I
The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - Wednesday, September 5, 2001-=13C
,Jack n
leads rally
on Diag
Sy Maria Sprow
ail yStaff Reporter
-Two days after the Law School's
race-conscious admissions policy was
struck down by a federal judge, the
Rev. Jesse Jackson stood on the steps
of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate
Library yesterday and encouraged stu-
dents to fight the ruling.
"This is another great movement
ow. It's Ann Arbor. It's this campus.
t's your day. Don't let the confeder-
ates turn back the clock. This is the
American flag - one America, one
people," Jackson said, speaking about
U.S. District Judge Bernard Fried-
man's opinion handed down Tuesday.
"Affirmative action is not a minority
issue, it is a majority issue."
Jackson, founder of the
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, rallied
* undreds of students who filled the
Diag in support of affirmative action
and to show the courts that Friedman's
decision will not be accepted by the
University.
"Keep making America better and
better. ... We are a better nation
because of this University," he said.
"Here you stand multi-racial, multi-
cultural. Brother King would be proud
of you."
He said race should be a deciding
factor in admissions because universi-
ties use other fundamental factors like
legacy. "Legacy is a factor. Gender is
a factor. Geography is a factor. ...
Let's include all the factors and make
American universities look like Amer-
ica's future," he said.
During the rally, Coalition to
Defend Affirmative Action By Any
Means Necessary member Erika
pwdell addressed Martin Luther
ng Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, in
which he said, "We have come to cash
this check - a check that will give us
upon demand the riches of freedom
and the security of justice."
Dowdell, an LSA junior, said it is
time to fulfill King's dream. "This
new movement must demand that that
check be cashed. We will fight this
case all the way to the Supreme Court
and we will not end until we see every
*ce being represented in our schools
and every institution of education."
Dowdell said Friedman admitted
NOW and Playboy square off in
debate to uncover 'Naked Truth'
ABBY ROSENBAUM/Daily
Jesse Jackson main-evented a rally held on the Diag to protest a federal judges
desision to strike down the Law School's admission policy.
By Elizabeth Kassab
Daily Staff Reporter
Students hoping for bitter con-
frontation or free copies of Playboy
magazine did not receive either at late
March's "Uncovering the Naked
Truth;' a debate at Rackham Auditori-
um between Patricia Ireland, president
of the National Organization for
Women, and Asa Baber, a contributing
editor for Playboy Magazine.
Baber alluded in his opening
remarks that there would be no brawls
on stage. "You won't find me saying
'Patricia, you ignorant slut,"' he said,
admitting her response would be along
the lines of "Asa, I'm not ignorant."
Before an audience of hundreds,
both Ireland and Baber used dry
humor to delve into more serious
issues including traditional gender
roles, abortion and the feminist move-
ment.
Early on, the debate focused on the
perceptions and receptions of the fem-
inist movement.
Baber addressed misconceptions of
the male reaction to feminism, making
clear that not all men are violent peo-
ple who cheat women out of equal
wages. "These little slurs are very
troubling," he said.
Baber also expressed disapproval of
the one-sided presentation of gender
relations.
"I think there have been excesses in
feminism. I don't want to get rid of
feminism," Baber said, adding he
advocates a more "balanced curricu-
lum" on campuses that would include
courses such as "Men and War,"
"Fathering: A How-To Course" and
"Males and the Law."
"'Men and War' is usually referred
to as U.S. and world history" Ireland
countered.
She argued that a department specif-
ically devoted to women's studies is
necessary because women are often
overlooked in more traditional disci-
plines. "'Normal' has been taken as
male, and female is the 'other,"' she
said.
She added that the feminist move-
ment does not seek to rob males of
what should rightfully be theirs to
ensure women receive more than their
share.
"We are asking men to relinquish
privileges," Ireland said. Women are
asking for equality, nothing more, she
added.
Title IX, which provides for equal
funding in male and female sports in
U.S. schools, has meant sacrifices for
men's sports teams, Baber said. "It's
the price of equality, and I'm willing
to pay it," he added.
Ireland labeled the new administra-
tion in Washington as a distinct threat
to women's rights.
President Bush's decision that that
formal attire for women in the White
House be limited to skirts is trivially
troubling, Ireland said. "Maybe he just
likes legs," she quipped.
What matters is the threat the presi-
dent potentially. poses to reproductive
freedom, she said.
"There is an imminent threat," she
said. "I don't want to go back to those
times where birth control was not
available and abortion was the leading
cause of maternal death."
Baber and Ireland also debated what
Ireland referred to as the danger that
lies in popular culture mediums such
as music and pornography.
Ireland said she finds danger in
Eminem's rap, specifically in his por-
trayal of violent acts against his wife,
sister and mother in his music.
Ireland expressed concern over the
"normalization of that kind of notion,"
either through Eminem's lyrics or vio-
lent pornographic images. As for Play-
boy, she said, "I think there are some
things that are distressing."
"Playboy has never been judged to
be obscene by any court in the land. I
don't think it's pornographic," Baber
said.
On the question of whether sex
workers should be legal or not, Baber's
response was a simple affirmative,
while Ireland's was more complex.
Sex workers should be allowed the
same basic protections other workers
are allowed, such as the right to union-
ize, Ireland said. She also expressed
dismay at a culture that views sex as
something to be bought.
Ireland also called attention to the
flaws of a culture in which women
put in disproportionately higher
hours caring for their families than
men. She said that men are thanked
for the hours they do log with their
children instead of being asked to
balance the scale and devote 'more
time to domestic life.
"More and more guys want to be
good fathers," Baber said. He added
that the problem lies with fathers who
are excluded from playing a larger role
in their children's lives because of
divorce settlements and custody
arrangements that allot mothers iore
time with their offspring.
"I'm not suggesting that fathers are
angels ... but I'm suggesting that a rot
of them want to see their children," he
said.
vs10
racism is a part of society but said his
decision showed he does not care.
"We will not stand for his 'oh well'
attitude. We will not have an 'oh well'
attitude. We want integration in this
society - now," she said.
BAMN member Jessica Curtin, a
Rackham student, said the decision
took her by surprise but she is confi-
dent that "one man" is not the decid-
ing factor in the fight against
affirmative action.
"We know that we are right, we
know that racism exists in this society
and that there must be social pro-
grams to offset it. We are going to go
to the Supreme Court and win," she
said.
Miranda Massie, the lead attorney
for the student intervenors in the law-
suit, called the judge's opinion "dis-
honest;' "wretched," "backward" and
"regressive." Massie said Friedman's
ruling should not hold up in higher
courts but urged all students to read
the 90-page opinion. "You cannot read
that opinion with an open mind and
think that Judge Friedman ever had an
open mind, before, during or after the
trial."
Jackson called on students to join
the national march in Washington,
planned for October, and the national
conference on affirmative action
planned for April or May that will be
held here.
"It should be a national conference
here to prepare for a major logistical
gathering," Jackson told reporters
after the rally. "Race is too fundamen-
tal to our culture."
Curtin later said the point of the
rally is to impact the decision of the
Supreme Court.
Most students supported Jackson's
ideas, but not everyone was impressed
with what he had to say.
"I'm really excited about the initia-
tive that the students have taken," said
LSA freshman Natoya Coleman. "I
have a sense of comfort that every-
thing's going to turn out to be okay."
"I think he was avoiding a lot of the
topic," said John Donovan, an Engi-
neering sophomore.
Donovan, who said he does not
believe taking away affirmative action
will lead to resegregation, said Jack-
son spent too much time focusing on
segregation and not affirmative action.
"I think he was just finding something
to attack."
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