4A - Thursday, February 7, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
4A - Thursday, February 7, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
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MELANIE KRUVELIS
ANDREW WEINER and ADRIENNE ROBERTS MATT SLOVIN
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
In the driver's seat
Issuing IDs is just the beginning of immigration reform
n Friday, the Michigan Secretary of State's office announced
they would issue driver's licenses to undocumented immi-
grants who've been approved to work and study in the state.
Immigrants who qualify for the federal Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals Program, a policy announced by President Barack Obama
in June, can now receive temporary Michigan licenses, reversing the
state's previous approach under Secretary Ruth Johnson. While the
state aligning with the DACA program is a good first step, more sub-
stantial immigration reform is needed to keep immigrants working
in Michigan.
EDITORIALS IN 140 CHARACTERS OR LES
@CrislerCenter @Adidas@Nike
So glad we beat OSU, but with the
-fl #mustard and #ketchup
- - mmfl uniforms now we want a hot dog.
-@michdailyoped
Turn off the stereo(type)
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Under DACA, illegal immigrants who
arrived in the United States'before they were
16, are under age 31, have lived here for five
years, are enrolled or graduated from high
school and don't pose a risk are eligible for
a renewable 2-year deportation deferral.
According to a recent MLive article, John-
son previously denied licenses to DACA-
approved immigrants, stating issues with
technical language in Michigan's law, which
forbids issuing licenses to those without
proof of legal presence. But after last month's
decision from the U. S. Citizenship and Immi-
gration Services, which affirmed that DACA
receivers were indeed legal citizens, John-
son changed her tone. On Feb. 1, the Michi-
gan SOS office announced they'd allow these
immigrants to own Michigan driver's licens-
es. Comprehensive reform still lies ahead.
In January, Gov. Rick Snyder reflected
on the immigration debate currently taking
place on the national level, urging for more
extensive change in immigration policy: "It's
critical that we implement an effective sys-
tem for legal immigration," he said in a Jan. 30
statement. Snyder is a proponent of increas-
ing work visas to highly skilled immigrants
- as well as other reforms - but no legisla-
tive action has been taken to make this a real-
ity. If Michigan wishes to be on the forefront
of immigration reform, the state legislature
must take action to open up opportunities
to all immigrants - not just those skilled in
science, technology, engineering and math
fields. The governor has verbalized his sup-
port for Obama's four-part immigration plan,
yet there are still families that are worlds
apart while Congress argues on full amnesty
for immigrants.
Here at the University, Mary Sue Coleman
has come out in support for changing the
school's immigration policy but has made no
tangible commitments to specific issues like
tuition equality. Currently, undocumented
students who live in Michigan but lack nec-
essary paperwork don't qualify for in-state
tuition - even if they've lived in the state
throughout high school. Federal and state
financial aid isn't offered to these students
either, making an affordable education at
the University out of reach for many. Cole-
man applauded the national discussion about
immigration reform but refrained from chal-
lenging the current tuition policies, instead
stating that there needed to be laws that allow
tuition equality in order for the University to
act. While the Illegal Immigration Reform
and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996
prohibits immigrants from benefits like finan-
cial aid, public universities are constitutional-
ly autonomous, meaningthe University makes
its own rules regarding residency require-
ments for students. While administrative
task forces have been made with the Coali-
tion for Tuition Equality, progress has been
slow. Going forward, the University must
take a stronger stance on immigration rights,
encouraging effective and moral policies.
Duke University has been
making the news - but not
for the right reasons. A fra-
ternity's decision
to hold an Asian-
themed party
sparked outrage
across the cam-
pus. The party
incorporated
many different
Asian stereo-
types, including HARSHA
conical hats and NAHATA
geisha outfits.
The party
inspired protests by the university's
Asian Students Association - sen-
timents that have been supported
campus-wide. A few months earlier,
a Pennsylvania State University fra-
ternity's decision to throw a Mexi-
can-themed party also elicited anger
from many.
There's a lot that has been said
about these incident, especially in
our campus community. If Facebook
is any indication, the consensus is
that what happened at Duke is out-
rageous and unacceptable. And it is.
It's disrespectful and a huge over-
simplification and overgeneraliza-
tion of an entire community.
What's at the root of this and
other bias incidents we hear about
- whether here or at schools around
the country - are stereotypes. gen-
eralizations about how we see each
other and in turn how we expect
each other to act. ,
So, let's get to the bottom of this.
Let's talk about stereotypes.
