Opinion

SHOHAM GEVA
EDITOR IN CHIEF

CLAIRE BRYAN 

AND REGAN DETWILER 
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

LAURA SCHINAGLE
MANAGING EDITOR

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at 

the University of Michigan since 1890.

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Monday, February 22, 2016

Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan, 

Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Keller, Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala, 

Kit Maher, Madeline Nowicki, Anna Polumbo-Levy, 
Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, Melissa Scholke, 

Kevin Sweitzer, Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung, 

Stephanie Trierweiler, Hunter Zhao

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

 
 

— Pope Francis on Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policies.
“

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

A person who only thinks about building walls, 
wherever they may be, and not building bridges, 

is not a Christian. This is not the gospel.

FROM THE DAILY

Democracy for Detroit schools

In response to mass protests by DPS teachers 

and the Detroit Federation of Teachers lawsuit 
against DPS, Darnell Earley, the city’s state-
appointed emergency manager, announced this 
February he’ll leave the position Feb. 29. Earley 
was also the emergency manager for the city 
of Flint, a position from which he also resigned 
without issuing any sort of public apology. 
Furthermore, during his time in Detroit, Earley 
has consistently not listened to residents. Earley 
has criticized teachers who participated in sick-
outs. After pursuing the lawsuit, DFT has also 
attempted to bring in its own health inspectors. 
However, DPS officials stopped these inspectors 
from entering all but one school building, 
saying DFT’s inspectors would “complicate the 
district’s efforts to fully comply with state and 
local regulations.” Now state lawmakers are 
considering legislation to provide funding and 
revitalize the school district.

The trend of Snyder concentrating control 

of the city’s poorest areas in the hands of the 
unelected is unacceptable. Most alarming is 
that in recent months, Snyder’s emergency 
managers have essentially acted with impunity 
while the populations they governed suffered.

That’s not to say that serious financial 

reform like that which Detroit, Flint and others 
are undergoing won’t come with sacrifices. 
However, on the exterior, Detroit seems 
like a city on the rise. New restaurants and 
young residents have moved downtown. The 
riverfront has been revitalized, a new hockey 
stadium is in the works and the Detroit auto 
show hit record-high attendance this past 
January with more than 800,000 visitors, the 
most it has seen in 12 years.

But an apparent contradiction lies in 

investing whatever it takes to revive Detroit’s 
urban core while ignoring the buildings 
crumbling around its most vulnerable residents. 
DPS teachers are the only ones doing anything 
constructive to raise awareness, but are being 
met with serious resistance. It’s easy to see why 
teachers are frustrated with administrators, 
especially because administrators are also 
using funds that could be used to fix schools to 
sue many of the teachers who have participated 
in 
sick-outs. 
Their 
reasoning: 
Sick-out 

protesters are depriving students of their right 
to attend school, adversely impacting students’ 

academic progress, depriving students of their 
breakfast and lunches, forcing parents and 
non-striking DPS employees to miss work and 
wasting taxpayer money.

Looking at photographs of the conditions 

of Detroit schools’ buildings, it is obvious 
that these conditions existed before the sick-
outs, and are only going to get worse unless 
someone calls attention to them — which is 
exactly what teachers accomplished in holding 
sick-outs. Lack of administration funding for 
instructional 
materials 
adversely 
impacts 

each student’s right to an education, and it’s 
not a stretch of reason to conclude that a leaky 
cafeteria roof might deprive students of safe, 
healthy breakfasts and lunches.

The teachers participating in sick-outs 

should be applauded for their dedication. 
Earley and DPS officials should not be acting 
against the teachers, but instead in conjunction 
with them and DFT.

The 
demographics 
of 
districts 
with 

appointed emergency managers must also 
be called into question. Grosse Pointe, a 
93.2-percent white town, is just 10 miles away 
from the 82.7-percent African-American 
Detroit, but its schools aren’t crumbling. 
DPS has failed administratively to provide 
adequate education for its students, but the 
implications of socioeconomic status and race 
cannot be ignored. The inequality between 
public school systems — not just in Grosse 
Pointe, but throughout the state — begs the 
question: Why are some students afforded 
top-notch instruction while others have to 
settle for substandard education?

