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mind, rescinded the policy and Said it would study the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carries language strikingly similar to the one rescinded by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
