VIEWPONT
ftichigamua's racism
never acknowledged by
the University or Bollinger
A re racist practices Klux Klan sponsored a
acceptable at a public stretch of Missouri high-
University? According to way in the Adopt-a-
the University's President, Highway program,
,e C. Bollinger, "prac- Missouri Governor Mel
ces that negatively stereo- Carnahan acted in protest
type groups in our society by renaming the stretch of
cause unjust pain and highway "The Rosa Parks
humiliation... [They] are Highway;" whet Atlanta
not acceptable behaviors Braves pitcher John Rocker
on a [public] University." belittled "qucers," he got
In fact, President Bollinger suspeded; when 60
stated that the University Minutes' Andy Rooney
"values and fosters diversi- belittled Native Americans,
iy' and that it "must never he got suspended; when
take lightly the effects of g
such perceptions and writer Jimmy Breslin deni-
s.haviors." When it comes grated Asians, he got sus-
to the racist practices of pended; and when football
Mictigamua (the player Reggie White
University's elite secret attacked gays, he got
society), however, the dropped by CBS and
University has done just Campbell's Soup.
that taken it lightly. To Thus far, the University
ihis day, the University's has been anything but
administraiiot has never clear.
litked the words racism Michigamua perpetu-
sd "Michigamua" togeth- ates negative stereotypes of
er. Native Americans.
The University has Michigamua creates a hos-
never made a public state- tile environment for
ment indicating that minorities on campus.
Michigamua has caused Michigamua causes unjust
"unjust pain and humilia- pain and humiliation.
tion." Rather, President Though Michigamua has
Bollinger and other the First Amendment right
University administrators to participate in speech
have only made sterile that is racist in nature, the
allusions to First racism ought not be institu-
0 mendment rights. tionalized by this public
But what's required is a University. We don't need a
clear indication that the sterile allusion from
University denounces President Bollinger, we
Michigamua s inherent need a clear assertion that
racism, not a sterile allu- the University denounces
Whatn a cla di the group's inherent
Wi hat does a clear indi- asm
cation look like? Well, racism.
there are many examples to - This vie'point was
loose from. For instance, witten by MSTV candidate
-hen Knights of the Klu Cameron Schultz
Masculinity versus the 'Powerpuff Girls'
J have always thought of myself of expressive freedom before Girl" s
as a man's man. plunging into the "1984"-esque der, an
Not a man who belongs to conformity that dominates the This
another man, mind you, but a working world. Are you a mascu- Just las
man whose interests lie within the line, hetero- in The
realm of what's considered mas- sexual man girl m
culine. who can't Diana1
Sports, hard rock, a crappy out- resist the fall ograph
dated wardrobe, you get the idea. line of Liz hits C
People who do not know you Claiborne? they're
instinctively come to their initial Go for it,Ross
judgement based on what charac- man, it's all the gay
teristics you present them with. A you! trated
lot of guys seek their refuge in the And yet, broadc
image of the chest-thumping it's easy to show o
neanderthal, but if that means fall back into RYAN first th
conjuring up Lou Ferrigno minus old tenden- MOLONEY queen
the green skin, perhaps it needs a cies. The "Wh
little scrutiny. other day, I CD?!?
It all starts during the early for- was channel Don N
mative years when you're dippin' surfing and came upon a main- Frantic
cookies in your Kool-Aid while stay on the Cartoon Network, Is thi
watchin' the tube. In my day, the "The Powerpuff Girls." It's a femini
boys favored "The Transformers," howlingly funny animated series worse?
"GI Joe" and other cartoons about three kindergarten girls No. I
which pretty much gave you an who wreak havoc upon the crimi- realize
idea about them strictly from their nal element in their town, the bet
title. Likewise for the girls who Townsville, with superhuman Partt
favored "Rainbow Brite" and powrers. Who can resist that'? exist b
"My Little Pony" among others. A I became an instant fat, albeit a racial)
division that remains insurmount- closeted one up until now. A quick inabilit
able to this day was formed. jaunt to a local clothing store grip on
In college, we stand atop a peak speaks volumes - "Powerpuff in our
Monday, July 10, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - 5
hills only cots~e in one gen-
;hirts only come in one gen-
d it ain't mine.
wasn't an isolated interest.
st year I became enthralled
Supremes, the famous all-
otown group headed by
Ross. I read Ross' autobi-
y and purchased a greatest
D. Hey, it's a great story,
great songs.
is also a bit of an icon in
y community, as was illus-
to me during the VHII
ast of The Supremes' first
in their nostalgia tour. The
ree rows looked like a drag
fashion show.
ere's my Metallica
!?!'?! What happened to my
Mattingly poster?!?!?!?!?!"
ally, I searched the house.
s new-found interest it the
ne changing me for the
I'm gradually beginning to
it's helping me evolve for
ter.
of the reason wby barriers
etween so many social and
groups lies in our collective
ty to lighten our steadfast
what feels safe and secure
identities. Gays must look
a certain way to promote their
beliefs while straights do the
opposite to protect their straight-
ness. Blacks and whites must
each dress and act a certain way
to maintain acceptability within
their cultural ranks.
