4A - Thursday, November 7, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com }t$ Miidiganial An expanded definition of 'terrorism' Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 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 THE DAILY Restoring trust in Detroit's leaders The mayor is still the chief administrator and proponent of the city n Nov. 5, winning by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent, Mike Duggan defeated Benny Napoleon to be elected the next mayor of Detroit. However, the election was overshadowed by Detroit's recent bankruptcy and the corresponding tightening of Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's control over city government. This climate of pessimism culmi- nated in low voter turnout, with only an estimated 20 to 25 percent of eligible voters within Detroit participating in the election, according to the city. That being said, Duggan shouldn't resign himself to a seemingly powerless role as his term begins. The mayor is still the chief administrator and proponent of the city, despite the state-appointed emergency manager. And as Detroit moves forward, the city's residents need someone who can go to bat for them. As members of a media- engrossed, perpetually tuned-in generation, it can often be difficult to discern our own personal levels of outrage in response to someone else's allegations of government misconduct. JAKE Any involve- ment, tangential OFFENRARTZ or otherwise, with radical poli- tics only increases the arduousness of this task, and despite my socialist leanings and loose ties to anarchist communities, I'm often unequipped - with both time and passion - to address the host of injustices per- ceived by those on the far left. consequently, I regularly find myself mentally sorting the "radi- cal" issues from the mainstream, qualifying - sometimes accurately, sometimes not - an assertion of government repression as more legitimate if it comes from a source with conventional politics. In other words, because the anarchists, by definition, feel consistently oppressed by the actions of govern- ment, their rational calls for reform are often dimmed for me by their idealistic commitment to revolution. But when the federal government begins using intimidation tactics to target those with anti-government associations, when the mainstream media demonizes anarchists as vio- lent extremists, and when the refusal to testify in a witch-hunt can place a guiltless political radical in pris- on, it quickly becomes evident that my approach is problematic. Fed- eral grand juries are yet again being used to suppress political dissidence, and, aside from few vocal criminal defense lawyers, no one but the polit- ically dissident seems to care. Mandated in the Bill of Rights, the federal grand jury was original- ly intended to function as a people's panel, a pre-indictment proceed- ing for certain crimes in which the government presents evidence to prove that a case merits prosecu- tion. Since the mid-20th century, the reality of this well-meaning pro- tection has devolved to something else entirely, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Department of Justice have manip- ulated the coercive power of grand juries as a tool for instilling fear in groups hostile to the American gov- ernment. The use of grand juries as a mechanism for targeting social movements can be traced back to the 1960s. Antiwar activists - particu- larly under President Richard Nixon - were among the most targeted, along with members of the Black Panther Party and, most recently, environmentalist groups. When a person is subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury, they may not be told the cause of the investiga- tion or why they are being targeted. They are denied their Sixth Amend- ment right to counsel and their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. They may be instructed to inform on themselves, their friends or any groups they are believed to have contact with. Resisting this demand can land a person in prison for up to 18 months. Such is the predicament of 24-year-old New York City activ- ist and anarchist Jerry Koch, who has spent over five months in prison for his refusal to meet the demands of a federal grand jury. Subpoenaed in 2009, Jerry was believed to have been in an unspecified bar in which he may have spoken to a person with knowledge of a 2008 explosion that occurred outside a military recruit- ment station. Koch, only 19 at the time, stated publi- cally that he had - no such informa- tion and that he The use would not testify, - - o at which point he juries to was released. He social m was subpoenaed again last May, undem and this time his refusal to testify landed him in con- tempt of court for the remainder of the grand jury - a sentence deemed just for its intent to "coerce" rather than "punish." But what exactly is Jerry being coerced to divulge? In all likelihood, the federal pros- ecution has no interest in a half- decade-old bar conversation that may have never happened. Rather, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, lackingsufficient leads butrecogniz- ingthe 260$ explosion to be-apoliti- cally motivated crime, has embarked on a political fishing expedition, targeting underground movements based on their beliefs and using sketchy tactics of forced coercion to build profiles on social activists. The continued imprisonment of Koch has no morally justifiable purpose. It's an intimidation tactic used by the government to suppress dissent, a form of government harassment reminiscent of J Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO - a series of covert projects conducted by the FBI to dis- rupt political organizations. Koch is not the only anarchist to have spent time in jail for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury. Last summer, a series of FBI raids in the Pacific Northwest resulted in sev- eral grand jury subpoenas and the imprisonment of three anarchists. The coordinated raids weren't an attempt to solve a specific crime but an effort to silence a community, and one search warrant detailed the Joint Terrorist Task Force's plan to obtain black clothing, address books, flag-making material and anarchist literature. Many have pointed to this grand jury, and a host of crackdowns on environmentalist and animal rights groups in recent years, as evidence that the government is placing a renewed emphasis on repressing social movements. Many