A
common sentiment shared
by people of color is that it’s
exhausting to constantly
have to explain your identities,
your culture and whether or
not a particular comment is
appropriate to say when a simple
Google search likely would have
provided the inquirer with the
answer to the question. What
is often even more frustrating
is that it is obvious when you’re
not actively trying to diversify
what you know about social
identities or you’re not seeking
out the opportunity to learn more
about backgrounds and cultures
different from your own. While
asking genuine questions isn’t to
be discouraged, be aware of your
intention. If you’re coming off as
close-minded, then it is in itself a
form of ignorance. Diversity is a
complex concept and mandates
effort and attention. So, making
inappropriate
comments,
asking offensive questions or
repeatedly committing the same
microaggressions
sends
the
message that the asker is choosing
to be ignorant.
That said, if you’re curious
about the food a peer is eating
or a cultural event a friend is
celebrating, be conscious of your
word choice and ask questions
respectfully. The general rule of
thumb: Exhibiting a willingness
to learn will always be celebrated.
However, people of color often feel
as though they’re burdened with
the responsibility of educating
their peers. This creates a campus
climate that is uncomfortable for
students and faculty of color.
It is known that people of color
experience
college
differently
than white people. It’s difficult
to
navigate
predominantly
white spaces while enduring
microaggressions
along
the
way.
Back
in
2017,
Marist
College
conducted
a
survey
investigating “Racism in the
United States: Who’s Responsible
for Fixing the Problem.” The
results of the survey showed the
majority of Americans place the
responsibility of tackling racism
head-on upon everyone, not just
one specific race. Additionally,
most Americans did not agree
that the burden of ending racism
should fall upon people of color.
Similar to the findings of this poll,
it’s important to not only address
issues related to social identities
like race and ethnicity as they
happen on campus, but also take
initiative to educate ourselves on
the diversity of social identities on
campus before an issue arises.
As students at the University
of Michigan, we are privileged
to have access to a plethora of
resources:
books,
computers,
courses,
professors
and
educational
events.
Therefore,
it is the general expectation we
recognize that privilege and use
it to better our knowledge. This
means finding space on your
Google Calendar to attend Martin
Luther King Jr. symposiums,
events, talks and dialogues. This
means attending conferences and
dialogue-based events on topics
like racism on college campuses
not because it’s an extra credit
assignment, but because you’re
trying to learn more.
I’ve also spoken with students
who are not from marginalized
communities or do not identify
with minority groups who feel
like they’re walking on eggshells
around classmates of identities
different
from
theirs.
Even
more so in courses that discuss
multicultural content and topics
related to race and ethnicity.
Rather than avoid participating
to prevent accidentally offending
your
classmate
or
to
risk
appearing
not
“woke,”
take
actionable steps to improve your
knowledge on diversity, equity
and
inclusion
activities
and
initiatives on campus as well as
to further your communication
skills, as you’ll likely be a part of
diverse work environments in the
near future. For example, take
an introductory level women’s
studies class like Women’s Studies
220. Take it because you’re
likely to engage in relationships
or conversations with women,
whether in professional contact,
friendships, romantic relations,
etc.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
events, programs and policies
are,
of
course,
important
for
undergraduate
students’
professional
and
personal
development. We all know that.
Nowadays, the terms “diversity,”
“accessibility” and “inclusivity”
are found in every Fortune 500
company’s mission statement or
campus initiative. This is great in
theory, but it’s no longer sufficient
to simply exercise awareness of
what those terms mean. Instead,
consider viewing these words
through the lens of your peers
and
their
lived
experiences.
Showing support and acting as an
ally involves educating yourself,
showing up and engaging with
other students of diverse identities
during
dialogues
covering
controversial topics.
As University students, it’s
important to support one another
on our way to becoming well-
rounded professionals and part
of the workforce. For students of
color, this means inviting your
friends of all identities and cultural
backgrounds to the cultural events
for the organizations in which
you’re
involved.
Don’t
solely
market these events to those who
are already immersing themselves
in DEI endeavors. It is equally
important to engage in DEI-
related discussions with people
of diverse thoughts, experiences
and ideas as well. If we all take it
upon ourselves to share our lived
experiences with one another,
we will all benefit together as a
community.
Varna Kodoth can be reached at
vkodoth@umich.edu.
