4A the university daily kansan
opinion
wednesday, october 15,2003
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I was just wondering if there is a technical name for George Bush's irrational fear of The Bill of Rights?
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I saw a mountain lion on West Campus last night. It looked at me.
To the girl in my English class who thinks she is perfect: You're not.
My roommates are fat, lazy slobs who refuse to clean up after themselves. Their mommas aren't here to do it for them. Free For All? What am I supposed to do?
It's racial, man. It's racial.
I think Maybeline should come up with a product line for kids and call it Babyline.
I still want to wear flip-flops, but I am too lazy to paint my toe nails.
You have to wait five days to get a gun. But I am mad now.
I look at the navel of a navel orange and I think that that looks nothing like my navel. Then I put a little lint in it and I think: OK, it kind of does.
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111 Stuaffer-Flint
stayskal's view
Wayne Stayskal/Knight Ridder
perspective
Color matters,but let's change why it does
Editor's note: Plummer is on a study abroad program in San Jose, Costa Rica.
"And before the problem can be solved, we must first understand the misconception of whites being 'normal' and minorities being 'the other,' not only in this country, but in this world."
I usually shy away from writing reactionary columns. But the last line in Brian Pearson's Oct. 10 column, which ran in The University Daily Kansan, sparked my interest. What does it mean if a society considers white as the norm? What is otherness?
COMMENTARY
Let me give you a little tour of North America, a society that presents whiteness as normal, the default setting, an unquestioned regularity. The United States is a society in which color doesn't matter, unless the color isn't white. Race is something "other" people have
Race is only a physical description if the person isn't white. If I started describing my experiences in terms of color, then I would be called too race-conscious: "I went to a white church last Sunday, my white professor said this, last night I went to this white party, and I had to drive through a white neighborhood." But if you replace all the race references to minority references such as Hispanic or African- American, those would be acceptable descriptions.
Alexzia Plummer opinion@kansan.com
description
Movie-goers and television audiences are expected to look past race and see the mainstream appeal of white characters. TV shows with all-white casts aren't called white shows. In contrast, if a show comes on with more than three African-American characters, it's considered a black show. If a movie's cast predominantly contains minorities, then it's an ethnic movie. Tom Hanks plays "everyman" but Denzel Washington will always play a black man.
Some people can easily find the monochromatic tendencies when the color isn't white. How many times have I heard questions like "Why is there a Black Entertainment Television? Why are there magazines that target minorities? Why do we need race-specific advertising?" These questions essentially ask, "Why are there media options that don't feature my race?" Has it occurred to anyone that sometimes people like to see reflections of themselves in their entertainment? How many nonwhite faces do you see during primetime television or on the covers of magazines?
The classic example of the double-standard of race is the question, "Why do the (fill in the minority) students all sit together?" Whether in a cafeteria or on Wescoe beach, when more than two minority students gather, it garners attention.
attention
This question leads me to the standard response, "Why do white students hang out together?" Why isn't race considered the common denominator in those gatherings? Look around the next party you go or the next gathering of friends. How many social events are truly integrated?
When a white friend invites me to an event, he or she probably won't consider how many other people of color will be there or how open-minded their friends are. Race isn't a factor. But what happens if I invite a white friend to a gathering in which he or she will be in the minority?
in front of the ice wall at each spring, the University of Kansas
presents another example of the different way of referencing race. Every year the greek communities of the University hold two separate events: Rock Chalk Revue and the Step Show. I've never read an article about the first event that said something like "the historically white sororities and fraternities held their annual charity event. The mostly white audience..." But when writing about the Step Show, suddenly the race of the participants and the audience gains significance. It seems that if any campus event attracts a group that isn't predominately white, race becomes newsworthy.
newsworthy.
These are just some examples. These are not great injustices. They are minor inconveniences that reinforce the majority while further pushing "others" aside.
Yes, I am color-conscious. I'm not dreaming of a colorblind society. I enjoy the differences among people. I wouldn't want people to hide their different identities, backgrounds and ethnicities in order to assimilate to a homogenous United States. Instead of getting rid of differences, we must change the way we look at difference.
Plummer is a Bellvue, Neb., senior in journalism.
perspective
Don't have any experience on the job? Run to be our next governor or president
When applying for a job, most companies tend to look at experience to measure how well applicants will succeed at the job they are applying for.
If you decide to apply to be the president or CEO of Texaco Oil, the interviewers might ask what positions you've held in the past. If your only experience is making seven-layer burritos, they would probably dismiss you as unqualified.
GUEST COMMENTARY
Today, it seems that the opposite is true in the world of politics. The recent trend shows voters voting for people who lack experience.
Marc Ingber
opinion@kansan.com
Take the obvious choice: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Here's a man who one day wakes up and says, "Hey! I once played a pregnant man in the modern-day classic Junior," so of course I could be the governor of California! I think I'll go on Jay Leno and announce my candidacy.
And then, a couple months later, that very same man, Arnold "It's not a tumah" Schwarzenegger, is going to be the leader of the fifth largest economy in the world.
Another example is Wesley Clark.
Although his experience is more closely related to politics than the former Kindergarten Cop, he still has little experience in politics. Leading troops in battle is one thing. Trying to get Ted Kennedy and Tom Delay to agree on something is entirely different.
But I must admit he is ambitious. When entering politics, most people decide to start small: run for city council or mayor perhaps. But Clark, probably in between bites of mashed potatoes, goes all out and says to himself, "Hey! I think I'm going to run for President of the United States of America. Simple as that, and he's leading in the
Hell, if a porn star can get votes for governor, I figure I might as well throw my hat in the ring and announce my candidacy for president. I have experience. I once worked at Taco Bell.
One need not look any further than Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, Jesse Ventura or Clint Eastwood to see this. But as you know, these people held their offices with varying degrees of success. Being from Minnesota, I know this quite well.
national polls for Democratic candidates.
Only time will tell if Clark becomes president or if Arnold is successful as governor, but the fact that they have had success so far shows voters are getting tired of the antics of "real" politicians. It sends the message out that the people think character is just as important as experience.
Of course, these two aren't the first politicians who got their careers started in unrelated fields.
Ingber is a Golden Valley, Minn., senior in journalism.
report card
1
Pass:
Roundtable discussion: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Black Student Union and two Kansan columnists discussed why race matters. It was refreshing to see people hash out differing opinions face-to-face and respectfully. We should do this more often.
Cool calculus teacher: It seemed too good to be true, but one graduate teaching assistant really does make math fun. GTAs across campus, are you listening? Fail
Fail:
Sebelius' public education plan: Kansas' governor ran circles around the issue of a huge budget gap at Thursday's Emily Taylor and Marilyn Stokstad Women's Leadership Lecture Series. It kind of put a dent in the "leader" part of her "Leader as a Person" lecture.
Residence-hall parking passes: Residents on Daisy Hill are forced to walk home alone at night from distant parking spots because the University continues to gouge the prices of passes. When will the Parking Department realize that our safety is more important than our money?
Louise Stauffer and Stephen Shupe/Kansas
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