They do exist. They always have
and always will.
"Asians are extremely smart and
competitive, have funny accents and
drive slowly."
"African Americans are lazy or
criminals."
"Hispanics are here illegally.
They're all border jumpers. Or they
facilitate the drug trade."
"Arabs and Muslims are terror-
ists."
And these are just the big ones.
Then there are all the other assump-
tions we make about personality and
appearance. Are they wearing bright
colors? They must be preppy. Dark
colors? Goth. Are they quiet? Social-
ly awkward. Are they smart?.Nerds.
Are they athletic? Arrogant.
I hope that those preceding para-
graphs were as difficult for you to
read as they were for me to write.
It's painful to acknowledge many of
these stereotypes because doing so
reminds us of just how superficial
they are. And yet, they exist.
We can't ignore stereotypes. We
can't discount them or hope for
them to magically disappear. They
won't. And if we keep tryingto cover
them up under a farce of political
correctness, they'll only continue
to subconsciously influence how we
see people. Which, if anything, is in
some ways just as bad as using them
in a disrespectful manner.
But we also can't be limited by
stereotypes. We can't let them influ-
ence what we strive for, or how we
see ourselves. And we absolutely
cannot use them to target or margin-
alize a group. Simply put, we can't
use them as a tool to hurt those who
are different.
And so it's necessary to under-
stand the purpose that stereotypes
serve, but then to take them with
a grain of salt. Stereotypes are an
extension of the heuristic devices
our brain uses to quickly process
the vast amount of information it
takes in. We categorize objects and
ideas all the time - in terms of color,
shape, size and purpose. In terms of
how much we like somethingor how
happy it makes us. Heck, we even
categorize categories.
But we have to. It's how our brain
forms connections. It's how we
remember information and inter-
nalize it. Stereotypes are simply an
extension of this need to find order
in a world with so much diverse
information. They're a way to orga-
nize the patterns we see. The only
difference is that with stereotypes
we're categorizing people, not just
objects or ideas.
And that's what we often forget
- that when we use stereotypes as
a way of categorizing, it's people
we're categorizing. Humans - with
feelings, dreams and insecurities.
We forget that the simplest way to
understand someone is just to talk to
them. We forget that no matter how
different our identities might be, we
all feel in the same way.
The problem is we're
categorizing people,
not just objects
or ideas.
Stereotypes lead us to oversim-
plify; and when we do, the only per-
sonthatloses outis us.Yes, incidents
like what happened at Duke are
hurtful to the targeted group, but
the targeted group knows its iden-
tity and has the strength to assert it.
Those perpetuating the generaliza-
tions of the stereotype are the ones
truly missing out.
They miss out on understanding
the beauty of a Zulture and a people.
They miss out on embracing a group
that may be potential friends. They
miss out on experiencing a new way
of life and think. Many of us prefer to
live in a simplified black-and-white
version of the world. And if that's the
choice you make, then so beit. But in
doing so, you close out a world of pos-
sibilities, a world of opportunities,
a world of learning about different
places and people and ways of life.
There's way more to an indi-
vidual than the stereotypes associ-
ated with the identities they hold.
It's unfair to them and to our-
selves to limit them to just that.
- Harsha Nahata can be
reached at hnahata@umich.edu.
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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, Eli Cahan, Jesse Klein,
Melanie Kruvelis, Maura Levine, Patrick Maillet, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald,
Jasmine McNenny, Harsha Nahata, Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba,
Michael Spaeth, Luchen Wang, Derek Wolfe
ALAINA WYGANT
A'xe the Axe
j ~The Working Ethic: Should out-of-state students really
,t be paying more than in-state students?
SOU If Charlene Lerner discusses the ins and outs of tuition.
Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium
SHARIK BASHIR W
Asking the right questions
I'min lecture and suddenly, my heart starts
racing. Heart attack! Panic attack! Sponta-
neous human combustion! Is it because I'm
anemic? The possibilities I come up with for
what's happening to me seem endless. My
head fogs over as I slump into what might
possibly be the most resigned posture you've
ever seen.
Let's backtrack.
I've been here before: Someone walks into
class, sits somewhere by me and a bit of them
proceeds to go up my nose. I don't want to
come across as hoity-toity, and I'm aware
that air theoretically belongs to everyone, but
please, for the love of baby Jesus, don't wear
your perfume or cologne to class.