W
hen
the
House
Judiciary Committee
approved articles of
impeachment against President
Donald Trump in December,
Chairman
and
Rep.
Jerrold
Nadler, D-N.Y., declared that it
was “a solemn and sad day.”
In retrospect, Nadler could
not have been more right —
just for all the wrong reasons.
The impeachment trial against
President Trump was a deeply
unsettling spectacle that targeted
far
more
than
the
current
occupant of the White House. It
ripped at the very fabric of our
country.
The
impeachment
against
Trump was solemn and sad not
because our president was being
charged with high crimes and
misdemeanors, but because one of
America’s major political parties
had unashamedly stooped to such
a low level. The trial was a clear
slap in the face for so many in this
country.
As many of us know, the
impeachment effort fortunately
came to a quick end a couple
of weeks ago in the president’s
favor. But what has not come to
an end is the dangerous political
pattern this trial is a part of. The
impeachment was the last straw
for many in this nation, and
Americans have had enough of
it. There’s simply no excuse for
the Democratic Party’s relentless
attacks on our president.
Since
our
president
first
announced
his
candidacy
nearly five years ago, Democrats
have unceasingly picked apart
everything
about
Trump,
investigating
and
scrutinizing
his every move. They have
thrown bombshells into the Oval
Office, one after another. They
have put his business affairs
under a microscope. And, most
recently, they have impeached our
president and put him on trial for
weeks in front of the American
people.
Trump isn’t perfect. He’s made
some questionable choices that
fall outside the boundaries of
historical presidential behavior.
But
an
occasional
mistake
shouldn’t subject the president to
a process that has only occurred
three other times in U.S. history.
Democrats have truly done
everything imaginable to damage
our president and bring him down
once and for all. They have tried
to rip this country apart, literally.
(I am referring to Speaker of the
House Nancy Pelosi’s stunning
move at the end of Trump’s State
of the Union speech).
While the impeachment trial
only ended recently, Democrats
began plotting the end of Trump’s
political career before it had
begun. It all began in 2011, when
Fusion GPS was founded in
Washington, D.C., by a group of
veteran journalists.
While
Fusion
did
some
investigation in the past, it rose to
prominence after it was hired to
investigate the 2016 presidential
candidates,
which
included
Trump. By the time Trump won
the election in November of that
year, Fusion had hired intelligence
expert Christopher Steele to help
investigate Trump’s ties to the
Russian
government.
Steele’s
research and the firm’s efforts
ultimately produced a plethora
of alarming allegations against
the president, among them that
Trump had an extensive record of
collusion with Moscow. Once all of
these unverified charges against
Trump
surfaced,
Democrats
quickly worked to implicate the
president by constantly talking
about “Trump-Russia collusion,”
even though the origins of the
allegations and the dossier as a
whole are questionable.
As the Trump administration
continued
to
come
under
unrelenting
scrutiny,
Special
Counsel for the United States
Department of Justice Robert
Mueller came into the picture,
assuming
command
of
the
investigation
once
he
was
appointed in May 2017. After
working for about two years,
Mueller’s anticlimactic findings
were released in a final report
that was clearly disappointing for
Democrats. The underwhelming
ruling didn’t charge Trump with
any crime at all and found the
president didn’t engage in any
conspiracy
with
the
Russian
government.
But the Democratic Party didn’t
stop here. Still determined to take
the Trump presidency down,
they began to explore other ways
that they could somehow end this
resilient
administration.
Soon
after the conclusion of the Mueller
investigation,
the
Democrats
used their broad control over
the investigative powers of the
House of Representatives to begin
an impeachment inquiry into a
July 2019 phone call between
Trump and Ukranian President
Volodymyr Zelensky.
This
impeachment
inquiry
quickly spiraled out of control,
collapsing
almost
immediately.
From the start, it was obvious it
was a highly partisan effort, with
every Republican voting against
both articles of impeachment in
the House.
Even though the Constitution
plainly requires the House to
forward the articles to the Senate,
Pelosi and Democratic leadership
initially resisted because they
knew Trump would never be
convicted in the Republican-
majority Senate. But still, they
were eventually passed on and
— after weeks of monotonous
trial proceedings with few new
revelations — Trump was swiftly
acquitted with only one Republican
siding with Democrats, receiving
the vindication he deserved.
