Wednesday, May 19, 1993 - Th Mihgan Dy Summr Weer y -5
VIEWPOINT
Education, culture should not be Eurocentric

Protest is a concept or act upon
which ideas are shared, discourse
opened and injustices presented on a
large forum.
Last week's Olivet College com-
mencement exercise (among the Afri-
can Americangraduates)wasjust that,
a protest. Five out of the ten African

wasseenbymanyas threatening. Why?
It wasn't intended to be. If people see
something wrong in their fragment or
the whole society in which they live,
they should protest against that wrong
on a small or large scale depending on
the situation. The protester's voice
must be heard in order for things to
change. In the Olivet College situa-
tion, these five Black students saw the
"traditional" (white) commencement
ceremony not addressing their needs;
therefore they created their own cer-
emony. Marlon Bailey, a 1992 alum
who spoke at the "Black" graduation
stated, "The message at Olivet is that
they tell you, 'People are people, so
let's just all get along and be white."'
Thestatement,"Let'sallbe white,"
is aconcept which is indoctrinated into
the minds of most people of color

living in the United States and abroad
from day one. Through education, we
as Americans are made to believe that
all of the "great" thinkers, writers, art-
ists and all others having significance
are white. How many of us have
enrolled in a Great Books, American
Literature,Philosophy,oranotherclass
andreadthings written by peopleother
thanthosepossessing white skin? Why
is that? Because American academia
places most, if not all of, its value on
things which are produced or created
by white people. I would only expect
that American education should be
moremultidimensionalhaving several
brush strokes with different colors and
textures, but obviously it's not like
this. Will we ever realize that this
country was founded and built by a
very diverse group of people? And

shouldn't our education reflect this di-
versity? Europeans weren't the only
builders of the United States. Why is
this such adifficultnotiontoascertain?
I'm definitely not saying that Euro-
pean studies are notiimportant, but I do
think that their should be some kind of
balance - especially since we are
living in America, not Europe. We
cannot live in a world that is getting
smaller by the minute and think that
our sole knowledge of Europe and
Western culture will be enough. We
cannot deny any groupof people living
in this country the right to be taught
about their specific cultural and intel-
lectualcontributions toAmericawithin
the American classroom- especially
those who have contributed as much to
this country's development as African
Americans have.

This dark hole cut out of American
education, or in this case the Olivet
College curriculum, was what these
five African American graduates were
protesting to fill. Rather than feeling
threatened by these students having
their own ceremony, the more intelli-
gent thing to have done was to have
placed oneself in their newly discov-
ered kente cloth for a second and pon-
der the question of why their culture is
denied validity when their people have
contributed countlessattributes tocivi-
lization and more specifically to
America asa whole.
On that note, let me tap dance my
way on out of here.
Hardy's column appears every other
week on the opinion page.

American graduates held a separate
ceremony to protest Olivet College's
"Eurocentric" curriculum and the
school's racial tensions.
This separate ceremony initiated
by these African American graduates

Writer has Georgia on his mind, believes we should take pride in our past, no matter how ignonimous

To the Daily:
I write today regarding the inane editorial
about the Georgia state flag in the Daily, in
which the author writes, "The Confederate flag
in and of itself represents racism ..." Rarely is
lifesosimplistic thatitcan bereducedtoasingle
issue.Perhapsan Americanhistorycoursewould
be in order-the University offers a good one.
But, since it is too late to pick up a class this
semester, let's continue this discussion for a
minute.
TheAmericanflagremindsusofacommon
past, aheritage both good and bad. Perhaps old
glory waves most prominently and proudly on
Memorial and Veterans' Days, in memory of
our ancestors that died fighting for her. Indis-
putably, the American flag has flown over
numerous atrocities in United States history (to
be discussedlater);but, thatisnotwhat we think
of, not what the flag means to us, when we put
our hands over our hearts and mouth the words
"Oh, say can you see...."

Such is the case of the Confederate flag.
Becausemostof the warwas foughton southern
soil, few Confederate citizen's lives went un-
touched by the bloodiest warinourhistory.Gen.
William Tecumseh Sherman ravaged the south,
burning homes and fields on his way to raze
Atlanta. And the atrocities continued after the
war. Millions, perhaps billions of dollars were
spent to rebuild Japan less that 15 years after
World War I, a stark contrast to the manner in
which the defeated Confederacy was treated. Is
it really so wrong to want to fly a flag in
remembrance of all one lost in that short time?
What does the Confederate flag remind most
Southernersof? It is aremembrance of the lives,
the pride, the hope (loyalty? dedication?) that
most Southern families once gave to her. It is a
part of their heritage. Slavery was a part of the
history (although only 1 in 10) were slave own-
ers, a disgraceful one to most (although I must
admit there is as much racismin the south as the
north). But to suggest that the Confederate flag

