Wednesday, May 20, 1992 - The Michigan Daily Summer Weeky - 5
Viewpoint

Alob,

'Daily hinders
right to respond

Racist Kroger strikers
hurt their own cause
To the Daily:
Sympathizers of the Kroger store
strikers ought to consider the following
incident. Being of obvious Asian de-
scent, I was subjected to racist remarks

by Engin Atik
Unless the Daily forgoes the phi-
losophy of running controversial ads
and giving opposing sides the chance to
respond, it will face a culmination of
grievances and antagonize almost all
groups in the University community.
The business staff's efforts to put the
Daily in the middle of controversy do
not make for a better paper. The latest
example was the ad paid for by the
Armenian Students' Cultural Assoc-
iation's (ASCA) April 22nd ad which
originally contained the term "Arme-
nian Genocide" - the heart of the
controversy. The timing of the ad was
carefully planned for the final issue of
the Daily, which left no chance for a
response.For the Daily, this timing was
also beneficial, since the lack of stu-
dentsandsubsequentissuesoftheDaily
dimmed the chances that such an ad
could cause turmoil.
The day before the ad ran in the
Daily, the business staff was engrossed
in a difficult choice between two forms
of censorship: 1) running the original
ad in the final issue and deny the Turk-
ish Student Association's (UMTSA)
The Armenian allegation,
that the Ottoman Empire
instituted a systematic,
state-nun program to
exterminate the Armenian
people has no foundation.
right torespond;or,2)asking the ASCA
to tone down the ad and again deny the
UMTSA'srighttorespond.Sothebusi-
ness staffers started their wandering in
the foreign grounds of historical con-
troversy. They had adeadlineof6p.m.,
by which time they had to resolve the
alleged "Armenian Genocide" issue,
on which scholars have been debating
for decades. The result caused anger in
both Armenian and Turkish communi-
ties at the University and propagated
the tension between them.
The Armenian allegation, that the
Ottoman Empire instituted a system-
atic, state-run program to exterminate
the Armenian people, has no founda-
tion. This allegation is basically due to
an emotional, one-sided interpretation
of the events that took place in Eastern
AtikisaRackham graduate student and
president of the University Turkish
Student Association.
What do
The Daily encourages respons
should be 150 words or less an
college (if applicable), year in sc
Letters can be mailed or sent
Letters to the Editor." E-mail ca
"Daily.Letters@um.cc.umich.ed
The Daily reserves the right to

as I entered the Kroger on Nixon and
Anatolia during World War One. Plymouth Road last weekend.
In1915,Armeniansjoined theinvading Onestrik
Czarist Russian army in an act of rebel- SuotrAkerpicketingthestoreyelled,
lion against the Ottoman Government. Support Amerca. As! continued to-
The ensuing civil war and subsequent wardsthe door and tried to ignore her,
relocation of the civilian population of she added, "She's not American. Look
Eastern Anatolia had tragic conse- she can't even talk [sic] American."
quences. Hundreds of thousands of Clearly any Kroger strikers expect-
people, Christian and Muslim, died in ing sympathy for their cause will have
inter-communal warfare or because of to look elsewhere. I question whether
disease and famine. any support is deserved of the Kroger
These events cannot possibly be strikers, certainly not from any Asian
termed "genocide" on the part of the Americans.
Ottoman Empire which, at any event, Indeed, the irony of the incident lies
was brought to an end by the successful in the fact that I have been shopping at
conclusion of the Turkish Revolution Meijer since the Kroger strike began,
in 1923. Ottoman responsibility can but that day I failed to find one particu-
only lie in the Empire's inability to lar item at Meijer. However, as a result
protect its civilian population - botho ier,Howver, asnar
Muslim and Christian - from wide- of the racist remark, I will no longer
scalecivilwar,famineanddiseasewhile support Kroger's strikers. The remark
fighting a world war on five fronts, that day transformed a Kroger strike
On the other hand, approaches to supporterinto awoman who will spend
history aimed mainly at stirring up as much money as she can at Kroger
emotions still lead to catastrophic con- and urge others to do so.
sequences. In the past 18 years, Arme- Dr. Joyce Yu Chang
nian terrorists have claimed scores of Rackham graduate student
innocentlivesattemptingtocompel the
international community toaccepttheir i
version of history as fact. In 250 sepa-
rate incidents, perpetrated by Arme- IN
nian terrorist groups in more than 20 R s o s b l
couts 7 nResponsibili
killed and 467 wounded. be Germanur
The Turkish Student Association
calls for unbiased,unrestrictedscholar-
ship to further our understanding of the by Hannfried Hindenburg
eventsinEasternAnatoliaduring World Should the Germans think about
War I. Armenian emotions about this their moral responsibility for the Holo-
tragic time have been firedby the tales caust? "Yes!," said Matt Adler in a
told by their parents and grandparents. column a couple of weeks ago in the
We too have heard stories, stories of Daily,n I agree ("Germans must
atrocities committed against our Turk- accept responsibility," 4/21/92). He is
ish parents and grandparents at that respon I29) e
time.Werely on and respectthe memo- ane Jew and am a German
ries of our ancestors as the Armenians exchange students
do theirs. However, we do not consider manpeople from fulfillingthisrespon-
emotions tobe the equivalentof histort- sibility and learning something from
ca proof, iiiyadlanigsmtigfo
Continued allegations of genocide the past. Throughout his article Adler
only serve to spread the seeds of ani- continually makes the mistake of gen-
osy biotry, spand hatred between eralizing about the issue of the crimes
TurksandArmenians.WeaskthatTurks committed by the Germans during the
TsandArmenians.eakawle k Third Reich: "Everyone in Germany
and Armenans alike acknowledge the knew what was happening. Anyone
human tragedy which befell all the who wasn't trying to stop Hitler, was
peoples of Eastern Anatolia during helping him... I pity Germans my age.
World War I and strive to promote It must be difficult for them to accept
understanding and friendship, instead the crimes of their ancestors. I have no
of hatred. Finally, it is our hope that the sympathy,however, for those whodeny
American community will take a more the collective guilt of the German soci-
objective stance in viewing this com- ety."
plex issue. Today's German society is not col-
lectively guilty. Most of its members
rou hinkwere born after 1945 or experienced
ot i k fascism as young children. Thus it is
es from its readers. Letters extremely important to distinguish be-
tween "guilt" and "responsibility" in
d include the author's name, discussing present day German society.
:hool, and phone number. History cannot be changed or redone,
via MTS to "Michigan Daily but Germans are rightly burdened with
n be sent via the Internet to the responsibility of ensuring that