Emergency managers in both Flint and 

Detroit were only accountable to numbers on 
a spreadsheet, and never to the actual human 
beings they governed. In the cases of Flint and 
DPS, it seems Earley is failing to recognize 
the tangible impacts his decisions are 
having on human lives. Snyder and the DPS 
administration need to realize that behind all 
the debt, behind all the money and behind all 
the problems are real students who deserve an 
education. It is possible to make a difference 
through kindness, empathy and compassion. 
If the people in power can remember that 
when they are making decisions, then Detroit 
will be one step closer to revitalization.

Why I stopped listening to Kanye

M

y 
hands 
were 
raised 

toward the air, a sign of 
praise to God. My head 

was 
lowered, 

eyes closed, as 
I 
just 
wanted 

to soak in the 
moment. I was 
not at church, 
but I felt like I 
was taken there. 
I was listening 
to 
“Ultralight 

Beam,” the first 
track of Kanye 
West’s 
new 

album, The Life 
of Pablo. West 
described this new work as a gospel 
album before its release, and while 
listening to the first song, I believed 
him. The choir roared through my 
speakers and Chance The Rapper’s 
verse gave me goose bumps. But as I 
went through the songs in the rest of 
the album, I found myself thinking, 
Did Kanye really just say that? Kanye 
West has always been known for 
his over-the-top ego and critically 
acclaimed music style. I am a fan of 
his and honestly enjoy every song 
on The Life of Pablo. But some of the 
lyrics and his recent tweets have 
been questionable, to say the least.

The nature of his words can’t just 

be swept under the rug saying, “Oh, 
that’s just Kanye.” We still listen to 
the music, but we should no longer 
view West as a role model or idol.

Fans can be caught in an awkward 

middle ground when a celebrity or 
anyone they admire messes up or 
says something they don’t agree with. 
I grew up a huge fan of Tiger Woods. 
I wrote a report on him in fifth grade 
because he paved the way for Black 
and mixed people in golf and kicked 
ass while doing it. He runs founda-
tions to promote golf with children 
who live in the inner cities and his 
Tiger Woods Learning Center has 
five campuses across the United 
States that teach college-access class-
es to underprivileged kids.

But when he announced on Feb. 

19, 2010 that he cheated on his wife 
with multiple women, I was 14. I was 
upset, but quickly forgave him, prob-
ably because I had been a fan since I 
could remember. I was just 14, and I 
thought the good he did trumped his 
mistake that he took ownership for.

There obviously is a difference 

between cheating on your wife and 
using controversial lyrics, but Woods 
apologized and some have forgiven 
him. West, on the other hand, has 
continued using controversial lyrics 

time and time again without remorse. 
In his song “On Sight” from Yeezus, 
he raps, “Soon as I pull up and park 
the Benz / We get this bitch shaking 
like Parkinson’s.” In the song “Blood 
on the Leaves,” (also from Yeezus) he 
compares sitting courtside across the 
court from your wife at a basketball 
game to apartheid.

West hasn’t apologized or owned 

up to the controversy. He isn’t obli-
gated to, but he should. Because he 
doesn’t take responsibility for what 
he puts out there, we cannot respect 
him for anything else but possibly his 
musical talent. As listeners, we must 
deliberate whether we want to sup-
port an artist who makes outrageous 
claims or hurtful statements.

Much of the uproar about lyrics 

on The Life of Pablo comes from two 
separate bars, “I feel like me and Tay-
lor might still have sex / Why, I made 
that bitch famous,” and “Do anybody 
feel bad for Bill Cosby? Did he forget 
the names like Steve Harvey?”

West defends the first lyric by say-

ing in a series of tweets, “First thing 
is I’m an artist and as an artist I will 
express how I feel with no censor-
ship. 2nd thing I asked my wife for 
her blessings and she was cool with 
it. 3rd thing I called Taylor and had 
an hour long convo with her about 
the line and she thought it was funny 
and gave her blessings. 4th bitch is 
an endearing term in hip hop like the 
word n****.”

But Swift and her representatives 

deny the claim wholeheartedly say-
ing, “She declined and cautioned him 
about releasing a song with such a 
strong misogynistic message. Taylor 
was never made aware of the actual 
lyric, ‘I made that bitch famous.’ ”

Because of West’s past use of lyr-

ics and the fact that he called Swift 
“fake ass” backstage on SNL last 
week, we cannot take his word. 
And isn’t it weird, though he had 
his wife’s blessing, that West talks 
about having sex with another 
woman while he is married?

