University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, April 17, 1990
5
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Editors Note: The following letters were submitted in response to David Goodman's April 13 letter about the February Daughters. Because of space restrictions, all letters could not be printed.
Disappointment
This letter is in response to a letter printed in Friday's Kansan in which the February Daughters of practicing racial discrimination.
My reaction is that of extreme disappointment for two reasons.
First, my disappointment is in the Kansan for allowing a letter to be published that contains libelous material about members of the February Daughters.
My second disappointment is in David Goodman. My brief and only encounter with Mr. Goodman was at the SAE incident response rally Wednesday. After the rally, different factions of the University decided to unite to make ourselves stronger politically. When Mr. Goodman realized I was a February Daughter, he pulled me aside and vented his anger about our group's not responding in the way he wanted us to.
Ironically, because we were February Daughters, we were instructed not to speak at the rally Wednesday and not to sign our names on the women's agenda (written by two February Daughters) that will be submitted to the chancellor.
Mr. Goodman, you must have an incorrect idea about what the February Daughters are and are not as a group. We are not and never have been a registered campus organization. We are not and never could be a campus watchdog, given the sheer number and diversity of women's issues.
I am very hurt that instead of listening to my group and me, you attacked our group with accusations in a campus newspaper, especially after a rally in which campus, organizations swallowed personal feelings for a larger goal.
For myself, I will continue to work on better relations with the administration. I feel with our groups in cooperation, we will better understand one another; communication between different people will occur and misunderstandings will happen less frequently.
Karen Mathels
Overland Park senior
As a member of the February Daughters, a group alleged to be both insignificant and racist, I just wanted to say one thing to our accuser, David Goodman: We are not your enemy.
I cannot dictate how a woman addresses this enemy. Ultimately,
Your enemy is the kind of bigryth and ignorance festering in the SAE house the night Ann Dean was attacked. Your enemy is the ease with which one is slandered, attacked or raped.
Dean must decide on what level she felt most betrayed: as an African-American, as a woman or American as a human being.
Mr. Goodman, I believe that we align ourselves with a broad but similar belief that we as human beings should be treated with respect and dignity, no matter how our race, sex or sexual orientation differs. To claim that we as February Daughters do not adhere to this basic belief is both simplistic and divisive. I recommend that you sit down and reflect what really requires your energy and actions instead of attacking a group with a common goal and creating more division.
Marla Rose Chicago senior
In the past few months, there has been a refreshing rebirth of radicalism and activism here at KU. Black Men of Today, Students Concerned About Discrimination and the February Daughters all are groups committed to removing the specter of oppression from our community.
Work together
Unfortunately, in last Friday's Kansas, David Goodman chose to take it upon himself to divide the radical front. Using violent language, he pitted Black women against white women, pitied other feminists against the February Daughters and implied that Black women can trust only Black men, denying the sisterhood of all women.
This sort of division is the most dangerous attack on radicalism. Working together, great strides
are being made and have the potential to be made; divided we all fail.
Mr. Goodman, please continue to fight oppression and racism, but remember that as radicals, all of us will this for the same reason. Freedom
Aaron Rittmaster Overland Park senior
Always working
Women who come to the February Daughters work on these events: volunteering at the battered women's shelter, the Take Back the Night march, rape and assault programs for the Interfraternity Council, a Lawrence women's childcare collective, People Stopping Rape, the protest against the Miss USA pageant, the February Sisters Commemorative Forum on Battering, People Against Violence events for Women's History Month, addressing the issues of racism and sexism in the Western Civilization program, counseling rape survivors, GALA week, women's health concerns, providing information and support for women who experience sexual harassment at the workplace, the Douglas County Aids Awareness Week, human rights legislation, emergency transportation for women needing medical care, the minority concerns rally at Strong Hall on Wednesday. We don't simply "walk the walk;" we live it.
February Daughters is not a campus organization. Indeed, in a traditional sense, it is not an organization at all. It is non-hierarchical; there are no memberships, charters or official spokespersons. February Daughters have meetings where radical feminists can gather each week to be safe and sane. We share information and support, and then each of us walks back into the night, picks up our individual fight and goes on.
And our fights do include the struggle of Ann Dean. We do recognize the interconnectedness of racism and sexism, and of heterosexism and classism as well. Women who attend February Daughters meetings were involved in the rally at Strong Hall on Wednesday. We have supported her struggle. We just didn't do it as "daughters." We did it as women. We did it as sisters.
Connie Burk Lawrence senior
Useless criticism
The February Daughters are cheered by the concern that David Goodman showed for women's issues. However, we think there are more productive outlets for his enthusiasm. For example, he could join "Changing Men of Lawrence," a men's group interested in educating themselves about issues of oppression.
I question the usefulness of Mr. Goodman's criticism of February Daughters. In general, I question the usefulness of men's instructions to women about how to deal with their own oppression. I suggest that his motive was not to advise but rather to divide; all oppressed people have their oppression and their oppressors in common. February Daughters
recognize this.
I did attend the demonstration Wednesday, and I thought that Black Men of Today connected the issues of sexism and racism in very productive and honest ways. The February Daughters support them in their efforts.
The February Daughters are a group of very busy feminist women connected only by the issues that concern us. We are not a campus group, and we have made NO promises to break. We have not promised to deal with every issue of sexism that arises on campus; to do that would take the full attention and effort of every student on this campus. In fact, no white woman attacked at a residence hall has been from us because we don't call women who have not expressed interest in our group. We would be delighted if Ann Dean would like to contact us.
Any (feminist by her own definition) woman is welcome in our group. This includes women of color and lesbians, who have come in the past and who I expect will come in the future. The February Daughters are offended by this attack on our group. If you are interested in women's issues, Mr. Goodman, we suggest that you do something about it yourself instead of attacking women's grouns.
In closing, I'd like to express solidarity with Black Men of Today, Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas and especially Ann Dean in their struggle. You should all feel free to contact the February Daughters.
Amy Hammer February Daughter
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