Let me try and talk you out of it. First of
all, if you're a person who is fond of a couple
morning sprays of a chemical fragrance, you
might want to check out the term "endocrine
disruptor." This is a broad category of chemi-
cals that includes things like phthalates,
bisphenol A, lead, pesticides, detergents and
other olfactory-inducing additives. But if you
intend on keeping your reproductive organs
intact, you might want to know that using
Axe on yourself might end up sculpting more
than just your aroma. Endocrine disruptors
are little buggers in perfume, cologne and
other things that mess with how hormones
work, and could lead to breast cancer, pros-
tate cancer, allergies, asthma and other con-
ditions and complications. Oprah has talked
about them, Nick Kristof has written about
them and while there're definitely some sci-
ence aspects I don't understand about them, I
do know how perfume and cologne physically
make me feel.
There needs tobe a bigger discussion about
what these chemicals do to our bodies. We
shouldn't be used as guinea pigs like the gen-
eration before us with smoking and figure out
years down the line that oh, hey, in retrospect,
that was a pretty harmful idea and we had no
clue what was going on. I realize that we can't
put seat belts and child safety locks on every-
thing we come in contact with, and I'm not
arguing for as big of a shaming campaign as the
one against smoking. ButI do think we need to
talk about the obnoxious and probably noxious
fragrances we subject ourselves to. We might
end up having fewer headaches all around.
Alaina Wygant is an LSA sophomore.
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When I mention to people that I
am Pakistani, I'm often asked, "Oh,
do you speak Arabic?" Other times
I'm told "Oh yeah, soccer must be
huge there." But I don't speak Arabic
- I speak English and Urdu. I won't
lie though, I love football, or soc-
cer, depending on where you are in
the world, but it's not actually huge
in Pakistan. Cricket is what's huge
there. The fact that I've stayed up
until 3 a.m. to watch Pakistan play
South Africa in a cricket match, that
will likely last 5 days and might end
in a draw, serves as a testament to
how important cricket is in Pakistan.
But that it's assumed that I speak
Arabic and watch soccer is a result of
grouping Pakistan with Arab Mus-
lim states and considering Pakistan
a part of the Middle East - not just
geographically but culturally, too.
I don't mean for this to be a long
rant about America. In fact, I appre-
ciate such questions - it's honest
curiosity. However, the generalized
grouping of people can be danger-
ous. Linguistically, historically, cul-
turally and politically, Pakistan has
nothingin commonwithArab states.
Brown skin and Muslim doesn't
equal Arab, just as white skin and
Christian doesn't equal American.
Making generalizations about
other countries isn't limited to stu-
dents. I've seen it in the spheres of
journalism, academia and even in
classes here. Many articles published
in renowned political magazines and
journals refer to the Muslim world
as if it were one monolithic bloc.
At times, the observations made
by these academics and journalists
about the wider Muslim world may
be accurate, but it does a disservice
to their audience who look to them as
a resource on these differentregions.
It can be hard to understand that
these groupings made by academics
and journalists aren't holistic. There
are stark differences between most
Muslim majority countries. While
there may be some similarities in
values and political systems in mid-
dle-eastern countries or "the West,"
it's even more important to under-
stand how each member of these
groups is unique.
Go to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Indonesia and Pakistan and you'll
notice how different these coun-
tries are. The people don't speak
the same language, they don't have
the same culture and the political
scenes are completely different. In
this one big Muslim bloc that people
create, there are some countries bit-
terly opposed to eachother. The only
thing that is similar is the majority
religion, Islam, but there are differ-
ent sects that divide even there.
In order to talk about issues
facing us today, we must try to
understand the intricacies of each
separate state. A principle criti-
cism of the U.S. operation in Iraq
was that the Bush administration
had notdone their homework on
the nation. They didn't consider
the socio-political climate of the
country, and, as a result, political
rifts were triggered after the inva-
sion. Once former Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein's regime was
overthrown, absolute political and
administrative chaos ensued. Such
mistakes are bound to repeat if we
remain aloof to the particulars of
different countries and societies
that exist.
I've seen my country being tossed
around in different broadly defined
religious or geographical categories
- categories that it doesn't belong in.
Ourunique SouthAsianheritage and
cultureisn'tgivenitsduerecognition.
And it's not just Pakistan - many
regions are simplified to the point
of nonrecognition. Going forward,
we must educate ourselves about
the world. Or, at least understand
what distinguishes Pakistan from
Saudi Arabia. That would be a start.
Sharik Bashir is an LSA sophomore.
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