That brings us to today. After
years
of
systematic
attempts
at
destroying
this
legitimate
administration, Trump is still the
president. And he’s doing better
than ever before. Meanwhile,
Democrats have been forced to
return to the drawing board, and
it’s not hard to wonder what they’ll
try next.
But I sincerely hope that before
the next allegations surface —
before they engineer the next
bombshell and before they find
another “impeachable” offense
— Democrats take a moment
and return to reality. While they
have been trying to demolish,
Trump has worked to reconstruct.
Trump may be controversial, but
Americans have unequivocally
expressed their support for his
innovative policies.
A recent Gallup poll released
in the midst of the polarizing
impeachment trial found that 49
percent of Americans approve of
the president’s job in office, an
all-time high from this pollster.
This may not be a majority of the
nation, but according to the same
poll, only 46 percent of Americans
approved of President Obama’s
job at the same point in his first
term. Moreover, Gallup added in
another poll that over 60 percent
of Americans feel they’re better
off than they were three years
ago, while only 45 percent said
the same at the same point in the
Obama presidency.
In the end, whether Democrats
like it or not, Trump has done a
lot of good for millions of people
across the country. These numbers
don’t signal us that we have a rogue
president who is blatantly violating
American law, as Democrats tell
us, but a respected leader who is
doing great things.
More than ever before, it’s
time to give our president the
respect he deserves and actually
let him govern as the leader of
the U.S. I’m not asking Trump’s
political opponents and haters to
vote for him in November. Every
American has a right to go to the
polls at the end of this year and
vote for whichever candidate
they believe can best lead our
country forward.
But until then, it’s time to
part ways with this immature
behavior. We may not all support
Trump, but we all have a critical
duty to be fair to our president
and support him in his ultimate
mission to uplift all Americans.
W
hat
is
in
Georgia
besides the Coca-Cola
headquarters, peaches
and the state opossum, Pogo? Well,
both the soul of the Republican Party
and its greatest danger — former
Democratic Rep. Stacey Abrams —
reside in the state. While I would
love to write about the massive threat
that Abrams poses to Republicans,
there’s frankly not enough space in
this article to accurately portray her
brilliance, so let’s take a look at the
soul of the Republican Party — and
by that, I do not mean the former
steak salesman in the White House.
In fact, I do not believe that the soul
of the party lies with any one person
right now, but I believe that two
Republican Senate candidates — Sen.
Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., and United
States Rep. Doug Collins — are vying
to be its figurehead.
This
old-fashioned
far-right
versus center-right battle began
Aug. 28, 2019, when Georgia’s senior
senator, Johnny Isakson, announced
that midway through his third
term he would retire due to health
concerns. Immediately, all eyes
went to Atlanta where Gov. Brian
Kemp was given a gift and a curse:
Appointing Isakson’s replacement.
Kemp, ever the strategist, held an
open application process where
any Georgia citizen could submit
a resume and cover letter. Though
this publicity stunt bought Kemp
some time, the political universe
quickly narrowed the selection
pool to Collins, Loeffler and former
Secretary of Health and Human
Services Tom Price. However, with
Price’s public resignation putting him
in a precarious legal position, Kemp’s
table was set.
If former President George W.
Bush and Sen. Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky., could breed a senator in a lab,
Kelly Loeffler would be the product.
Born to soybean farmers in rural
Illinois, Loeffler worked her way up
the corporate ladder of a commodities
trader, Intercontinental Exchange,
and eventually became the CEO
of Bakkt, an IE subsidiary, in 2018.
Throughout her business career,
Loeffler was an avid Republican
donor and activist, having donated
more than $3.2 million with her
husband. The power couple’s pet
causes included former presidential
candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign,
the National Republican Senatorial
Committee and former Speaker of the
House Paul Ryan. While her money
brought her into the party’s upper
echelons, she has always wanted to
hold elected office. And after seeing
David Perdue win an open Senate seat
in 2014 that she passed up, Loeffler
did not want to miss her chance to
become a part of Congress’s clubby
upper chamber in 2020.
While Loeffler seems born for
this job, Collins couldn’t be less
poised to work with McConnell.
From humble beginnings in rural
Georgia, Collins earned a bachelor’s
degree from the University of North
Georgia and a master’s in divinity
from the New Orleans Baptist
Theological Seminary. Following
his education, he was the pastor
at Chicopee Baptist Church for 11
years. Capitalizing on his church’s
success, Collins entered the political
sphere through the Georgia House of
Representatives, ultimately moving
to the U.S. House where he currently
serves as the Ranking Member of
the House Judiciary Committee.
