publc attention sad ain't it? But given the tense clmate we've got, no one can realy blame the irate aide for being caught off-guard. After al. anything that sounds even remotely like a racial epithet - especially the best-known racial epithet - is enough to spontaneously ignite anger and hurt. It's pretty hard to just slip those sorts of words into a conversation. I mean, who wouldn't do a double-take if they were sitting in that meeting room? The worst part of the whole situation was not that the aides were taken aback. It was not that a complaint was filed to the mayor. It was that Howard was forced to resign over the issue even after enough time had passed for tempers to subside and for everyone to look at the issue rationally. Even worse is the fact that that it actual- ly took dozens of on-air complaints, state- ments from the NAACP and angry opinion pieces in newspapers and on TV to get Howard his job back. Face it: We have such a hard time discussing race issues that we have to have Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric intervene before we can resolve these things for ourselves, The main lesson America should glean from this humorous but grave incident is this: we can't stop people from being sensi- tive. Such hypersensitivity has been build- ing through centuries and isn't likely to dis- sipate anytime soon. But it's completely within our power to take halfa second and discuss these issues without fleeing from them and retaliating without dis- course. What's the alternative? Outlawing certain words from our language? Jailing someone for calling Oprah Winfrey a "tycoon?" If the use of a simple innocent word caus- es a national uproar, then we'll be pretty much screwed when we try to tackle the big issues. So, we can either learn from this whole situation or we can continue making up things to be offended about. Your choice. - Scott Hunter can be reached over e-mail at sehunter@umich.edu. 0 A nn Arbor may be one of the most pro- gressive cities in the Midwest, but many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people still live in constant fear of harassment from certain segments of the population. This week, LGBT students will be cele-. brating Visibility Week to give the Ann Arbor commu- Evet: nity a sense of just how y numerous - and ordinary marcb i - LGBT people are. mor do Everyone in the t University community should use Visibility Week to show support for the :::: ;:::::>: :hd. LGBT community and reflect on the role of LGBT people in their own lives. . All students should take this '. week's opportuntomk conscious strides in their acceptance of LGBT people. More than just a few individuals need to examine how they look at the LGBT popula- tion. For all too many, acceptance of the LGBT community is quite limited. Most will acknowledge the rights of LGBT people to express their sexuality in private, but some become shocked when they see an LGBT per- son showing any sort of affection towards their partner in public. Equality will only come when LGBT people can live their lifestyles out in the open, just as heterosexual people do every day. In addition to doing some introspection into how they treat members of the LGBT community, heterosexuals should make an effort to show their support openly. Wednesday's Red Shirt Day will give students the opportunity to shop their support with r ' their choice in clothing. Some might shirk from candidly expressing their acceptance of LGBT people because they fear others may perceive them unfavorably. No one should ever let ignorance prevent him or her from proudly supporting human rights. Visibility Week ~ h ;....'encourages people of all sexual orientations to partic- ipate in its activities and cel- en t'm* ebrate diversity. >< a Hopefully, the need for a Visibility Week will fade. away soon. Once coming ::...i. out of the closet becomes easy, LGBT couples, like heterosexual couples, can hold hands or kiss in public without fear of repercus- ~J sions. Until then however, it remains an important way for LGBT people to demand acceptance from the heterosexual population. The fears of LGBT people are not unfounded. Even in the wake of recent high- profile media events, attempts to pass a mea- sure that would add homosexuals to those groups protected under Michigan's anti-hate crimes laws were met with fierce resistance from certain state legislators who character- ized the measure as a "thought crimes law" No one can afford to-ignore the fact that a large segment of the population must choose whether expressing love towards their significant other in public is worth the risk of potential harassment from a few ignorant individuals. Such an important human rights issue cannot be overlooked, and the LGBT community deserves the support of everyone. CHIP CULLEN GRINDING THE NIB Penalized Death penalty wrongfully targets poor T he justice system in the United States is supposed to be structured in such a way that people's lives are protected to the highest degree possible. As U.S. citizens, we should be able to exist with the under- standing that our government is working to preserve our lives. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In fact, with capital punishment in place, the judicial system is succeeding in taking lives, not maintaining them. In principle, the death penalty is an obvi- ous contradiction. The United States aims to stifle any and all violent trends in the country; at the same time, the government sanctions and advertises killing in the form of punishment for violent crimes. The consequences of capital punish- ment, however, extend far beyond its hypo- critical foundation. Students in a journalism reporting class at Northwestern University recently came across the case of Anthony Porter, a man convicted of murder 16 years ago in Chicago. Porter serves as a precise example of the deep flaws in the system. He was sentenced to death for the murder of two teenagers in a Chicago park - his guilt, however, was recently called into question. Porter has an IQ of 51, and there- fore was ineffective in contributing to the appeals process. The students became aware of Porter's possible innocence and decided to look more closely into the case. They were successful in finding a witness who pinpointed another man, her own ex- husband, as the actual killer. Soon after, the man confessed on videotape to the double murder. 