quite simply "stands for slavery" is incredibly
simple-minded and ignorant. It symbolizes far
more.
But, itmay indeed be difficult to separate the
two. In addition, tomostifnot allof the African-
American population in the state the flag stands
for five years of slavery (for before 1860-1865
it was the American flag; the Confederate flag
didn't exist). Therefore, let's give in to simplic-
ity, ignore other issues, and equate the Confed-
erate flag to slavery. It was a hateful time in
Confederate history and one can only hope that
should the Confederacy have won they would
haveperhaps withamore gradual approachand
an increasing level of industrialization, in time
outlawed human enslavement. If a disgraceful
period in history is justification for changing a
flag, allow me toextrapolate.The American flag
flew over slavery for100+years before the Civil
War and the first three years of the Civil War.
But wait, there is more. It is time for Native
Americans, those few that are left, to be treated

with a little more sensitivity. You see, not only
did the stars and stripes fly over the enslave-
ment of blacks; it also flew over the wholesale
genocide of an entire race. Texas was not
always ours, you see. First it was necessary to
kill most of the Mexicans that lived there.
The point is, when it is time to take down
Georgia's state flag, let us take down the
"proudly waving banner"that flies above it, the
US flag. Otherwise, let us learn from our mis-
takes, take pride and shame in ourheritage as is
appropriate, rememberslavery as adisgraceful
period of US history and, for five years, Con-
federate,history,andgetalife.If we can'tagree
on that, then let's be a little more open-minded
and atleast realize that for many people the flag
does not represent slavery, but part of an entire
heritage, good and bad. And that the majority
support keeping the Georgia state flag as is not
necessarily based upon racism.
Scott Powell
LSA senior


Student with late CRISP date ends up classless, searching for alternatives

To the Daily:
Yes, its that time of year, that dreaded period
of time when hell is fifteen minutes of CRISP. I
realize that this is an old complaint: complaining
about Computer Registation Involving Student
Participationis partofbeing aU of M student.So
if you thought paying the high prices is all there
is to it, until you survive CRISP, you cannot be
considered a real student. I have yet to meet
anyone who says "CRISP?It was the experience
of alifetime!"Instead,Ihear the new popular pick
up line is "Say, haven't I met you in CRISP
before? Wasn't it the seventh time I was there?"
Iamnot complaining aboutregistration slow-
ness or about the staff; as a procedure CRISP is
pretty efficient.Butas an LSA Junior majoring in
Political Science and Communications, guess
how many creditsI amregistered fornext semes-
ter?Zero. After finishing my distribution require-
ments, Ihave been waiting since the fall semester

of1992to begin taking classes formy majors. As
asophomore I didnot believe Ihadachance toget
into the upper level courses, so instead I took
classes that, although they gave me useful credits,
did nothing towards my B.A. Now as a junior I
still do not get the chance to take anything Ineed
because I am on wait lists of up to 45 people.
Because they are closed I could not get into one
class. I realize its not the computers fault that
there is no space in any of my classes, but whose
fault is it? LSA students share their classes with
people from all other schools. Engineering stu-
dents for example, need to take a sequence of
classes that reach into the upper levels, Natural
Resources and Music students need our courses
for distribution. I understand their need for these
classes but they are not courses for their majors.
Because Ihave gotten a bad CRISP date since the
day I started school here, I lose places in classes
for mymajors to these students.Perhaps LSA can

do like Engineering and Natural Resources does,
close certain sections for declared majors of that
field.Paying $20,000 ayear makesme anxious to
finish my undergraduate education in four years
but with the delays there is the possibility of
having to stay summers and/or one more year at
an expense.
I just want to be guaranteed a place in the
courses that I should be taking. It is a big school,
and Irealize classes cannot all be available atrmy
convenience, but Ijust can't afford a third semes-
ter of taking "Underwater Basket Weaving 101"
pass/fail because there is nothing else available.
Yet, if I do not take it, my CRISP date will never
improve, I need the credit advantage. I strongly
hope that the holding of places for declared
majors could be an idea LSA would be interested
in pursuing.
Edithann Velez
LSA sophomore

Halifax is not a province,
Daily error criticized
To the Daily:
Has anyone seen Nova Scotia recently? The
Daily misplaced it in a May 5 music review of a
band it said came from "Halifax, Canada" It
referred to "the province" without naming it,
evidence that the reviewer thinks Halifax is a
province.
This type of faux pas happens all too fre-
quently with Canadian addresses, and for the
reader who enjoys provincial dexterity, it is the
equivalent of hearing nails on a blackboard.
Were the band from Boston, would the head-
line have read "Boston, United States?"
Stick to common usage by noting provinces
as you would states.
Wayne Adam
Ann Arbor resident