have also pointed to these inquisitions as yet another example of the erosion of our constitu- tional rights being justified of grand by the ever- -nim dae expansive intimidate invoking of the vements is word "terror- ism." iocratic. An individu- al's politics will likely dictate whether they view this increase in government hostility toward radical groups as a legitimate cause for concern or sim- ply unfounded paranoia from the far left. What should be apparent for all, though, is that the use of grand juries to intimidate social move- ments is undemocratic and should not be tolerated. - Jake Offenhartz can be reached at jakeoffgumnich.edu. 01 Just assignificant asDuggantakingthe office is how his predecessor, Dave Bing, is leaving it. Bing was elected mayor - shortly following the series of scandals surrounding the administra- tion of disgraced former mayor Kwame Kilpat- rick - on a platform of education reform and urban renewal. However, his polices aimed at the restoration and the revitalization of a belea- guered Detroit met a premature end when Orr was instated as emergency manager and the city declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy - the larg- est municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history - on July 18. Just before the bankruptcy announce- ment, Bing declared that he would not be seek- ing reelection, and rumors circulated that his decision to bow out of the election was due at least in part to perceived tensions between him and Orr. On Sept. 13, Bing expressed in a statement to the Detroit Free Press how he was "concerned and somewhat frustrated about the direction of the supposed partnership" with Orr. As Bing's term ends in January, it's clear he's leaving on a bitter note. The low voter turnout is concerning, but voter ignorance is not the culprit. The per- ceived division between the offices of emer- gency manager and mayor has contributed to Detroit's residents feeling that decisions about the funding of hospitals, schools and police programs are outside of democratic control. The lack of strong, elected leadership unques- tionably contributes to low participation and stake in government. While it's perceived that the mayor has little influence in the city, Orr will remain emergency manager for only one more year, at which point the reigns of city government will be passed, in their entirety, to Duggan. In the coming months, Duggan should make it clear to his constituents and to the state government in Lansing that he is responsible to the city of Detroit, not Kevyn Orr, and that ultimate decision-making authority should and will reside with him. Detroit desperately needs a mayor who's willing to be an advocate for Detroit and gain back the citizens' trust in its leadership that has failed so seriously in the past. And, ultimately, whether Duggan can accomplish this task effectively will determine the success of his administration and allow Detroit to continue its comeback. .. n 01 LAYAN CHARARA I VIEWPOINT Language - a tool for imperialism 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 For the last five semesters, the first ques- tion each of my Arabic professors has asked is: "Why are you taking this class?" At this point, I've heard just about every possible answer, and the things Ihear never fail to induce an eye roll or two. The post-9/11composition of students in Arabic courses at American universities is, for the most part, characterized by white people who either want to work for the Department of State or the Federal Bureau of Investigation, aid Middle Eastern women in their struggle against their aggressive male counterparts, or mediate between the Arabs and Israelis - as if there's a shortage of Arabic speakers in the Arab world. Apparently, a clarion call has sounded and help wanted ads are plastered about. These ambitions are troubling to say the least. Learning a language to use it as a tool against its natives is an inherently imperialistic endeavor, and breeding people of privilege to believe it's their duty to save people of color is problematic for many reasons. For one thing, such beliefs perpetuate the white man's savior complex and reinforce anti- American sentiments abroad. We've waged several wars in the name of such ostensibly noble concerns, and to no avail. Imperialism has constantly proved that it does not solve problems so much as create them, and project- ing our chauvinism abroad only exacerbatesthe divide between "us" and "them." Only when the hands of imperialism remove themselves from the Middle East will the region be able to address the problems that are intrinsically its own and salvage itself. My intention is not to undermine anyone's attempts at humanitarian- ism, but rather to suggest that these aspirations are misplaced. This discussion calls to mind Henry David Thoreau's famous quote from Walden: "If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life." What perpe- trators of the white man's savior complex fail to realize is that the marginalized can't continue to be a bullet point on an agendathatseeks only to validate privilege. The sexualized and objectified women of the West are misguided in their efforts to liberate Muslim women. Sending bilions of dollars in aid to the Egyptian military that has violently suppressed calls for democracy from the mass- es strips the Egyptian people oftheir autonomy. The extension of such endeavors, however, con- tinues to encourage people of privilege to boast similar pursuits - beginningwith learning the "other's"'language. The nexus between language learning and national security interests was established decades ago, most prominently known by Title VI of the National Defense Education Act. NDEA funds the instruction of "critical lan- guages," also known as the languages the feder- al government deems essential to U.S. interests abroad. This law frames language as a tool for economic and military advancement, thus com- modifying it. In the last few decades, the number of Ara- bic students has increased under the auspice of programs, such as the Critical Language Schol- arship Program, among other things. These programs provide students with an exemplary language and cultural immersion opportu- nity, and more salient, the opportunity to brag about their adventures in the land of the unciv- ilized and oppressed upon their return. Those are always my favorite stories to hear. Alas, I digress, but such are the laments