And no, Kanye, I certainly don’t 

feel bad for Bill Cosby. Dude, the song 
was great until you said that. “Facts 
(Charlie Heat Version)” is such a 
great song to fire you up before an 
exam or even to aggressively eat your 
cereal, but when I heard that line, 
my face shriveled up and I took out 
my headphones. West has tweeted, 
“BILL COSBY INNOCENT !!!!!!!!!!” 
and Cosby is not. Too many women 
have bravely stepped forward to say 
that Cosby had assaulted or raped 
them for anyone to think Cosby is 
anything but guilty.

We can idolize characters or celeb-

rities, like Cosby was adored for his 
television show and stand-up sets, 
and when they make a mistake, we 
may deny it or shrug it off. Of course, 
depending on the severity of the 
offense, we can accept apologies, 
like in the case of Woods, or have our 
opinions change permanently, like 
with Cosby.

Kanye does not apologize for his 

antics, but he does remain one step 
ahead of those who criticize him. 
In “Feedback,” he raps, “I can’t let 
these people play me / Name one 
genius that ain’t crazy.” Even the 
apostle Paul, a writer of the Bible’s 
New Testament — who the album 
is named after according to West 
— was perceived as more than out 
there during his time. Kanye West 
is crazy, but has reached new levels 
of self-absorption and being com-
pletely unapologetic.

Paul wrote in Romans 12:2, “Do 

not be conformed to this world, but 
be transformed by the renewal of 
your mind, that by testing you may 
discern what is good and acceptable 
and perfect.” This verse is difficult 
to follow for any Christian. But it 
put me in the mindset that some of 
the things that West says are unac-
ceptable, and should not be taken 
lightly because he hasn’t publicly 
apologized for any of them, even if 
he does internally regret some of 
the things he has said.

Even West’s former songwriting 

partner, Rhymefest, said that West 
needs spiritual and mental help. 
West’s narcissism has reached 
a boiling point and it can put his 
fans in a middle ground — at least 
it has for me. In my opinion, his 
music is excellent. But I’ve been 
disappointed with his words. Even 
if he may be joking, thus far, he 
hasn’t indicated so.

Part of me wants to keep listen-

ing to The Life of Pablo, but at the 
same time, I don’t think I can sup-
port West because of his words. 
The album is great, filled with great 
production, beats and also lyrics 
that I enjoy.

But the bad has outweighed the 

good for me, so I ripped off the Band-
Aid and I deleted it off my phone.

West and I agree on this: Only God 

can judge him. I just choose not to 
support his music anymore.

Kanye West can take us to church. 

But his words can’t be taken as triv-
ial.

— Chris Crowder can be 

reached at ccrowd@umich.edu.

CHRIS

CROWDER

T

oilet water falling from the ceiling, mushrooms sprouting 
from the walls and black mold infestation are just some of the 
conditions that students and teachers have had to face on a daily 

basis in Detroit Public Schools. It is difficult to imagine that any city’s 
residents would allow their elected officials to treat their children with 
such indignity. But Detroit residents don’t even have the opportunity to 
make that choice, because Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has utilized the state’s 
financial emergency law to give a non-elected, state-appointed emergency 
manager practically complete control over DPS affairs. The events that 
have unfolded in recent weeks surrounding DPS are a reflection of a 
larger trend within the state government: Too much power is being 
concentrated in the hands of non-elected, state-appointed officials to the 
detriment of Michigan citizens.

Lackadaisical language and “progressive” politics
T

hey might seem like empty 
political talking points, but 
the recent skirmishes over 

who 
or 
what 

is 
a 
Democrat 

or 
progressive 

actually offer us 
the opportunity 
to 
expand 

our 
political 

discourse 
and 

redefine 
the 

spectrum 
of 

acceptable 
political opinion.

In a town hall 

last week, Hill-
ary Clinton once 
again grossly paraphrased Bernie 
Sanders’ criticisms of President 
Barack Obama, alleging that Sanders 
called the president “weak,” “flawed” 
and so on. (Apparently, criticizing 
the current president is unbecoming 
of presidential candidates.) Clinton 
ultimately suggested that “Senator 
Sanders wasn’t really a Democrat 
until he decided to run for president.” 
The crowd responded with a mix of 
boos and applause.

Though he caucuses with the 

Democrats and supports many of 
their legislative initiatives, as a mat-
ter of fact, Sanders was not a mem-
ber of the Democratic Party until he 
decided to run for president. I don’t 
see why Sanders’ status as an inde-
pendent or his willingness to criti-
cize President Obama should worry 
us. In fact, it’s the reason many of us 
support him. If Clinton’s criticism 
here amounts to saying that Sanders 
rejects establishment politics, she is 
just knocking on the open door.

