Wed. April 21 * 7:30 p.m.
Omaha Civic Auditorium
Reserved Seats $24.50
Available at the Auditorium Box Office and all TicketMaster centers charge-by-phones
at 402-422-1212 (Omaha) or 402-475-1212 (Lincoln) or online at
www.ticketmaster.cnm
fSaK&fgas&is&i A Belkin & Music Circuit Presentation
Lied Center for Performing Arts presents
Tango Buenos Aires
A.
Friday, March 26, 1999, 8pm
Danny Gottlieb, Percussion
Drummer’s Fantasy
aBSM Q'sc^ery!
Saturday, A/larch 27, 1999, 8pm
Johnny Carson Theater
Locally sponsored by Dietze Music House, Inc.
Tickets: 472-4747 or 1-800-432-3231
Box Office: 11 :00am-5:30pm M-F
http://www.unl.edu/lied/
Lied Center programming is snorted by the Friends of Lied and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mid
[ America Arts Alliance and the Nebraska Arts Council. All events are made possible by the Lied'Perlormance Fund which
k lias been established in memory of Ernst F. Lied and his parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied.
Fighting institutionalized
racism key, speaker says
ByEricRineer
Staffwriter
While the United States has done a
great deal to achieve opportunities and
equality for minorities, discrimination
is still a problem in today’s society, a
civil rights official said.
Mary Frances Berry, chairwoman
of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission,
spoke to an audience in the Nebraska
Union Tuesday about institutionalized
racism.
One of the most obvious forms of
institutionalized racism, Berry said,
was school segregation.
Two-thirds of black and Latino
school children attend segregated
schools in cities like Philadelphia and
Washington, D.C., Berry said.
Often, she said, children in these
schools study from outdated text
books.
“We need to do something to
change the schools,” Berry said.
Berry also touched on other educa
tion issues pertaining to institutional
ized racism.
A particular concern for Berry, she
said, was high schools in poor black
neighborhoods that lack necessary
resources for students to take advanced
placement tests and SATs.
Many times, students apply to uni
versities with high GPAs but are
denied admittance because they were
never aware of these tests, she said.
“Every state is required to give an
adequate education to all kids,” Berry
said. “There is going to be a great bat
tle in this country about this issue.”
Berry said she expected non
whites to constitute the majority of the
U.S. population in the 21st century.
Immigration from Asian and Latin
American countries would ensure that,
she said.
Further evidence of institutional
ized racism, Berry said, existed in false
statistical accounts concerning minori
ty populations.
Berry said there was a common
perception that more blacks were
arrested or in jail than whites.
Berry said this was inconceivable
because there are far more whites in
the United States than blacks.
Another concern, she said, was that
blacks ranging in ages from 18 to 34
are often unfairly targeted by police in
poor neighborhoods.
“If you live in a high-crime neigh
borhood, you’re more likely to be a tar
get for arrest,” she said. “We have to
change white perceptions of African
Americans somehow.”
Though much of the racism of
today is less overt than that of the early
part of the century, Berry said, recent
examples of hate crimes indicate that
racism is still alive and well in the
United States.
During her speech, Berry said two
examples that “old-fashioned” racism
still existed were die recent killings of
Matt Shepard, a gay University of
Wyoming student, and James Byrd Jr.,
a black man from Jasper, Texas.
Though the two incidents reflect
proof of ongoing racial tension in soci
ety, Berry said there was evidence, too,
that blacks and whites have made
progress in their relationships.
Berry said more Hacks and whites
are integrating than ever before. For
example, she said, there is a major
increase in interracial marriages.
But, she said, more work needs to
be done to create equality for minori
ties.
“We always have work to do if we
want to create a real opportunity soci
ety with liberty and justice for all.”
Bryan Glover, a junior exercise
major who attended the speech, said
although he felt a great amount of
racism still existed in the country, dis
crimination was much lower than in the
past
“I think as we age, we mature in our
society,” he said. “We become more
aware of mistakes we made in the past”
Jeremy Moore, a senior health and
physical education major, said, he‘too,
felt the country was improving race
relations, but still needed to further that
effort
“The country is definitely making
progress,” he said. “But it’s taking its
sweet old time to do so.
“It’s trying to be too politically cor
rect about everything instead of just
dealing with the problem head-on.”
In the rush to meet
graduation require
ments, don’t get
trampled underfoot.
If you missed out on a
class, there’s still a
chance to get your
degree on time with
UNL’s College Indepen
dent Study Program.
Enroll now and
complete the course by
April 19th to ensure a
seat at commencement.
Call UNL’s College
Independent Study at
472-4321 to avoid
the agony of defeat.
I
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