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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1991)
Opinion 0 Healing wounds Minority aid necessary for equality Last spring, the Bush administration was blasted for its stance on scholarships for minority college students. Officials from the Department of Educa tion had said that granting scholarships to minority stu dents because of their race was discriminatory. Later, bowing to the outcry, the department changed its mind, rescinded the policy and Said it would study the issue. This week, Education Secretary Lamar Alexander is expected to reveal a “new” compromise: Scholarships based strictly on race will no longer be allowed, but colleges may consider race a factor in their awards, as long as other factors also are considered. It took eight months to come up with this policy, which carries language strikingly similar to the one rescinded by the department in April. That policy had banned scholar ships aimed specifically at racial groups but allowed col leges to consider race a factor in awarding scholarships. At first glance, such a proposal seems valid. According to The Washington Post, the new proposal asks colleges to strive for “diversity” and weigh race as “a plus factor,” if other factors are considered, too. Unfortunately, even the euphemistic terms of the new proposal convey its empty meaning. As one higher education spokesman told The Post, “What it’s telling minority students is it’s a crap shoot. Basically, you’re going to be thrown in with everybody else.” That doesn’t mean minority students cannot compete with “everybody else.” But it also doesn’t guarantee that * they will receive more encouragement than other potential students whose race already is adequately represented in higher education. Responding to the needs of minorities has become such a political hot potato that important forward steps are being wiped away. Suddenly, affirmative action has taken on negative con notations. It is no longer viewed as a positive action to repair egregious underrepresentation. It is now reverse discrimination. Yes, restricting scholarships to students of a particular race is discriminatory. If a scholarship stipulated “Cauca sians only,” it would be racist. At first glance, a scholar ship that stipulates “African-Americans only” receives the same gut reaction. But minority students deserve special consideration for scholarships simply because they are underrepresented in higher education. Whites are not. That’s not reverse dis crimination. That’s responding to a need. The lack of such response fosters the chain of events that has caused many to view affirmative action as reverse discrimination. To hire minority candidates, employers must find qualified applicants, or they appear to be simply filling quotas. Unless colleges work to increase the number of minor ity students, employers will have no larger a pool from which to select minority applicants. And the problem of underrepresentation will be intensified. It may seem unfair to give scholarships to minority students who could otherwise afford higher education on their own. But that loophole seems slight when compared to the gaping wound of underrepresentation. On one hand, the new education department policy can be viewed as just another euphemistic handling of a tense racial issue. On fhe other hand, it may be one more sign that the positive actions of the past are being stripped away for the sake of appearances. —^^ — jp -EDITORIAL POLICY signed stall editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1991 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its members are: Jana Pedersen, editor; Erie Pfanner, editorial page editor; Diane Brayton, managing editor; Walter Gholson, columnist; Paul Domcicr, copy desk chief; Brian Shcllito, cartoonist; Jeremy Fitzpa trick, senior reporter. Editorials do not necessarily re flect the views of the university, its \ employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents, Editorial columns represent the opinion of the author. The Daily Nebraskan’s publishers arc the regents, who established the UNL Publications Board to super vise the daily production of the pa per. According to policy set by the re gents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. k u.s. NSTA&e WALTER GHOLSON Racist’s rebirth merits attention A few weeks ago, local news media ran some stories about the miraculous rebirth of a Lincoln man. But this small-town news didn’t seem to rate much national attention. It should have received more na tional coverage than it did. After all, how often do we hear about a racist who changed his tune because a Jewish couple cared about him? So where are Gcraldo and Oprah? Has Phil called? But then, maybe Larry Trapp’s public-appearance contract has not been finalized. Whatever the reason, this is the most important story of the year. And anyone concerned about race rela tions in Nebraska should take a long, hard look at Trapp’s salvation. While I do not know him person ally, I’ve read some of the letters he’s written to people in Lincoln. 