of a girl whose parents fear they will not see her safe return if they send her on a trip to her motherland in the Middle East. The commodification of language is noth- ing new, and the idea of a linguistic market has existed for quite some time. Language, and multilingualism specifically, is an essential resource - especially in the age of globaliza- tion - but in the case of Arabic, for whom and to what end? It's unfortunate that the study of a language so rich and beautiful, with roots in a region that has given the world some of the greatestcivilizations and inventions, is pursued with such regrettable intentions. Arabic is a lin- guist's delight, and to use it to further imperial- ist interests and validate privilege rather than for academic, communication or trade purpos- es is purely exploitative. I respect Americans' incessant desire to help the disadvantaged, but I believe their desire for such emotional experiences is poorly rationalized. Help begins by reevalu- ating foreign policies that muzzle democratic ambitions and frustrate economic prosper- ity. Help begins by respecting the agency and autonomy of people of color. And then, help should cease. The people of the Middle East must be given the leeway to reclaim their identities and freedoms in the absence of for- eign intervention. Layan Charara is an LSA junior. ecent studies in: term effects ofs and head trauma parents across the nation to reconsider which sports they allow their children to participate in. While there has always been an accepted risk associated with sports at any level, recent TIN BUI studies have caused even President Ba to voice his uncertainty let his son play football. However, former ESP Sports Illustrated colu Pearlman has even m about the effects of teai youths. In an article ft Street Journal, Pearln "My children don't need ties of organized youth make them whole. If any need to do without th man took issue with th ing effect a lack of skillc children, and how over- parents can undermine of good sportsmanshil more, he added that coa should act as positive els - sometimes confu determination with dem demoralizing players. Perhaps Pearlman is the sports story of the Dolphins' offensive line Incognito's bullying and toward teammate Jon: tin, maybe the whole id ing teamwork and pos skills through sports is outdated myth. However, Pearlman's1 his children avoid youth from a solution. Person: very positive experience throughout my childhoc Let the kids play to the long- lescence. I survived the then-devas- pitfalls in youth sports, studies show concussions tating no-win soccer season of fifth that the psychological effects are have forced grade and dealt with the coaches still positive overall. Youth athletes who held practice while there was who participate in sports through a tornado warning only a few miles middle and high school are stronger away. Through my sports career I academically and have better oppor- learned how, through hard work tunities in job markets. She adds that and determination, I could maxi- many of the issues Pearlman outlines mize whatever natural skills I had can be mitigated through balancing a and achieve lofty goals. For me it was variety of types of activities and par- never a debate: I was going to play. ticipating above the bare minimum Pearlman ignores experiences in youth sports. AOTHY similar to my own and focuses on the Instead of restricting choices, par- RROUGHS struggles of his then-un-athletic and ents should encourage childrento try somewhat socially awkward broth- a variety of new things to discover er. We all had that friend or sibling their own personal interests. That rack Obama growing up - mine was my brother, may include forcing a year or two if he would too.Whilehecould,andprobablystill of a musical instrument or signing can, backpack farther in a day than I up for a few tennis lessons, but it's a PN.com and could in a week, let's just say by fifth parent's responsibility to create, not imnist Jeff grade his future prospects of making limit, opportunities for their chil- ore doubts our beloved St. Louis Cardinals were dren. This encouragement at a young mi sports on notlookinggood. In Pearlman's eyes, age will force teenagers to make or the Wall this is the exact individual whose difficult decisions when it becomes san wrote, confidence is destroyed and whose time to specialize in their respective the hostili- growth is limited by team sports. activities. My brother had to choose athletics to As an Eagle Scout, Oberlin College between piano and the saxophone, ything, they graduate and someone who's cur- I had to choice between baseball em." Pearl- rently pursuing and soccer, but he ostraciz- his childhood in both of these can have on dream of becom- Youth sports circumstances it competitive ing a scientist, I was our choice - the lessons think my brother provide a chance for we have to take p. Further- is doing just fine. responsibility ches - who Though I won't growth throughout for it. role mod- begin to guess Knowing how se teaching what lessons my a s to prioritize and ianing and brother feels he weigh conse- learned from his quences is a crit- right: With years of sports, it is a stretch to say ical skill to learn early. Instead of week being that any challenges he faced in his impinging on children's interests, man Richie youth sports career caused any con- parents should take an active role racial slurs sequential setbacks. in their activities to ensure a posi- athan Mar- While Pearlman's arguments are tive and healthy experience. While ea of learn- not without merit, over-emphasizing safety concerns clearly illustrate a itive social these concerns can quickly lead into new challenge in deciding which s simply an parentsbeing overprotective. Beyond sports children should play, youth the proven benefits youth sports sports still provide positive expe- plan to have have fighting childhood obesity and riences and a chance for growth sports is far reducing adolescent crime, Univer- throughout adolescence. 0 0 4 CHECK US OUT ONLINE Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials, view cartoons and join in the debate. Check out @michigandaily and Facebook.com/MichiganDaily to get updates on Daily opinion content throughout the day. ally, I had a with sports d and ado- sity alum Marilyn Price-Mitchell, who has a Ph.D. in human develop- ment, outlines that though there are - Timothy Burroughs can be reached at timburr@umich.edu.