4A --Monday, November 4, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4A -Monday, November 4, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom ct Michigan 4:3a1,61 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. SANDER BREGMANVW The hip-hop excuse 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MELANIE KRUVELIS and ADRIENNE ROBERTS MATT SLOVIN, EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR ANDREW WEINER EDITOR IN CHIEF 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. FROM TIHE DAILY Voteilayner, Kunselman, Westphal, YES on Proposal 1 Election day is tomorrow, Nov. 5, and Ann Arbor residents will elect new members to city council. Many students don't afford adequate attention to the local city council elections. But, these officials make decisions that have a direct impact on students. They impact the level of public safety and set zoning requirements that regulate the amount and type of new student housing developments. They also lead projects that revitalize Downtown Ann Arbor, bringing new businesses and opportuni- ties to both students and townies alike. . In Ward 1, independent candidate Jeff Kirk Westphal, on the other hand,, has a Hayner is challenging the democratic incum- diverse platform and promises to expand this bent Sabra Briere. In the past, the Daily has platform through open dialogue with students. endorsed Briere for her stated commitment to In an interview with The Michigan Daily, he hearing student opinions and facilitating com- said he's interested in finding ways to make the promises between students and the Univer- University safer. He feels that getting student sity. However, in an interview with the Daily's support will make it possible to make these editorial board, Briere offered no solutions to changes happen quickly. Westphal is also com- increase communication with the University mitted to providing public transit projects that or better serve the needs of students. The Daily extend beyond Ann Arbor, which would be noted in2009 thatherviewsonhousingmaynot helpful to students looking to work or intern be in the best needs of students, and her time on in surrounding suburbs or Detroit. The Daily the council confirmed her lack of commitment endorses KIRK WESTPHAL for Ward 2. to student's need for affordable housing. n In Ward 3, Democratic incumbent Stephen Hayner, on the other hand, favors more stu- Kunselman is being challenged by Mixed Use dent-friendly policies and recognizes that the Party representative Sam DeVarti. In an inter- University plays a critical role in supporting view with The Michigan Daily, DeVarti dis- Ann Arbor's diverse economy and population, cussed his party's main platform, mixed use In an interview with the Daily, Hayner, a small- zoning, and how that change has the potential business owner and University of Michigan to make housing more affordable for students. alum, said all students deserve representation While it's great to see that students are mak- on city council since they pay taxes through ing a concerted effort to get involved with city their rent. Hayner also expressed his concern council, his relative inexperience and narrow over Ann Arbor's lack of affordable housing and platform are cause for concern. pushed for plans that would lower median rents Current City Councilmember Stephen Kun- across the board. He's currently involved with selman has extensive experience - three terms volunteer projects to help local schools, making on council - with local politics and policy, his claim to care about students credible. Fur- and will be running for mayor in 2014. He has thermore, his commitment to preserving space remained committed to student priorities such for parks and natural waterways in the city as public safety. Kunselman has been a strong promises amaintenancetothe open spacesboth proponentofoff-campushousingdevelopments students and residents support. With a mix of for students, increasing housing options and practical,budgetarygoals and asense of student helping to minimize cost increases. However, needs, Hayner is the best candidate for the job. Kunselman should work to foster a more open The Daily endorses JEFF HAYNER for Wardt1. dialogue with students and residents, instead of In Ward 2, Jane Lumm, Conrad Brown and just promoting what he believes to be in their Kirk Westphal are all vying forthe council seat. best interest without input. The Daily endorses Lumm, an independent incumbent, pushed for STEPHEN KUNSELMAN for Ward 3. improved public safety in the past. While pub- In addition to council candidates, a proposal lic safety is very important to students, Lumm on Tuesday's ballot deserves voter approval. failed to provide specific examples of how to The proposal in question will extend a sink- improve the University's relationship with the ing fund millage for Ann Arbor Public Schools, city in her interview with The Michigan Daily. which adds $1 million to property taxes in While she says that collaboration is essential, order to raise money for a sinking fund which Lumm didn't elaborate on specific ways for will fund "construction or repair of school them to work better together. buildings" in the school district. Voters have Brown, a University student, is also run- supported this measure twice - approving it ning as part of the Mixed Use Party. Though in 2004, and renewing it in 2008 - and they the aims of the party - which promotes the should support it again. According to MLive, use of space closer to campus for practical the millage has paid for security upgrades and commercial developments like supermarkets improvements in accordance with the Ameri- and chain discount stores - have the poten- cans with Disability Act. AAPS should have the tial to benefit students, Brown's ideas outside opportunity to continue these improvements of mixed-use zoning are abstract and under- without having to cut resources within the dis- developed. trict. Vote YES on Proposal 1. JESSE BUCHSBAUM Why we should vote on Tuesday This article addresses two topics: social justice and hip hop. Let me start by acknowledg- ing that I am a white male from an upper-middle class, primarily white suburb. I have been taught to be racist by our society without even realizing it. I can look back at certain comments I've made or thoughts I've had in the past and see them as racist. We are sur- rounded by more racism than we even realize; we