0 4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 3, 2002 OP/ED GIbe £irb~wu i~rnjg 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JON SCHWARTZ Editor in Chief JOHANNA HANINK Editorial Page Editor 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. NOTABLE QUOTABLE (McDermott) is totally out of touch with the most fundamental tenet of congressional responsibilities" House Majority Leader Dick Armey in reference to U.S. House Representative Jim McDermott, who along with David Bonior recently traveled to Iraq and spoke out against war, as reported yesterday by The Associated Press. ~1~ !11 Poet Lac Q}& JENNIFER GREENE JENN'S C(YRNER ~oF1X0 A I . ii Insert label here: BRENDA ABDELALL THE TOKEN GEM o, where are you all about stereotypes. I guarantee that I ments; that's the spirit of democracy. you from?" wouldn't get the same, "Oooooh, really?" That would probably explain why there response from people if I told them I was are a growing number of Israeli Jews that "Ann Arbor' Hispanic, black or mixed. Only when I say, have spoken out against the racist policies of "No, I mean where "Arab" I get this shocking look as if to say, the Israeli government. There are organiza- are you from-from." "There's no way you're an Arab." tions growing at an exponential rate that s There's something to Certain classifications can be used against include groups such as, Jews for Peace in be said about how every- an individual and lead for their entire argument Palestine and Israel, Courage to Refuse (a :. one tries to label every- to be discredited. If someone came up to me and growing group of IDF soldiers that have peti- thing. From clothing to started talking about Greenpeace and saving the tioned against occupation and oppression) and personalities, from relationships to political environment and I later learned that he or she other such organizations that have come out views, everyone needs to have a succinct term was a republican, I would laugh in his or her against the Israeli government. We surely to attribute to people. This allows for us to com- face. The entire argument would be negated in can't call these individuals anti-Semitic. partmentalize our minds and organize our my mind on the basis that I associate republi- There are certain labels that we throw thoughts. That girl with the two-toned bag: cans with anti-environmental policies. around aimlessly. However, there is a line in Probably a sorority chick. That dude in the On this campus, there are students that which cliched labels become bigoted and hate- beret: Shady. That EECS kid: What a dork. have attempted to associate students that sup- ful nametags. To be labeled anti-Semitic is not Either way, these methods of identifying port Palestine as anti-Semitic. This is obvious- a nonchalant label and it shouldn't be used an individual lead us to stereotype and pass ly done with the goal of discrediting a casually. It is a serious charge that associates judgments that are not only what our minds movement and the ideologies of those stu- the accused individual of being anti-Semitic but also society have already formulated. dents. When I hear the word anti-Semitic, I and to be linked with a long history of hate. No When people ask what I am, I wonder if it would immediately insert that individual in one who is seeking peace in Palestine by being really makes a difference. So I say, "I'm the compartment of hate in my mind. That is critical of oppressive Israeli governmental Arab." Would it make a difference if I said I the precise goal of those attempting to label policies, whether they be Jewish or not, was Egyptian or Saudi Arabian? What if I said pro-Palestinian students: To immediately deserves to be labeled as "anti-Semitic". I was Phoenician? We can even go so far as to associate the individual with hate and racism, All labels are harmful in one way or anoth- say that I am a Semite (and yes, Arabs are thus nullifying and diminishing their views. er. No one likes to be called a nerd or shady. Semites). Regardless of what I say, does it To be critical of the Israeli government is However, labels such as "anti-Semitic" are really make you look at me differently? not to be anti-Semitic. That would mean especially harmful due to the implications that Essentially, yes. These classifications being against the policies of America would are carried along with them. Let's use our ratio- shape what we think of the individual and be anti-American. I once heard the analogy nale and not be quick to label others - espe- how we perceive their thoughts and ideolo- that if being critical of Israel is to be anti- cially in attempts to stifle opinions. gies. Stereotypes and generalizations emerge Semitic, then is being critical of apartheid and we find ourselves classifying everything South Africa to be anti-white? Obviously Brenda Abdelall can be reached around us. Being Arab-American, I could tell not. One can be critical of their govern- at babdelal@umich.edu. An open letter to Paul Tagliabue LUKE SMITH THERE IS NO I iN COLUMN 41 S D ear NFL Com- missioner Paul Tagliabue, It has been a long time since we've chatted, my old friend. What an excit- ing time it is for the NFL! We are on the verge of seeing Emmitt Smith make history and break Walter Payton's rushing record. What a thrill. Unfortunately, Paul, my excitement over seeing Dallas' second favorite son (Roger Staubach forever) about to eclipse a record of nearly Ripkenian proportions is not the impe- tus behind this letter. If it was, I would rave about Emmitt's career and the former glory of the Dallas Cowboys, long since gone from the