Instead of keeping our charac-
teristics sharply divided, we need
to muddle the best aspects of
every identity until it becomes
impossible to pigeon-hole a per-
son's appearance or beliefs as
indicative of one set, cast-iron
type of person.
In all of this, it's the content of
character and not the often mis-
leading outward impression that
we need to look at before making
our unavoidable judgements.
Chris Spielman, one of the
toughest men ever to play profes-
sional football was once asked:
"if your son came to you one day
and said he wanted to be a florist
when he grew up, what would
you say?"
Said Spielman: "I'd tell him to
be the best florist he could be."
Yes.
- Rs'an Moloney can be
reached via e-mail at
rsiolonev ayiumich.edu.
I spent my summer stalkingfor Uncle Sam & I didn 't even get a lousy T-shirt
T he federal government pays
me to hunt people down. I
may have come to your door and
you didn't even know it. No prob-
lem, though; if you weren't there,
I probably talked to your room-
nate, your neighbor or the squir-
rels in the yard.
I wear a badge, had to swear an
oath and am armed with a black
bag fool of goodies.
What for, you ask?
I want to know where you were
living on April first. For you see, I
work for the Department of
Commerce, in the Bureau of the
Census. April first was Census
Day.
April fools! I hope you weren't
expecting something more excit-
ing.
No, seriously, I'm not making
this up. "Everybody counts"
(according to the posters in the
Census office) and they're count-
ed on April
Fools, er...
Census Day.
Uncle Sam
pays me to
stalk. But
only those of N
you who
refused to
send back the
forms you
received ear- JOSH
tier in the WICKERHAM
year. I know
you all got x
one. It doesn't
help to lie to-
me. "Oh, I sent mine back
already" is not an acceptable
excuse. It just means you'll con-
tinue to get a barrage of Census
enumerators banging on your
door until the data is collected.
I don't understand the concern
and contempt some people have
for the Census. Somse people
evade enumerators like me, but
some outright refuse to be enu-
merated.
The Census one of the oldest
and most benign institutions in the
country, set up and guaranteed by
the Constitution. While the ques-
tions may seem strange - "What
S Oir re?" raises a few eve-
brows - the statistical data col-
lected by the Census Bureau is
necessary to keep the democratic
process working. The data collect-
ed helps Congress allocate money
to schools, roads and aid pro-
grams. It also ensures proper rep-
resentation on the local, state and
national levels. What is more fun-
damental to our freedom than
that? If you refuse to fill out the
Census, you're doing yourself
more harm than good.
I always tell people who refuse,
"you know we're going to keep
coming back don't you?" And the
next time I'll bring a friend. I'll
call your house at all hours. I'll be
persistent because I'm getting
paid to be persistent. I'm being
paid to stalk you.
Oh, but "I'm not giving my
information to the government,"
you say. I say to you that the
Census is the most stable, harm-
less institution our government
has ever created. Every ten years
since 1790, enumerators have
been banging on American's
doors. Besides, your privacy is
highly regulated under layers and
layers of bureaucracy. We may not
be as quick as the people at the
post office, but we get things done
right.
When I told my Crew Leader I
work for The Michigan Daily, he
said I should do an analysis of the
imortance of independent
thought in government or organi-
zations, not address the impor-
tance of the Census' place in the
big scheme of all things govern-
mental. What are the leadership
attributes necessary to forge
progress in a sea of bureaucracy?
he wondered. Does anyone realize
it's up to each individual person to
take charge or nothing will get
done at all'? These are certainly
valid concerns in any large orga-
nization, especially in highly
fluid, temporarily maintained,
highly hierarchical entities like
the Census.
Unfortunately, most bureaucra-
cies aren't as short-lived as the
Census. They're established pyra-
mid schemes with set protocol for
advancement.
The Census is made possible
with people just like you and me.
So don't think Big Brother is
knocking on your door the next
time an enumerator shows you
his badge and hands you a priva-
cy act notice. Know that he's just
doing his part to maintain our
democracy. When every branch
of the government is in shambles,
you can count on the Census'
demographic analysis to come
through strong and make
American count.
-- Josh likes his liiverr rithfava
beass and a nice chianti. He can
he reached via e-mail at
jIwickerh( @xunich eru.
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