don't recognize that being racist can be as simple as making a joke or, in this case, throwing a party. By now, I'm sure you've heard about the University's chapter of Theta Xi fraternity's party theme idea, giving the party attendees an opportunity to make fun of Black culture. I did not feel the need to write this until, in their apology let- ter, a member of Theta Xi claimed that they were inspired to do this by hip-hop music. Let me stop here and explain where I'm coming from. For the past five years, I have been immersed into the world of breakdancing, otherwise known as hip-hop culture. The traditional term for a break-dancer is "b-boy." According to the values of the b-boy community, it doesn't matter what color your skin is or how much money your family has - you just have to have soul. This community and its art have helped me become who I am today, and I've loved every moment of it. Hip-hop culture contains five ele- ments: b-boying, rapping, DJ-ing, graffiti and the knowledge of this culture and one's interpretation of it. Rap has taken on a new life within popular culture, and rap music can be very sexist - nobody is denying that. But rock 'n' roll can also be very sexist. Music can be sexist. Televi- sion can be sexist. The media pro- motes images, sounds and ideas that shape who we should be. Just by existing in' our society, we're taught what boys should do and what girls should do. We learn what rich people and poor people should do. We're taught about how black people should be and how white people should be. We're all victims of our own ignorance. Thus, if I do something racist, I can try to blame society. But I'm still the one to make those choices and execute those actions. If I try to blame anyone or anything else, it's because I can't accept the fact that I am racist. The same goes for blam- ing hip-hop. These next two sentences are especially directed at the white people reading this: Diversity doesn't mean "not 100-percent white." It means that every race is represented and treated equally. Also, don't be worried about being labeled racist - be worried about how your intentional or uninten- tional racism can hurt others. But let's get back to the topic at hand: the party. The point of this article is not to bash Greek life. I'd just like to point out that as soon.as fall semester begins, thousands of freshmen are funneled into Greek life. In this setting, they are gen- erally surrounded by other white, upper-class students and partici- pate in the hook-up culture for their entire time at our school. There are also multicultural fraternities - predominantly Black, Latino, Asian or Indian. But I'm not talking about the multicultural fraterni- ties, but rather the predominately- white fraternities. Many students will know what I mean when I say that typical members of the largely white fraternities and sororities rarely leave their social climate, cutting.themselves off from the rest of the school. This controversy indicates a much larger problem: Our society is still very racist, and most white people are unwilling to admit it. People are scared of the truth - we're part of the problem. If we are part of the problem, we need to make changes in our lives to become part of the solu- tion. So if your fraternity does some- thing racist, don't blame hip-hop. Blame yourself for not taking the initiative to learn how to not be racist. Hip-hop culture showed me that race doesn't have to matter, but that's not where I learned about race. I learned about race at this school. Through classes, campus events and friends from different backgrounds, I have learned of these invisible lines between us. These lines exist because it's easier for us to stereotype than it is for us to look at each person as a unique.individual. Each person is a unique individual, and in that sense, we're all equal. But in a much more real sense, our society gives some people huge advantages over others based on skin color, family wealth, sexual orientation, gender, religion and a million other factors that are so easy to overlook. The University has taught me this. Hip-hop taught me that we can all vibe out in the spirit of peace, love, unity and having fun. I wish others could develop this same perspective on hip-hop, but the harsh reality is that it's easier to point blame than it is to take responsibility for mak- ing this change. For people like the party planners at Theta Xi, rap can help to create strong negative ste- reotypes of Black people - particu- larly Black women. But they were racist before they listened to hip- hop. They were born into racism. However, we can't blame others for their ignorance. So this is now a call for anybody reading this article to rise up and take every opportu- nity to learn what racism is and how we can stop its presence in ourlives and in our communities. At this school, we're supposed to be the Leaders andthe Best.It'stime to start acting like it. Sander Bregman is an Education junior. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, James Brennan, Eric Ferguson, Jordyn Kay, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Maura Levine, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble, Adrienne Roberts, Paul Sherman, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe RYAN MOODY W Perpetuating harmful stereotypes An open letter to Allen Wu: As a Black student on this cam- pus, I was upset with the "Hood Ratchet" party planned by Univer- sity's chapter of Theta Xi fraternity. After reading your published apol- ogy in the Daily in which you said, "I would like to sincerely apologize for any negative emotions that you and any other offended members of the community may have felt" and "I apologize for any hurt that I've caused in our community," the lack of specificity in your statements gave me the impression that you don't truly understand what you did that was hurtful. I have friends of many races and ethnicities who were offended by the incident, and I also have friends who weren't. I don't speak on behalf of any of them. I only want to tell you why it upset, angered and hurt me. . I would not have been bothered by a hip-hop themed party. I might - not have even been bothered by some of the language you chose to use in the party description, had it been used in a different context. What upset me was the juxtaposi- tion of those words with images, costumes and a video that almost exclusively