From this perch, the Congressman
has spent the last two years making
his southern drawl and fast-talking
a staple on cable news by arguing
with Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
and making “irregardless” trend on
Twitter.
For Kemp, this decision was
obvious: Loeffler. The former Bakkt
CEO and co-owner of Atlanta’s
WNBA team had plenty of financial
backing for her 2020 run, and, more
importantly, she shared Kemp’s
traditional Chamber of Commerce
republicanism.
Conversely,
the
far-right Collins had no qualms
about appearing on Fox News or
berating former Special Counsel
for the U.S. Department of Justice
Robert
Mueller,
which
earned
Collins a strong ally: the President.
Collins’s position on the front lines
of Trump’s defense put him in the
President’s good graces. Therefore,
Trump extensively lobbied Kemp
behind the scenes for Collins. Kemp’s
tiebreaker was McConnell, who gave
him a gut check and reminded Kemp
that Republicans could still win the
Senate in 2020 even if Trump lost.
Therefore, Loeffler needed to be
appointed. And on Dec. 4, she was.
When she got into office, Loeffler
had
one
priority:
get
Trump’s
endorsement. From allying with
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during the
impeachment
saga
to
baselessly
attacking Romney, she has proven she
will go to great lengths to receive it.
She was on track to receive this golden
ticket to victory, but on Jan. 29, her
life got significantly harder as Collins
announced that he would challenge
her in the special election for Isakson’s
old seat. This decision was met with
a swift rebuke from the chairman of
the NRSC Kevin McLaughlin, who
said “All (Collins) has done is put two
Senate seats, multiple House seats, and
Georgia’s 16 electoral votes in play.”
Additional groups like the Senate
Leadership Fund and several sitting
Republican senators have issued
similar warnings, but, importantly,
there is one person who has been
conspicuously quiet on the issue:
President Donald Trump. With great
power traditionally comes great
responsibility, but the former reality
TV star has been like a bull in a china
shop — or horse in a hospital — over
the last three years. Thus, Trump is
the wild card in this primary who
could drastically swing the race one
way or the other. However, learning
from his 2017 primary endorsement
of Luther Strange over the ultimate
victor Roy Moore in Alabama,
Trump has typically refrained from
supporting candidates in competitive
primaries. Therefore, Loeffler and
Collins will likely have to slug it out
until Nov. 3.
While the winner of the special
election remains unknown, the
winner of the Republican infighting
is
one
person:
Rev.
Raphael
Warnock. Warnock is a Baptist
preacher from Atlanta who has
been sharply critical of Trump
and announced his candidacy for
the 2020 special election amid a
flurry of prominent Democratic
endorsements, including Abrams
and Democratic Rep. John Lewis.
Warnock’s deep ties with Black
voters will energize this key voting
bloc in 2020, which poses a greater
threat to the Republicans than either
Collins or Loeffler; and, because of
Georgia’s Jungle Primary election
rules, these three will share a ballot
in November. If none of them reach
50 percent, then there will be a
runoff between the top two, but the
two Republicans are in a precarious
position because they must fight on
multiple fronts while Warnock can
address them as a unit and possibly
squeeze out 50 percent.
The bottom line is if Republicans
want to keep this key seat from
Warnock and the Democrats, they
have to convince Trump to endorse
someone. If he doesn’t, we will see a
fight for the soul of the Republican
Party play out, and we might see the
end of the party’s 15-year Georgia
dynasty.
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Alanna Berger
Brittany Bowman
Zack Blumberg
Emily Considine
Jenny Gurung
Cheryn Hong
Krystal Hur
Ethan Kessler
Zoey Phillips
Mary Rolfes
Michael Russo
Timothy Spurlin
Miles Stephenson
Joel Weiner
Erin White
ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor
Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
Editor in Chief
EMILY CONSIDINE AND
MILES STEPHENSON
Editorial Page Editors
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.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
VARNA KODOTH | COLUMN
Ignorance is a choice
EVAN STERN | COLUMN
Reflections on the impeachment of Donald Trump
Keith Johnstone can be reached at
keithja@umich.edu.
KEITH JOHNSTONE | COLUMN
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erstern@umich.edu.
Battle for the soul of the Republican party
Whether
Democrats like it
or not, Trump has
done a lot of good.