'r%.n o orrro ~sinn:- - - _ _ _ - - ' o i ti : unrelated to a person's guilt or innocence often aid in determining both the verdict and the sentence. In many cases, this factor is socio-economic status - people unable to afford quality counsel are more likely to be found guilty and sentenced to death. In the case of Porter, his below-average intelli- gence limited his ability to properly demon-. strate his innocence. If it weren't for the efforts of a group of driven, capable stu- dents Porter would have been put to death - having done no wrong. While it is important to recognize theC reporting students for their accomplish- ment, the fact is that a man's life should not rely on the off chance that a class chooses his case to investigate. It is simply not the place of the government to justify murder, especially when it is clear that the system is anything but infallible. In fact, there have been nine previous cases in which death row inmates in Illinois have been set free after wrongful convictions. From this arises the question of how many other wrongful convictions are overlooked - even one is too many. People accused of crimes are often not wealthy enough to survive the courts. Porter did not have the smarts or the cash. In either circumstance, people are subject to a high- er probability of having their lives taken because they are at an unavoidable disad- vantage. This is not a favorable system. To kill anyone for committing a crime is as wrong as murder in any other context. But to kill someone because he couldn't proper- ly defend himself is, in any circumstance, atrocious. Porter's case alone is proof xan_ r hi _ t ug Aa a hraQ4 at n nra AAASJ challenges affirmative action opponents TO THE DAILY: I am writing in response to David Taub's Jan. 21 letter to the Daily ("Debate was unfair to College Republicans"). First, I would like to inform the University com- munity that Academics for Affirmative Action and Social Justice had only the best intentions when challenging the College Republicans to a debate. We were interested in organizing an event in connection with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and decided that an open mike debate would be a fresh and innovative way of engaging in constructive dialogue on the issue of affir- mative action. It was then suggested that we try and get an opponent of affirmative action, to balance the debate, and hold an open mike session at the end so that the audience and University community could challenge the ideas that the debaters had put forth. CR accepted without reservation. Secondly, while our experiences and education have prepared us for defending affirmative action, I assure you thAt our for- mal preparation for the debate began well after we had received confirmation from the CR; therefore, we had the same time to pre- pare. urthermore, for the record, both Nadia Kim and Niki Dickerson (the AAASJ debaters have not done extensive research on affirmative action. Taub writes: "For AAASJ's side, there were two PhD candi- dates who conducted extensive research on the issue." Taub's statement is false. Furthermore, each side was given the same amount of time to respond five minutes to state ther argument, in addition to the fie aminutes allotted to each side to rebut the statements of their opponents. Finally, ahen the former president of the CR brought Ward Connerly to the University last year, it was a direct assault on affirmative action. If affiliates of the CR can organize such events, then they should be able to defend their reasoning for it. Repubcans are not strangers to affirmative action. As we have been fighting for affir- mative action, they have been fighting against. If they can advocate for the elimi- nation of race-based affirmative action, whether it be in University admissions, hir- ing practices or any other segment of soci- ety, then why shouldn't they be held accountable and challenged? Taub, College Republicans, anti- affirmative action propo- nents, we would like to challenge any of you to a debate. f graduate students are unacceptable, then our organization has numerous qualified undergraduate persons who are willing to debate in their place. Would you like a month, a semester or a year to prepare? Fake your time - we are not going anywhere and neither is the issue of affirmative action. Regardless of how long you prepare- we will still be able to challenge your posi- tions, beliefs and ideas. FARAH MONGEAU LSA SENIOR , e \.I 5?F r*ii Rz ~~5f 'e$ , t campus for many resons There is almost always the fear of bemg harassed, verbally and physicaly, i inply r wearing a pink triangle or for holng your significant other's hand in pub [hese are not grave offenses of any sort to the general public, and yet somehow, beause they show a pos- itive side to the I ( community, many people are offended For many ti iek w ill be a chance to begin coming ou o t oset. For some, it will be a chance to reah out to those want- ing to come Out of the coset. For even more, it wil be a chance to become aware of the vast number o i(;BT people there really are, and how norma" being queer really is. I hope th al t s on this campus "l t a oent ts wk and recognize the validiy antance of LGBTpeo- ple. Is not, o oeven a matter of any- hing more tan ah, gay people aren't too st ' And or others, it could be a much as p my gay friends." And still the i na be able to say, "I okay t ha I' ga. As a memb n i community, I urge everyone, no peak up and take a stnd n or o al hose who are esbian, gay, bi a n ndered. Your u tear one per- son say ' spprtyo,1eas o uch. ib Woppor- tunit, Wehritstrug h low-in- the-Dark mar Wednesdays Red Shirt Day or ay Kisn, don't let this week go by wi t seriouy taking a moment to reect o ur experience with the LGT cormmuni ad how it affects you. Show your support No your opportu- nity! UKE LIPP LSA JUNIOR Footbal hockey ticketprice increase ufi Diversity not crucial to education TO THE DAILY: I'm writing in response to the editorial "Threatening Diversity" (213/99). One partic- ular line of interest is the one that states "While it may not be immediately apparent, we learn as much simply by being in the pres- ence of students with varying backgrounds than we do in the classrooms." I was amazed at this statement. Apparently, all of this time I've been overemphasizing the importance of my professors and GSIs. I thought that they were the ones who would teach me and help facilitate my education. How wrong I was! I guess that 50 percent of the stuff I've learned here at the University has come from the mere presence of individuals who do not look like myself. Back in the early part of the century, the British called the radio the "ether," because some people believed (wrongly) that the radio waves traveled through a mythical compound in the air that nobody could see. Could it be this "ether" that allows me to soak in 50 percent of my education? What if my only interaction with people in my class is telling the dolt behind me not to kick the back of my chair? Can I still learn as much this way, or do I have to say more? Do you have to look and speak directly at somebody for this mysterious ether to be absorbed? Not only that, but can bad ideas inadvertently flow into me while I'm not paying attention? Can I get AIDS or some other communicable disease from it? Do I need an idea condom in class to keep out the bad ideas? Now look what I've done - I've got- ten myself all worked up over this and I'm not even sure what it is. I got so excited about it that the other night I sat in a room with a bunch of chemical engineers, hoping that their intelligence would flow into me, reducing my study time by 50 percent. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. Here's anidea: let's get offbthis ridiculous fallacy that merely being in the presence of different looking people makes one's learning experience any different. Most people get up in the morning, go to class and come home without any thought as to the cultural back- ground of their classmates. The ones that do __ 0; w.0