1 know he was a recruiter for the Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. I know enough to comprehend that Trapp was not a very nice man. But if he has truly changed from the man who gave minorities reasons to hate him, he deserves national media attention. This could be the most important event since the birthday of Jesus Christ became commercialized into Xmas. Trapp’s transformation could be her alded as the first fruit of a new world order. People would know there’s a miracle happening here begging to be duplicated all across the nation. And, if the national news hounds aren’t fighting to get an exclusive interview with Trapp, we need to ask why. After all, when a man who has spent most of his life haling is sud denly renewed, this is a miracle. When a person with a track record like Trapp’s is reported to have dined with the president of the local NAACP, this is a sign from a higher order that some thing strange and wonderful has hap pened in the capital city. Who knows? We could be wit nessing the birth of a new day in race relations, complete with peace and goodwill to all people. We may be able to tell our grandchildren we were in Lincoln the day racism started to die. The transformation of Trapp could become a model for every hate group in America. But maybe I’m rushing things. ABC is probably saving the story for its Christmas Eve special. Maybe Oprah, Phil, Sally and Geraldo have to wait until after the new year before they heads the Klan. According to the handbook, the Invisible Empire’s membership has taken a sharp nosedive since 1982, - But in 1986, Farrands, of Connecti cut, was chosen to lead the Empire. He said the future of the Klan de pended on “bridging the geographi cal and sociological gaps separating white supremacist organizations.” He said he would work to refine the Klan to attract “a better class of people.” So maybe the real story here is that Trapp is not of the right class of people sought by the ncw-world-or der, corporate Klan. Suppose the real scoop is that hate groups now recruit from the upper middle class, and you’ve got to be a right-wing Republican to become a member? Suppose the real story is how the new Klan-Nazi-skinhcad Aryan na tionalists abandoned one of their own because he was old and handicapped and how a Jewish couple he used to harass helped him see the true path of brotherhood? The more I think about it, the more I see lights, camera, action. This could be a TV scries. The “Racist and the Rabbi,” or “Civil Rights Son Meets Son of Slave Master” or “The Day Love Stopped a Burning Cross.” While my intention here is not to make light of the reported change in Trapp’s philosophy on racial and reli gious rights, it’s obvious that some of us don’t believe in miracles anymore. Maybe we’ve become so cynical that we find it hard to believe good things still happen in today’s world. Perhaps we prefer to wait and sec before wc embrace any prodigal son returning from a long journey into the wilder ness of bigotry. In any event, someone should call all these national media folks and tell them they’re passing up the story of the year out here. We’ve got a town full of people ready, willing and able to act in any production, and most will work below union scale. If it’s background they need, I’ve got a bunch of hate mail sent by Trapp over the years when he was a real, honcst-to-goodncss, robe-wearing racist. _ Maybe we could start with a weekly public access channel program hosted by Trapp, featuring all the people he used to hate. We could call it “Abso lution Televised.” (•holson is a senior news-editorial jour nalism major and a Daily Nebraskan colum nist The more / think about it, the mois. L see liehts. camera, action. This, could, bo g TV series. The. "Racist and the Rabbi.” or “Civil Rights. Sou Moots Sou oCSlave Master” or “The Day Love Stopped a Burning Cross.” can go into production. And then there arc book contracts and those damn Hollywood agents trying to gel the movie rights. A story like this beats President Bush’s budget plans, his civil rights bill saga, guns in the public schools or stories*ab(xit blacks in Louisiana voting for David Duke. But recently, I have been getting the impression that some of us aren’t convinced that Trapp’s instant con version is real. The grapevine says it’s a Trapp media event to introduce his new Duke image. Idle gossip says it’s local media playing a delayed Halloween trick called “Change that Costume.” I prefer not to buy any of the above because I want to believe in the holi day spirit of hope. I want to believe that faith and love can conquer hate, and I truly want to believe in the miracle of Larry Trapp. , However, I will not lose my mind waiting for racists in America to turn in their sheets and swastikas or grow hair on their skinned heads. Back in March, the Plains Stale Region of the B’naiB’rith Anti-Defa mation League sent me information on James W. Farrands, who it said