Opinion
JENNIFER CALFAS
EDITOR IN CHIEF
AARICA MARSH
and DEREK WOLFE
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LEV FACHER
MANAGING EDITOR
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Thursday, January 29, 2015
Being white, we do not have to care about
race. Some of us make the choice to do so,
but it’s not necessary. Our lives, the lives of
our friends and families and the livelihood of
our communities, are not negatively affected
by race. Thus, we have no obligation to care
about it.
Being white, we are also afforded the lux-
ury of believing race doesn’t exist. I’m very
thankful to say I went to one of the top public
school systems in the nation, but we learned
almost nothing about race. We learned that
first there was slavery, then Abraham Lin-
coln (a white man) came along and freed the
slaves. After that, there was widespread rac-
ism until Martin Luther King Jr. swooped
down with his dream and made racism go
away forever.
When we’re told that race doesn’t exist
anymore, and when we don’t experience it,
it’s very easy to believe that racism is over.
This is where the problems really begin.
In light of the incidents of Ferguson, Mis-
souri, and Eric Garner, race has been thrown
back into the national spotlight. It has been a
hot topic on campus, as well, with many stu-
dents of color speaking out against injustice,
and many white students denying the exis-
tence of these injustices. I’ve been involved
in many of these conversations, and it’s
particularly infuriating.
I only know what it’s like to be a white
man, I do not know what it’s like to be a per-
son of color, and so I won’t speak on their
behalf. This is written by a white person as
a way to provide people of all colors insight
into why it’s so difficult for white people to
talk about race.
There was a time in which I truly believed
racism didn’t exist, and was fairly racist
myself. Thankfully, that time has passed.
Here, I’m trying to outline the mental road-
blocks that prevent white people from rec-
ognizing race. In truth, it all comes from our
egos.
It’s much easier for the human ego to argue
that a problem doesn’t exist than to admit that
a problem does exist and that we are a part of
it. When we deny the experiences of people of
color, we are putting our ego before our integ-
rity, our sense of self-accomplishment before
our sense of justice.
This is because when we’re told that rac-
ism still exists; this implies that we have
been benefitting from racism our entire lives.
This implies that to accomplish what we have
accomplished as individuals, a person of color
would have to conquer many more obstacles
than we have faced. This is basically saying
that we didn’t really earn everything the way
we thought we did, and people hate to hear
that harsh truth. That truth damages our
precious egos, which we will do anything
to protect.
So instead of admitting that racism is still
a huge problem in this country, we argue
with the people of color who are speaking the
truth to us. By denying their lifelong experi-
ences of racism, we are being racist. We are
saying that we know racism better than the
people experiencing it. We are saying that
our concept of racism is more important and
more accurate than the concepts of racism
expressed by people of color. We are proving
our racism by denying our racism.
But wait, there’s more! This denial of rac-
ism is often rationalized by believing that
people of color today aren’t experiencing “real
racism.” This is basically saying that because
racism isn’t as out in the open and obvious as
it was before the Civil Rights Movement, that
racism is over. By saying this, we are also say-
ing that we can’t possibly be racist, because
“real racists” constantly enact violence upon
people of color and use racial slurs comfort-
ably and regularly. The only “real racism”
is the racism that people of color speak out
against, which now includes the comments
we make when we deny the reality of racism
in this country.
So how do we begin to understand racism
in our country? As crazy as it sounds, let’s try
listening to people of color. Let’s try to edu-
cate ourselves on what racism is today. Let’s
try to put our integrity before our ego. Let’s
try to admit that we’re wrong.
Once we admit to the reality of racism, we
will feel guilty. This is a normal reaction, but
we need to move on from guilt. Turn that
guilt into anger! Be angry that we’ve been lied
to our whole lives, be angry that we’ve been
racist without realizing it and be angry that
so many people are terrified of the truth!
So make the choice. We can decide to care
about race and choose to fight it wherever
we see it. Or we can choose to not care about
race, and stand up proudly to exclaim, “I’m
white, I don’t care about people of color and I
am racist!” Make a choice of where you stand
in this fight. If you don’t choose, you have
no right to complain when you get caught in
the crossfire.
Sander Bregman is an Education senior.
I live in fear.
I fear that I will be denied a job because
I may be living with someone of the
same gender.
I fear that I will have to choose a job based
on its equal-opportunity policies, rather than
it being my dream job.
I fear that my immediate family and friends
hide their true thoughts about my identity and
life choices.