NFL stage. Soon, old friend, we will be able to laugh about the St. Louis Rams, as we do now over the Cowboys. But, now I, you and the NFL (America's greatest game) have nothing to smile about. Accompanying this letter is a report I believe you will find very interesting concern- ing the NFL's employment policy regarding white athletes at the wide receiver position. The report, titled "White Wide-outs and the National Football League: Historical brilliance, recent failure - the white man's quest for respect at the white wide receiver position," outlines in detail a study I have been conducting on the NFL practice for employing a diverse pair of starting wide receivers in the NFL. In order for the league to progress, it needs to be diverse at the wide receiver positions. Too often the wide receiver position is dominated by black athletes. My study shows conclusively that white wide receivers are being held to high- er standards, despite decent to OK performance. The study cites specific performances from players like the Denver Broncos' Ed McCaffery, who in a healthy stretch between 1998-2000, averaged over 1,000 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns in the same stretch. He is a fine example of a star- tling success at the wide receiver position. When given the opportunity, white ath- letes at the wide receiver position have done their jobs dutifully. However, with poor performances, they are also pulled quicker from lineups and benched. The tol- erance for mediocre to sub-par perfor- mances often gets top-tier talent like Steve Tasker relegated to special teams duty. Incidentally, Tasker thrived on special teams and deserves a Sportscentury on ESPN. See what you can do about that too, Paul. I would be remiss to write you, old friend, if I didn't include a few solutions. After all, when we disagreed on the strike issues in 1987, I offered some candid solu- tions to the Free Agency crisis. Things sure did work out for the best, didn't they? In order to get more white athletes at the wide receiver position, the NFL needs to crack down on team's roster arrangements and depth charts. This is not to suggest that micromanag- ing each team's roster is something that should even be examined. Instead, teams demonstrat- ing a diverse starting combo (read: Pair) of wide receivers for the duration of the season, barring injury (we can't control torn MCLs and ACLs like we used to) should be rewarded. The source of the reward, would be a first-round draft choice. Teams demon- strating a commitment to diversity at the position would receive an additional first- round draft choice. Further, teams would be penalized for not establishing a diverse wide receiving corps, the penalty would be a third-round pick. Failure to have white receiver candidates in training camp would result in the team's loss of their first-round draft choice. According to the plan included with this let- ter, team general managers can choose to opt out of this agreement, but the result would be their forfeit of a first-round draft choice. With these steps being enacted, the NFL can look forward to a diverse prosperity at the wide receiver position. My report is being filed in conjunction with Johnnie Cochran Jr.'s report "Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Perfor- mance, Inferior Opportunities." Together, Mr. Cochran and I are striving for a more diverse NFL front office and wide receiving corps. I hope in the near future, you, Mr. Cochran and myself will be able to sit down and discuss this matter. It would be a shame if this comes to litigation, I know the NFL is reasonable. Just like Steve Tasker would've said, "We're asking for an opportunity to compete." Hope to hear from you soon, Paul. A 0 Luke Smith can be reached at lukems@umich.edu. 0 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Granholm not corrupt; Posthumus and his 'cronies' are cause for real concern To THE DAILY: Tuesday's article (Kilpatrick wants say in state leadership, 10/01/02) is hardly news. It is Dick Posthumus' shameless efforts to boost his fail- ing gubernatorial campaign with propaganda laden "news" stories. First of all, neither Granholn nor her cam- paign had any knowledge of this memo until the news broke on Tuesday. No special deals are being brokered between the Kilpatrick camp and Granholm camp and any related claims are simply unfounded and not true. Posthumus is n'in this memo to once aeain stunts. Given the chance Posthumus will put the insurance companies' interest ahead of ours. Lastly, it is very disheartening to see Posthu- mus continue John Engler's policy with the city of Detroit. This policy includes vilifying, divid- ing and trash talking the city. As groundless as these claims are I think everyone should ques- tion Posthumus' apprehension to people from Detroit being involved in Michigan's future. I prefer a candidate who sees Michigan as one state and wants every city, no matter how big or small, to be included in Michigan's future. PAUL SPURGEON LSA sophomore College Democrats Executive Board Member Procrastination study no i -h n. "L n an 1. t. il in thinking that such a study might be groundbreaking and important, I cannot understand why the obvious results of the study made the front page of the Daily. DAVID KING LSA senior 10 LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from University students, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. Letters should include the writer's name, college and school year or other University affiliation. The Daily will not print any letter containing statements that cannot be verified. A