But let’s allow ourselves to briefly 

play this language game of putting 
names to politicians and policies 
and see who falls in the categories 
of Democrat or progressive. In 1963, 
Sanders was being arrested at civil 
rights rallies in Chicago. He also 
participated in marches with Martin 
Luther King Jr. In 1964, Clinton was 
supporting Republican presidential 
candidate Barry Goldwater, avowed 
opponent to the civil rights move-
ment. Clinton would go on to work 
for other Republicans, such as Ger-
ald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller. In 

terms of partisanship, Clinton plain-
ly appears to be the least Democratic 
(i.e. most Republican) of the two.

Though her husband was offi-

cially a Democrat, his critics have 
often pointed out how his presidency 
blurred the traditional lines between 
our country’s two dominant par-
ties by supporting policies that were 
highly conservative. For example, 
Michelle 
Alexander 
frequently 

talks about how the 1994 crime bill 
extended and intensified Reagan’s 
war on drugs, by pouring billions of 
dollars into the destruction of Black 
communities across the country.

These labels (Democrat, Republi-

can, progressive, conservative, etc.) 
don’t literally mean what they used 
to, as with most other labels in our 
political discourse. Last I checked, 
U.S. Republicans don’t believe in the 
idea of the republic any more than 
U.S. Democrats do. Liberals don’t 
believe in open-handedness any 
more than conservatives believe in 
conserving anything. Libertarian-
ism in this country usually means 
market fundamentalism (i.e. let-
ting a few people who control a vast 
majority of the nation’s capital deter-
mine the lives of the less privileged) 
instead of what it maybe once meant 
(i.e. something closer to the Thore-
auvian notion that people ought to 
determine their own destinies free 
from the constraints of big govern-
ment and big commerce). Point being, 
these terms either don’t denote much 
of anything substantive, or their cur-
rent common usage has perverted 
their old meaning into its opposite. 
So let’s not worry too much about 
how the mainstream media assigns 
politicians these titles.

If the Sanders campaign ultimate-

ly does nothing else, it has forced 
millions of people, who might not 
otherwise be inclined, to reckon with 
the true meaning of these terms. The 
disagreement between Sanders and 
Clinton over terms like “progres-
sive” represents a larger ideological 
disagreement between the two. It is 
a disagreement between liberals and 
the New Left (beautifully embodied 
in Ms. Nina Simone’s song, “Missis-
sippi Goddam”). It is a disagreement 
today over fundamental political and 

economic questions, like “Is corrup-
tion a symptom of Wall Street when 
it’s not properly regulated, or is cor-
ruption inherent to its very struc-
ture?” and “Are health care and 
college education luxuries, or are 
they economic rights?” and “Should 
the government serve the will of the 
citizens, or just (to borrow a phrase) a 
handful of billionaires?”

This contrast benefits people 

whom, by watching CNN, ABC 
nightly news, MSNBC, etc. before 
the Sanders campaign, might not 
otherwise have noticed that there 
are other — and, in my view, more 
compelling — visions of progress 
than the liberal, pessimistic Obama-
Clinton vision. While the president 
and Hillary Clinton say to go slow, 
Sanders and Ms. Simone say that’s 
what’s the trouble.

If we want to reinvest signifiers 

like “progressive” with meaning and 
efficacy, we should first avoid adopt-
ing their common usage. Instead, 
we should critique this perverse 
usage and appropriate these terms 
according to our own purposes. In 
other words, after overcoming our 
cultural speech impediment, we 
appropriate the term “progressive” 
according to what we ourselves 
declare progress to be.

In this postmodern era, when 

the signifier has apparently lost all 
connection with the signified, it’s 
tempting to conclude that we have 
no hope of using language effective-
ly (especially political language). 
But this conclusion overlooks the 
fact that words have the meaning 
that we invest in them in order to 
serve our individual and commu-
nal interests and concerns. Inves-
tigating the meaning of words not 
only improves our ability to com-
municate; it improves our ability to 
think, expanding our political hori-
zons beyond the binary of liberal 
and conservative and into a whole 
field of potential political opinion, 
which might include socialism, to 
anarcho-syndicalism, to #Black-
LivesMatter. That’d be what I’d call 
progress.

— Zak Witus can be reached 

at zakwitus@umich.edu.

ZAK

WITUS