HEATHER LOWMAN/[
A reader stopped supporting striking Kroger workers due to allegedly
racist comments.

Why was King manly?
To the Daily:
I recently noticed the 1992 plaque
entitled "In Tribute to Dr. King," lo-
cated in the hallway that connects the
fishbowl and Angell Hall. It was given
by the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha

fraternity. This plaque, among other
things, praised Martin Luther King, jr.,
for his "Manly deeds."
I demand to know exactly what the
brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha consider to
be MANLY deeds.
Scott Goldberg
LSA senior

ty -not guilt - should
esponse to Holocaust

Auschwitz never happens again.
Projections of the past onto the
present, however, endanger this en-
deavor severely. Only an account
which encompasses the complex and
contradictory aspects of the Third
Reich and positions them in historical
context can serve as the basis for a
moral evaluation of the era. Only criti-
cal historicizing can keep the histori-
calexperienceofthe Third Reich alive
for future generations. That means
Not everyone knew what
was happening but
everything stood In
connection to the fatal
racial ideology.
that we should not single out the gas
chambers, but show how the horrors
of Holocaust on the high level trans-
ferred down to the everyday life of the
average person. Not everyone knew
what was happening but everything
stood in connection to the fatal racial
ideology. Simpleaccusationsandgen-
eral allocationsof guiltconcerning the
the Holocaust keep this event on an
abstract level. In that way no connec-
tions are made between responsibility
and the normal life during fascism.
The process of extermination remains
isolated.
s Repeated assertions of the guilt of
today'sGerman societyhave the simr-

lar effect of keeping the Holocaust on an
abstractlevel.Thatway,thedeathcamps
become increasingly an isolated"illness"
and exceptional part of history in the far
distance.Furthermore,reproachesofguilt
alienate people -especially in times of
economic hardship - more than they
help to make them aware of the dangers
of right wing ideology. They create and
foster a sentiment which is spreading
more and more in Germany: "I don't
want to hear it anymore, after more than
40 years there should be a final stroke."
There is no reason to pity young
Germans. What we need to do instead is
to disconnect them from being guilty of
crimes they didnotcommitandopen the
way for an education toward responsi-
bility.
Thus enlightment is the way to go.
Preoccupationwith theNazihistory can-
not have the aim of causing mere con-
sternation or reproach. It has to give
instructions for the hindrance of an esca-
lation of inhumanity similar to the one
Germany witnessed in the past.
Do Ias a German have a right to ask
a Jew to be patient with Germany and to
argue with Germans in a tactically so-
phisticated way? I think so, since I do
believe that I have the responsibility to
win over as many people in my effort to
prevent my country from a relapse. This
is for the benefitsof us all-even further-
more if one considers that Germany is
not the only potential arena for a future
recurrence offascism inoneofitscount-
.ss 'ise

fu"
edit letters for style and space.

Hannfried Hindenburg is a Rackham
graduate student in history. 9