I fear that my extended family will cut me
out and keep me out of their lives.
I fear that my pansexuality is not seen as a
Queer identity in the eyes of “the community.”
I fear that I am expressing a façade to
the public.
I live in uncertainty.
I live uncertain about whether I will be able
to marry.
I live uncertain about whether I will
marry a woman, a man or someone of
another gender.
I live uncertain about whether I will be cre-
ating my own children or whether I will be fil-
ing for adoption.
I live uncertain about whether my family
will accept my children if they are adopted.
I live uncertain about whether my connec-
tion with God truly is in its best relationship
at this moment.
I live uncertain where I will be able to live
and where I will be accepted once I leave this
bubble we call “hoMe.”
But if I live each day in fear and in uncer-
tainty, how will I see what is ahead of me?
How will I understand that my daily choices
will affect my future? How will I accept the
fact that everyone in my life is impacted by
my love, laughter and compassion? How will
I succeed in life if I identify with the Queer
community? I will not know the answers to
these questions if I continue to live in fear
and uncertainty.
I live as Ryan Freeland. I live as a lover, a
giver and a fighter. I live as a college student, a
friend, a son and a brother. I live as a Christian
and a white male. I have many identities and I
am honored to call them my identities because
they make me visible to the public.
But I am not hesitant or in denial of my sex-
uality. I am proud of my pansexual identity.
I am proud of myself. I love myself. To truly
accept your inner self and expose it to the pub-
lic takes a lot of courage, and I send my grati-
tude to every Queer individual because YOU
conquered the most difficult task of all: loving
yourself and accepting yourself.
It has only been six months since I have
openly identified as pansexual. It has been
difficult. It has been heartbreaking. It has
been ugly. But I know that this is my life and I
truly love every daily experience. Yes, I do live
in fear. Yes, I do live in uncertainty. But also, I
live with love. I love my identity because it is
the one identity that makes me feel real juxta-
posed to my other identities.
I live with pride.
I am proud to be pansexual.
I am proud of my immediate family and
friends for acknowledging and listening to
my words.
I am proud of my achievements.
I am proud to continue living with
my identity.
I am proud to commit to pursuing whatever
I want in life without my one identity being a
drawback.
Q & A is the Daily’s designated space by and for
LGBTQ students at the University of Michigan. To
contribute your voice or find out more about Q & A,
e-mail Michael Schramm at mschramm@umich.edu.
Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Devin Eggert, David
Harris, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble,
Michael Paul, Allison Raeck, Melissa Scholke,
Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Linh Vu,
Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
RYAN FREELAND | QUEER IN ACTION
Fear and uncertainty
SANDER BREGMAN | VIEWPOINT
Why it’s hard for white people
to talk about race
DAVID MOOSMAN| VIEWPOINT
We have a Muckraker in our
midst. With a capital M.
Muckraker is a term considered
to be popularized by Theodore
Roosevelt in reference to journal-
ists or reporters just looking to stir
up controversy.
Now we have one embedded
in the fabled hall of Bo Schem-
bechler himself. This Muckraker
denounced the Michigan Athletic
Department for its “ways to get bor-
derline guys in and, when they’re
in, they steer them to courses in
sports communications.”
In
2007,
Michigan
football
coach Jim Harbaugh talked about
the standards that other esteemed
institutions such as Stanford hold,
standards that should be the model
for the entire National Collegiate
Athletic Association. These are the
same standards that our beloved
Michigan has let slip.
In retort, former football player
Michael Hart, our fearless and
never-outspoken leader, said of
Harbaugh that, “He’s not a Michi-
gan man. I wish he’d never played
here.”
Well, Harbaugh did play here,
and now he’s coaching here. Not
coaching here – he’s the coach.
Harbaugh is said muckraker, and
we shunned him for what he said.
How could he dream of talking
about his alma mater like this?
His only feeble counter was, “I
learned from a great man named
Bo Schembechler that you speak
the truth as you know it. It may not
be the popular thing, but you speak
your mind.”
Well, Bo was right. They were
both right.
No matter what has been shown
to the contrary, it seems other peo-
ple have noticed this same problem
persisting. Newly appointed Uni-
versity President Mark Schlissel
admitted, “We admit students who
aren’t as qualified, and it’s probably
the kids that we admit that can’t
honestly, even with lots of help, do
the amount of work and the quality
of work it takes to make progres-
sion from year to year.”
Maybe we let two dissidents into
our ranks: the wrong coach and the
wrong president.