featured or described Black people. I do agree that hip-hop as a genre doesn't have to be Black; in fact, it often isn't. However, that belief is not one your Facebook event depicted or supported. It may not have explicitly said hip-hop equals Black, but it didn't have to. I'm not someone who identi- fies with being "hood" or "ratchet." When you parody those aspects of Blackculture, I knowyou aren'ttalk- ing about me - but others might not. Events like yours help to reinforce negative stereotypes about people who look like me. They encourage people who don't know me to fall back on preconceived notions of who I probably am instead of trying to get to know me. They encourage people to say things to me such as, "Can you teach me how to twerk since you know how?" or "You're so much different than all other Black people," or even, "Are your friends back home ghetto?" I've been asked each of these questions on this cam- pus within the past year. While you may hear those stereo- types a lot on the radio or see them on TV, I think they're perpetuated by only a few in my community. Those few people might be popular, vocal and have a platform to do so, but they don't represent the collec- tive voices of all Black people. It's not that I expect you or anyone else to represent all aspects of Black cul- ture when you have an event that includes one small element of it, but I would appreciate it if you didn't perpetuate the stereotypical image of all Black people being thugs and hood rats with "ratchet pussies." When you make it easy for some- one with undiscerning eyes to think your event is a party about Slack people and Black culture in general instead of a party about hip-hop as a musical genre, that's when it hurts me. When you name an event in conjunction with a web- site that is notorious for poorly rep- resenting Black people instead of a website that is solely related to hip- hop, that's when it hurts me. When almost all the descriptors to your event come from Black hip-hop and rap songs and adhere to Black- targeted stereotypes, instead of the multicultural "music genre con- sumed by all races" version of hip- hop you described in your response to Erin Fischer's viewpoint, that's when it hurts me. I believe that although it had to be requested, your published apol- ogy was sincere. I understand that you didn't think about your actions beforehand, and I'm not going to condemn you for something that seems like an honest mistake. I, too, have done and still do things that are hurtful to people because it's difficult to relate to people whose struggles aren't my own. When you created the event, you probably didn't consider the effects that it would have on people like me. Now you do. I hope you act accordingly. Ryan Moody is an Engineering senior. These are not the federal elections. There won't be nationally televised debates, widely publicized gaffes by candidates nor campaign commercials telling you to care about voting. These are the localelections.And while they may not offer the big, sexy issues or the widespread appeal that federal elections do, local elections often have a bigger impact on everyday life. This Tuesday, the local elections will take place in Ann Arbor. In the past, these local elec- tions have had the lowest voter turnout of all elections. And the college-aged bracket has had by far the lowest turnout of all age ranges. There were atotal of three votes cast in the Hill Campus Precinct in 2011. That's right - out of more than 2,000registered voters,just three decided to take the time to make their voices heard. The above statistic is the reason why I am writ- ingthis. Frankly,it'sdepressingtoseestudentsso apathetic as to what's going on in the local gov- ernment These elections do matter, as we will be electing Ann Arbor City Council members who will be deciding what issues are important and how to allocate resources in the city. And there areamultitude ofotherreasons tovote. Local governments collect nearly as much total money in taxes as the federal government throughout the country.Instead of applyingthese taxes to programs at the large federalscale, these funds are used exclusively for issues in local life -roads, schools, libraries, publictransit, to name a few. And these are the issues that truly have an effect on student life here at the University. Additionally, local elections are a way to actu- allygetyourvoiceheard.With significantlyfewer voters, each vote carries much more weight than it carries in federal elections. And each constitu- ent is important to the members of Ann Arbor City Council, meaning that if there's an issue that you care deeply about, getting in touch with a city council member could actually reap benefits in the immediate future. I know that many students find excuses not to vote - "I'm too busy," "I have an exam coming up," and "I don't know enough about the issues," are rationalizations I've heard far too often. Leave 15 minutes early and stop at your polling place on the way to class. Take those 30 minutes that you inevitably spend on Facebook or Reddit and vote instead. If you're looking for ways to become educated about the issues and candidates on the ballot, the Central Student Government's Voice Your Vote commissionwill haveatable on Mondayfrom 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Angell Hall lobby with fact sheets on each of the candidates and issues that you will see on the ballot. We will also have a map of polling places for addresses close to cam- pus. Additionally, Michigan's Secretary of State's MiVote website has information on polling plac- es, sample ballots, and registration status. Voting is the most important part ofthe politi- cal process, and is one of the few ways to make your voice heard on important issues. I implore you to exercise your right to vote in these local elections. Hail tothevoters. Election Day is Nov.5. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8p.m. Jesse Buchsbaum is an LSA junior: NOTA BL E Q UOTA BLE Disturbingly, negative stereotypes and misogynistic behavior are woven into popular culture today. We believe this reinforces the ongoing need to continually pay attention to diversity and engage in thoughtful, challenging conversations about social identities.' - Vice President of Student Life E. Royster Harper wrote in a campus wide e-mail responding to the Facebook description of a Theta Xi fraternity party.