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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 1994)
E. Hi (,m;s Shanks Unity needed to fight racism Well, another semester of controversial column writing is over. Two issues have not received the attention they should have: racial prejudice and relations between blacks and Jews. So be it. It’s time to get some things off my chest about these two subjects: • Why is it that white people can have prejudiced friends without those relationships being ques tioned, but blacks cannot? Call me paranoid, but I know that my white friends have friends who are prejudiced. I just know it! When I say something about having a prejudiced friend, people become uncomfortable. There seems to be a double standard here. It is as though having prejudiced friends is ridiculous for blacks but acceptable for whites. Race and double standards don’t mix well. That’s what the fight for racial equality is all about. Remember? If it is strange for a black person to have a prejudiced friend, it should be just as strange for a white person to have one. Let’s look at the contradictions this attitude pro duces. rirst or all, if no black person ever had a prejudiced friend, where would race relations be? I find myself having to explain that as a child I wanted friends like any child would. Living in an all-white (and very prejudiced) neighborhood made me want friends even more. • Can white people be trusted to stop racism and prejudice by themselves? I don't think so! Furthermore, if white people did not have prejudiced friends, most of them would be loners. The entire history of this country has been marked by prejudice and racist ideology, the effects of which have been excruciatingly long-lasting. The residual effects of forced legal racial segregation are strong It is as though having prejudiced friends is ridiculous for blacks but acceptable for whites. Race and double standards don’t mix well. That’s what the fight for racial equality is all about. Remember? enough alone. So, if black or white people want to break that tradition, don't criticize them for it. Whom people choose for friends is their business. People should not be expected to explain their relationships, should they? Having prejudiced friends is not all that strange; just ask any white person. • The relationship between blacks and Jews has deteriorated to a sickening racist debate between two of this country’s most dumped on ethnic groups. One may wonder how it is that blacks and Jews, while having similar histories, would be so at odds politically. Blacks are almost exclusively Christian with a minority of Sunni Moslems (or Muslims), so it should not be a surprise to see blacks and Jews • opposing one another on religious and cultural grounds. Or should it? Jewish involvement in the fight for civil rights was no snap deci sion. Jews in the United States had linked themselves to political struggles for freedom long before then. The Jewish Pittsburgh Platform of 1885, for example, was written to be a deliberate agent of political reform that proclaimed, “In full accordance with the spirit of Mosaic legislation... we deem it our duty to participate jn the great task of modem times.” Author James Baldwin once wrote, “the Negro is a Jew.” He was VlK 11 All Jl Mid; correct from a political standpoint. Jewish oppression perhaps too frequently is compared to what blacks have endured in the United States. Although there are strong similarities, the extent of racial, religious and cultural oppression sustained by Jews is unmatched. Cornell West wrote, “Few blacks recognize and acknowledge one fundamental fact of Jewish history: a profound hatred of Jews sits at the center of medieval and modem European cultures.” This should sound extremely familiar to blacks. The Jews have endured more discrimination than any other group of people in the history of the world, and at the hands of the same creeps who kept blacks down for so long. As a child, my father told me stories about learning Yiddish from Jews in St. Louis. He worked for them during the Depression, a time when jobs were hard to come by. I was not taught to evaluate all Jews based on these experiences, but I sensed that the kindness shown to my father was deliberate. Blacks and Jews may have forgotten that the battle against racism depends on each group’s struggles. The two races joined together as before can defeat discrimination again. Shanks is a graduate student and a Daily Nebraskan columnist Ticketers stalk late students Just as I had finished my last column, which discussed the shortcomings of various adminis trative offices at this university, I left the Nebraska Union and found myself combatting yet another incompetent and discourteous bureaucratic establishment here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Yes, Virginia, there is a specific department set up for the sole purpose of generating more