Or maybe we finally have the
right two — Michigan Men — in
the two of the highest positions of
power.
Neither wants to relax his stan-
dards as to what this great Univer-
sity should and will hold. And on
both campuses, they are high for
sure, but our standards for Michi-
gan aren’t high, they’re the highest.
We’re not the leaders and the aver-
age. We’re not even the leaders and
the pretty good. We are the leaders
and the best. The best.
We shouldn’t be condemning
Harbaugh and Schlissel, question-
ing their loyalty when they’re only
questioning our mediocrity.
Michigan is a tough place to
make a living. Things are never
good enough. Ask Devin Gardner
or Brady Hoke. Both great, unques-
tionably classy guys. Gardner gave a
helping hand to the Buckeyes’ quar-
terback, J.T. Barrett, on national
television, but he wasn’t the most
successful
quarterback
we’ve
ever had. He’ll be remembered as
a failure.
In 2006, the Michigan football
team went 11-2. They were basically
three touchdowns away from dou-
bling points scored versus points
against. But we lost the two most
important games, the last two.
Another failure.
At Michigan, all we want is more.
All we want is the best. As fans, we
want more wins, more success and
more victories over Ohio State. We
ostracize the critics who are only
asking for the better Michigan they
know it can be. Then, they come
home to fix those problems, and we
applaud them as Michigan Men.
This idea of the Michigan Man,
a tough one to narrow down, has
come to seem like just being here
would give you this distinguished
title. Just like the idea that those
who stay will be champions. Some,
possibly, took that as a promise. As
in, “Don’t worry, your champion-
ship will come in time.”
Like someone else was going to
win that title for you. That’s not a
Michigan Man.
This ideal, this vision of a Michi-
gan Man, has caused our recent
stumble. It was because this school
needed a “Michigan Man” that we
got rid of Rich Rodriguez for Hoke.
That lineage was more important
than skill. This idea that if we slap
a moniker on someone, they have it
for life, and are better suited for the
job than someone without it.
Behind the idea of the Michigan
Man is that this selfless person is
striving for the greater good. Some-
thing beyond himself. Something
more important than his own well-
being. What we need is every per-
son working and competing for the
University of Michigan.
This is the aspect that we need to
keep and pass on about the Michi-
gan Man. But unfortunately, there’s
more to it. There’s a stigma that
all one needs is the block ‘M.’ That
everything will be fine as long as
you’re Michigan. Michigan expects
to win. Michigan Men have a tradi-
tion of winning – the winningest
program in college football.
But it was never the name that
won all those games. It was never
the Big House that scared the oppo-
nents. It was never the winged hel-
met that sent them cowering. And
now it isn’t our shiny new coach-
ing staff. What won those games
and what will win them again
in the future is the binder for all
these facets.
Toughness. Toughness was what
Bo Schembechler built his program
on. It’s why Harbaugh spoke out
about what he believed even against
all the backlash of his alma mater.
Apparently it meant something to
shake hands with Frank Sinatra;
who knows? Around here, shaking
hands with Bo meant something,
but not as much as taking a jab from
him, right to the sternum.
Those who stay will be champi-
ons. Back then it was hard to stay
and even harder to do. Staying
meant that there would be more
pain to endure. Staying meant that
there would be less sleep, more
work, more practices and tougher
practices. Quit, go ahead, we wish
not one man more with which to
share the glory.
It has always been the people
that bring glory to the ‘M,’ never
the other way around. Those who
stay will be champions, but only at
a place where the only options are
becoming a champion or quitting.
We have an opportunity to right this
ship with an old heretic at its helm.
The cynicism of a once-ostra-
cized muckraker is now the res-
urrection of Schembechler’s long
standards. The ideals of Bo are
back. The ideals of toughness over
selfishness and intelligence aiding
toughness and Michigan woven
throughout. It’s hard to tell if we’ll
have a winning team next year, but
you can be sure it’ll be brimming
with tough men, intelligent men,
Michigan Men.
David Moosman is a 2009 LSA
graduate. He played offensive line for
Michigan from 2005 to 2009 under
Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez.
Heresy of Harbaugh
— Desert Sands Unified School District Spokeswoman Mary Perry on sending unvaccinated students and
staff home until Feb. 9 due to the measles ourbreak stemming from Disneyland.
“
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
We are simply responding, being very
careful and making sure we’re taking the
best care of students and staff.”
E-mail HEidi at HEidimaE@umicH.Edu
HEIDI LIU