Monday, August 3, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 15 BRITTANY SMITH I EWP;[ NT1 Altering race dialogue Never has the black American of "Black in America" was to re- story - my story - been told in a introduce ourselves to each other thorough, candid way. Only the and the entire world as black surface has been scratched, and no Americans, telling our complete real effort has been made to delve story and the challenges we face - deeper into the struggles and tri- along with showing the faces that umphs that characterize the dis- combat those challenges. tinct black American experience. The question is: Did CNN History lessons in elementary achieve this goal? schools and high schools explore Undoubtedly, O'Brien showed the history of black Americans - faces of black Americans who much like other groups of color - are pioneers and experts in their only minimally. It's often taught respective fields, including film, that many black Americans in this education, psychology and medi- country were enslaved through- cine. Though the impact of the out the American South, but they black professionals featured in the were suddenly set free by the 13th special and others who have made Amendment's abolition of slav- a career out of restructuring the ery in 1865. Schoolchildren are black community can't be quan- then taught that the Civil Rights tified, it was Geoffrey Canada's Movement of the 1960's helped Harlem Children Zone that was blacks and whites finally live in most striking. His commitment to harmony, aided mostly by Dr. furthering the development of the Martin Luther King, Jr.'s March black youth in Harlem physically, on Washington and his notori- intellectually and socially was ous speech on racial harmony, "I indeed inspiring. This was just one Have A Dream." The end. example of how O'Brien's docu- All that information is accurate. mentary highlighted the struggles But it doesn't tell the whole story. black Americans undergo and the The black American experience efforts that they face. hasn't been explored in a forum Though I am a fan of O'Brien's, that addresses issues that mark I agree with those in the black our unique experience. CNN jour- community who have said that nalist Soledad O'Brien tried open- she only scratched the surface of ing such a forum with her special, the black experience in this coun- "Black in America," the first part try. It's true that O'Brien depicted of which aired in July 2008. A sec- the challenges that haunt black ond part aired this July. Though America - like the achievement I don't think the specials were gap, economic distress, the threat the best way to open up dialogue of immobility in corporate Amer- about the black American experi- its and healthcare - in her four- ence because it lacked an interac- hour, two-part segments in this tive element, I do believe O'Brien year's "Black in America 2." But accuratelyspotlighted black Amer- that doesn't equate to an in-depth icans' efforts to rebuild our com- conversation of institutionalized munity and redefine to the world and structuralized racism on a who we truly are as a people. wider scale. Within my circle of family and I am now left to wonder: Did friends, there has been much O'Brien not feature an in-depth debate and speculation as to the conversation about racism in her intended audience of the special CNN Special because she knows and the purpose it was supposed this country isn't ready to have an to serve. Some of them said the honest conversation on race? If so, purpose was to give white Ameri- when is the country ever going to cans a lesson on who black Ameri- be ready to have that conversa- cans are and what our experience tion? Or maybe the better question has entailed. is this: Is our country ever going Others, like me, didn't feel that to be ready? My hope is that this "Black in America" was intended country will come to a time when for one specific race. I suspected a discussion - no matter how that the special's intended pur- uncomfortable it may he - will he pose was to be an outlet for black had. Because only once we have an Americans to tell their story, his- honest conversation on race and tory and experiences to whoever its effects on whites and people of would listen, regardless of racial color alike will this countrybe able background. It gave black Ameri- to progressively mobilize from sys- cans the opportunity to speak tematic insensitivity. - and to do so without a voice- from outside the black community Brittany Smith is an speaking for them. The purpose LSA sophomore. LIKE WHAT YOU SEE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR HERE? WANT MORE? Tell us what you think. Check out more from Daily Send letters to tothedaily@ opinion writers online on umich.edu or visit michi- Wednesday and Friday. gandaily.com and click on Go to michigandaily.com. 'Letter to the editor.' ELAINE MORTON I E-MAIL ELAINE AT EMORT@UMICH.EDU W yAA?}4oc vi Wi-9of r6 cc IAe Smoking or non? After strolling into my new workplace three weeks ago and meeting my co- workers for the first time, I quickly learned that one was a smoker. Luck- ily, my work- ' place was very accommodat- ing to non- PATRICK smokers like ZABAWA me. The build-_ ing we were in looked like it had been specifi- cally designed to keep smokers and non-smokers separate, with permanent overhangs outside the building where smokers lurked all day - overhangs far from the main entrances that the rest of us frequented. But other workplaces in Michi- gan aren't so accommodating to non-smokers. This is especially true for bars and restaurants. Employees there have no choice but to inhale the dangerous sec- ondhand smoke permeating the establishment's air day after day. To protect the health of these employees, the Michigan legisla- ture has repeatedly tried over the past three years to pass a state- wide ban on smoking in all indoor public places. But its efforts have always failed - and rightly so. A statewide ban would infringe upon the rights of bar and res- taurant owners and would be an unnecessary extension of govern- ment into the lives of private citi- zens. But in the past two months, a number of restaurants in Ann Arbor have decided to stop smok- ers at the door on their own. Their decision shows that bar and res- taurant owners can make healthy decisions about smoking in their establishments - and that the state legislature should stop try- ing to take away their ability to do what they want with their own establishments. Banning smoking in bars and restaurants statewide would be a draconian move, taking away the liberty of smokers - like my co- worker - even at the establish- ments that choose to welcome them. It would be an example of the state using the law to pre- vent bar and restaurant owners from making their own decisions regarding their own property. But many people believe that the state should take this liberty away from those owners. It all comes down to choice. People choose to smoke, bar and restaurant owners choose to let them smoke on their premises and their restaurant employees choose to work there. All are free to do the opposite - smokers can quit, bar and restaurant owners can prevent smoking on their premises and their employees can seek jobs elsewhere. But supporters of a statewide smoking ban point out that bar and restaurant employees often have no option but to face smok- ing in the workplace. If employees want to escape their smoky work environment, finding a new job in Michigan is nearly impossible. And bar and restaurants owners have typically been afraid to ban smoking in their establishments because they're afraid they'll lose customers to the place next door - the one that still welcomes smokers. Many bar and restaurant owners actually support a state- wide smoking ban - that way they wouldn't lose customers. But a July 22 Ann Arbor News article listed three Ann Arbor restaurants that have decided this summer to ban smoking in their establishments - The Pull Moon, The Earle and Arbor Brew- ing Company (Tired of waiting for legislature to act, Ann Arbor restaurants ban smoking in their establishments, 07/22/2009). The Earle did it as a result of Ann Arbor's Restaurant Week. Arbor Brewing Company did it for the health of its employees. These three Ann Arbor restau- rants have shown that - contrary to popular belief - many restau- rant owners' desire to prevent smoking ontheir premises and are willingto do it without a statewide ban. In fact, according to the Ann Arbor News article, Arbor Brew- ing Company also banned smok- ing there because of the state's inaction with a smoking ban. The restaurant was tired of wait- ing for the state to ensure that its competitors didn't get its smoking patrons, so it risked its business in order to make the restaurant a healthy environment. A statewide smoking ban is unnecessary. A smoking ban in Michigan would infringe upon owners' rights to do what they please with their property. And the simple discussion of a statewide smok- ing ban is distracting bar and restaurant owners from stopping smoking in their establishments - keeping their employees in the very environment supporters of a statewide ban want to take them out of. The state should stop this fruitless discussion and let restau- rant owners make their own deci- sions - decisions that are turning out to be in everyone's interest. - Patrick Zabawa is the summer associate editorial page editor. He can be reached at pzabawa@umich.edu.