profit for our beloved, yet terribly mis managed, UNL. It’s called Parking Services. Isn t that a contradiction in terms? Excuse me while I giggle endlessly. OK, back to my story. My girlfriend had parked in the small lot by the Union in order to pick me up. I had asked her to spare me the bicycle ride home through the tremendous cold, and she obliged. Unfortunately, so did the UNL ticketing personnel. She had left her Jeep in a spot for no longer than two minutes; enough to greet me exiting Burger King en route to the front entrance. By the time we got to her vehicle, she’d been tagged. It was as if the ticket patrol had been hiding in the bushes, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting prey. Perhaps they rapelled from the trees, parachuted from the Union roof or emerged from beneath the manhole covers. I would seem appropriate that they would hide in the sewer. The ride home with her was* quite enlightening. I never knew one could do so much with an expletive. I was immeasurably impressed, not only with my girlfriend’s vivid variations on wha one can do to oneself, but also with the sheer audacity of the University Are you aware that UNL tickets cars until 7 p.m.? This is an undignified insult to those students who take evening classes. How can you blame someone for trying to park closer tc class when it’s dark and cold and Our university, an institution dedicated to higher learning, has more people writing parking tickets tha n it has professors in the News Editorial and Broadcasting depart ments combined. possibly dangerous? Many students have become painfully aware of the University’s slimy tactics, such as stalking the lots at a few minutes before 7 p.m. in search of more victims. Not only must we endure a distinct lack of parking availability (not to mention late fees), but once a spot is found, chances arc high that a ticket will be issued to you. By the way, who taught the city of Lincoln how to plow snow? Why in God’s name (please choose your God in particular for the sake of political correctness) would anyone pile snow in the middle of the street? Not only is that stupid, it’s very dangerous as well. Lars arc unable to change lanes, merge or turn on adjacent streets. The solution is quite simple. Post signs that declare no parking zones during snow storms. If people don’t . move their cars, they can either be towed or ticketed and buried for the duration. Simple enough. But I digress. The point of this column is not to amuse you with the tiresome ignorance of the city, but rather to bring to light the avaricious tendencies of this over t inflated cash cow of a university, which we attend. A late phone call to the UNL Police revealed a disturbing, yet understandable, figure. The officer I spoke to, who, in both his and my defense, did not have the actual number at hand, offered a guessti mate when asked how many folks the university has on staff to write tickets. He ventured there were between 10 to 15 ticketing profes sionals. (Remember, this column is PC.) Imagine that. Our university, an institution dedicated to higher learning, has more people writing parking tickets than it has profes sors in the News-Ed and Broadcast ing departments combined. There is an easy, yet likely unattainable, solution to the parking mess UNL has forced us to swallow. Where I come from, we call them parking garages. With all the tuition increases, fees, sports ticket increases, etc., the university could build a suffi cient parking facility. And in keeping with the PC format, the ticketing professionals could be transformed into security personnel, to keep the garage safe. A feasible location would be behind the union on S street. It could even be partially or wholly underground. You remember the Grant Park underground lot back home, don't ya Graham? To make up for lost revenue, charge big fees to park there. I would much rather pay a substan tial sum to park than to get tickets that make me insane. Or all you guys could spend our money more wisely, and even take a pay cut. But for some reason, I don’t think it’ll happen. Justice is a junior news-editorial and broadcasting major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist Looking for a Christmas gift for a great price? Brand New U.S. Military - ALL-WEATHER TRENCH COATS ^^50%cotton^0%polyester^ [Navy blue with zip-out liner] Single and double-breastedl available in most sizes J WINTER LIGHTS ‘94 M i f Folsom Children’s Zoo, 27th & B . 6:00 - 8:30 pm December 9-11 & 16-18 ) } ^ { / You deserve a break from finals. Join us \ / at the zoo and see thousands of lights, enjoy festive music and briefly forget about all that studying you have to do. I \ Admission is $1.00. Bring a can of food for the Lincoln Food Bank and get a FREE train ride. The Holidays are here... be a kid again at { WINTER LIGHTS. ft ftOTAmcM. ftAAOCns Oh, peachy.. .The b‘i<^ niaV'iT and Tve op^r a -flab•. mim c/iRD 1323 O’ Street
