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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1998)
EDITOR Paula Lavigne OPINION EDITOR Kasey Kerber EDITORIAL BOARD Brad Davis Erin Gibson Shannon Heffelfinger Chad Lorenz Jeff Randall OF THE WEEK “The election was long and drawn out. But we accomplished what we intended to do - we made it a fair elec tion.” - Larry Willis, ENHANCE presiden tial candidate whose party was defeated after a re-vote was conducted inAbel Sandoz Residence Hall Wednesday “I’ll be honest with you. We recruit the dickens out of those folks.” - Joe Coulter, associate provost for the University of Iowa, on his university’s reputation of retaining minority students “I have never set foot on this cam pus after hours, since 1995, without either my husband or my very large dogs. I don’t feel safe on campus.” - Valerie Schwebach, political science professor who brought allegations of sex ual harassment against the political sci ence department “I don’t think the faculty in that department are any more sexist or eth nocentric in any particular direction, any more than any other department I’m familiar with.” - Jean Cahan, adjunct political sci ence professor, on the allegations of sexu al harassment “You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day. We’re riding through the woods. The bluebells were all out and the sky is !8t«MelMr blue.,fr:$ - x ^ - \ .-Paul McCartney, former Beatle, whispering the last words his wife, Linda, victim of a three-year battle with cancer, would hear before she died “The plane is basically a kite with a motor.” - Doug Weems, one of the Berringer family’s attorneys, on the negligence he says killed former NU quarterback Brook Berringer and led to a wrongful death suit against the owners of the plane and the airfield where Berringer took off “Coach Osborne has done so much off the field, and he’s done a great deal for college football.” - Rick Walsh, director of special pro jects for the College Football Hall of Fame, on Osborne’s induction “I want to be the quarterback. That’s it.” - Bobby Newcombe, one of the three Huskers competing for the starting quar terback position Unsigned edtoriais are the opinions of the Spring 1988 Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Lincotn, its employees, its student body or the Unwetsty of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is soMy the opinienof its author. The Board of Regents serves as puMsher of foe Dafly Nebraskan; poficy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edtorial Board. The UNL Publications Beard, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According[ to policy set by the regents, responeibsity for the edftoriai content trf die newipuperlsp safety In ‘ the bends of its student empfeywefc , . Letter PtUcy The Daily Nebraskan weloomes brief letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their pubfcabon. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to sd& or reject any material submitted. Sub mitecl material becomes property of toe Daly Nebraskan and cannot be relumed. Anenymous submissions not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Daly Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NEeWj44a.£*na4: tettsrs#ptinto.itnl.edij. . . . , '---*---.4 Haney’s VIEW WT . -—-—- ;j A losing battle Racism is destroying America KLAUS MARRE is a senior broadcasting major and a Daily Nebraskan colum nist This past week, federal officials decided that UNL needed to improve its environment for minorities. I don’t know why it took investigators from the Office for Civil Rights to figure this out. I believe institutionalized racism can be found everywhere in the United States, including high schools, the Supreme Court and Congress. In addition, there are acts of open or hidden hostility that make the racial climate in this country much harsher than it should be. Things will get a lot worse before they get a little better. Various ethnic and racial groups do not trust each other, and I feel there will be a point when die situation will escalate into violence unparalleled in this country since the Civil War. I have lived m the United States for three years, and I have not seen a single indication that the rift between the races will be closed. Actually, it has widened consider ably. The problem is that neither group has tried or is able to under stand where the other side is coming from. Every statistic indicates minori ties of any kind rank below white males on any scale. Income, poverty, education - you name it, and there win be a discrepancy. Now, ifl were a member of a minority group and I saw these num bers, I would be really pissed. These kinds of differences just don’t bode well for the notion of equality in this country. And there I would be, being pissed about this kind of inequality. But maybe there was a mistake. So I would inform die privileged group about this obvious flaw in the system. Then I would wait for change to occur. I would wait for a while before . I would askagain. “Hey, Whitey, nothing has changed. How about you distribute some of your wealth and power my way?” Maybe a few adjustments would be made to keep me quiet, but the sys tem as a whole would remain in place. I would get a bit disturbed by this and remind those in power about a thing or two from the nation’s past “Remember when you dragged me from my home to come be a slave for you? I didn’t like that, now don’t screw me over again. Please pay up.” Still, little happens, and die inequality remains in place. This is probably when I would get really upset and decide the only way to get my fair share would be to take it America is at this point now. Inequality has to end, not step by step over the next 50 years. Today, not tomorrow. Now. The injustice being done to minorities is so obvious it cannot be justified in any rational way, so I sug gest people stop trying to rationalize for the sake of civil peace. It is not good enough to make a few minor adjustments and point to these to show “things are looking bet ter.” Everybody must see that this kind of inequality has to stop, not just because it is wrong to begin with, but also to maintain peace and the integri ty of a nation that claims to be the leader of the Free World. Maybe America should lead by example. On a different level, how come most people start arguments about this issue with, “I’m not a racist, BUT... ?” If you are not a racist, you should n’t be afraid to speak your mind. How come I hear derogatory terms behind closed doors and see a facade in direct confrontations? Those are the kinds of deep roots that support racism in society. On the other hand, I believe minority groups sometimes fight the wrong battles, which prevents them from focusing on the bigger picture. It is not good enough to fight the symptoms; gne has to find the sourccLl which causes diem. Why go after every individual who is a racist? Their opinions will not change. Why not trjfc to eliminate racism before it can start? Kids are not racist; they are not |; even aware of different skin colors. I have worked with children for more H than four years, and I have never seen ? any kind of racist action. There is your future, America. Use the mistakes of the past to teach them. A 50-year-old man will 1 not change his beliefs, so don’t worry c about him. The problem goes much deeper than individuals using derogatory terms, so why concentrate on such incidents? It only distracts from the goal of achieving equality. One thing I never understood about what happened on campus this semester is why one group of society can use a certain word such as “nig ger” in everyday language as well as ji in music, poetry and literature while it is a racist act for others to use the same word. I do understand how derogatory the word is and how much historical r baggage it is carrying around, but if I were a black person and didn’t ever want to hear the tom, I would stop ; j using it myself. ^ To me, it does not look too good if one part of a group engages in a behav ior that another part of the same group is trying to stop. This seems to be an 7f uphill battle which can never be won. To achieve the bigger goals, peo ple need to understand America is headed in the wrong direction. Everybody has to do their part to see injustice and be willing to do something about it In die long run, setding the con- : flict between the races will benefit the entire country, while the failure to do so will spell doom.