Like many others, I have expressed concern at the racially-tinged events that happened recently at UC San Diego, of which I have written. The first was the so-called Compton Cookout, in which some fraternity allegedly organized a party with an inner city-spoof theme. This understandably upset black students and non-black students alike who turned out to rally against this poor attempt at comedy. During the same time, a noose was found in the campus library further aggravating the tense campus situation. In addition, a KKK-style hood was found draped over a campus statue. That and other incidents at other UC campuses caused an uproar throughout the UC system.
In the days following these incidents, a female student, who has not been identified, came forward and admitted to UCSD officials that she had inadvertently left the noose in the library. She stated that she and a friend had found a length of rope on campus. Her friend then showed her how to tie various forms with the rope, including a noose. They then went to the library, where she supposedly left the noose hanging over a bookcase and forgot it when she left. She apologized stating that it was an honest mistake, that she meant to offend no one, and that she was herself a minority. Upon coming forward, the university announced that the girl was immediately suspended.
In addition, a UCSD satirist news group, Koala, reportedly referred to protesters of the Compton Cookout as "ungrateful n-----s."
Another development was that the Black Student Union at UCSD launched a series of demands upon the university including increased black student enrollment, increased black faculty, and a black student resource center. As I understand it, these issues are not yet resolved.
I have been trying to find new developments on this issue lately, but unsucessfully. If I have missed something, please let me know. Well actually, there is one little thing.
At this point, I think it is time for someone to ask some hard questions of the UCSD chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, in the interest of clearing up these controversies, which remain mired in mystery.
As for the mysterious girl in the library, while I have no wish to see her subjected to any repercussions and would understand her need for privacy, is it possible in the interest of truth that her race be disclosed since she has already made it a point to identify herself as a minority? Her explanation sounds lame to me, but I could be wrong. If her statement is true, and it was an honest mistake, why was she suspended?
Secondly, rumors persist that at least some of the organizers of the Compton Cookout were themselves African-American students. Is that true or not?
Next, is it true that Chancellor Fox has been quoted as stating privately that some of the organizers of the Compton Cookout were African-American students at UCSD who were trying to pressure the university not to reduce funding for them? This is not a statement, nor is it an accusation. It is a simple question.
It is time for the administration at UCSD to let the students and the public know what they know. Does UCSD has a problem with anti-black racists? (If so, I have already stated they should be identified and kicked out for any racist acts. The Koala N-word incident seems clearly outrageous.)
Or is the problem something else?
Whatever the truth is, the entire UC system including its students deserve to know the truth.
When I was in high school, I enjoyed learning how to tie a hangman's noose, which was somewhat on a par with thinking the Jolly Roger was cool. I wouldn't, of course, survive five minutes on a real pirate ship. Nothing racial about any of it, but then, there was nobody black living within a hundred miles that far north in those days.
ReplyDeleteSounds like everyone on this campus needs to watch a low-budget movie, played in a break room where I worked by an African American fellow employee (most employees were African American) ostentatiously featuring "the n-word, by which I mean, nigger, there, I said it" concerning a pseudo-Sixty Minutes news crew searching for the author of a series of racist books, who turns out to be a blind black man. His immediate entourage, generally dressed in combat fatigues, said "Sure, we know what color he is, but if we tell him he'd commit suicide, and then we'd lose our best author." When he speaks in public, he is dressed in a KKK outfit which hides his skin. He is outed when he gets so excited he pulls off the hood in the middle of screaming "White Power" over and over. Etc.
Siarlys,
ReplyDeleteWell I don't know about your movie proposal, but the point I was trying to make is that the series of events at UCSD is taking on a rather fishy smell.
What's not clear is who is conspiring against who to do what? Sometimes expressions of racism need to be confronted. Sometimes they need to be ignored like the ravings of demented Aunt Matilda who has Tourette's Syndrome -- that is, when the racist in question is yearning for attention and has no significant following.
ReplyDeleteSiarlys,
ReplyDeleteYou are not reading between my lines very well.