1990_09 The Daily Collegian September 1990

              Wednesday, Sept. 5,1990
P009J
TEX
Continued from page two
You're the new kid on the block.
We're going to pick on you and
make Jokes about you and Insult
you, and you know what? You're
going to sit there and take it and
insult us back until you're ac¬
cepted for what you really are. And
if you're not man enough to take
it, that's too damn bad."
Walking back to the table. I
could feel his eyes storing holes
between my shoulder blades. It
was a long walk. Just as I re¬
gained my seat, Tex sat down
where he had been. He was grin¬
ning like a used-car salesman on a
slow day.
"Y*aU ever hear the one about
the teacher and the truck driver?"
Tex was ready to give as good as
be received.
Perhaps you're wondering what
all this has to do with "A Letter
Home." Wefl. Tex did have a lot of
trouble with his English, and he
was supposed to write a letter
home at least once a week. I had
to help him write those letters,
and 111 show them to you begin¬
ning next week. -
David Ftnesiluer is the pseudonym
for a CSUF English major. Hts
column will run periodically.
Survey results to be revealed
LETTER
Continued from page two
enuUon."
But the use of ethnicity as currency
doesn't stop there. Once in, this univer¬
sity can hold your hand if you wish,
courtesy of the publicly-funded "reten¬
tion programs.* These are institutional
proof that the students coming in under
racial favoritism aren't prepared in the
Qretplace. Its an embarrassing acknowl¬
edgment that there is more to doing well
in college than weaving past those nasty
white people in the Admissions Office. It
is an expensive example of what hap¬
pens to people who come into a Job or
college spot by special favors Instead of
by merit, be they white or black.
America got Its greatness by reward -
InginittaUve, not dependency. The coun¬
try whose flag you refuse to salute sanc¬
tions merit While there may be fewer
minorities at State than you would like,
there are far more than there would be,
were blacks and Chicanos — heaven
forbid - held, to the same scholastic
standards as whites. If you admit that
you dislike competition and that people
of color should have special favors over
white people, then you truly should not*
salute the flag. You would be in the
wrong, butatleastyouwould be consis¬
tent
And finally, you say you refuse to
salute the flag because you know of gays
who have been bashed. You are con¬
cerned about a. booth that has been
torched by arsonists Ponce wrote a col-
umn condemning the same crime.). Your
argument seems to be that if you are not
free to walk in safety, you are not free. I
agree. I have a straight white male
friend who would love to enjoy the free¬
dom you seem to think Is reserved for
only his kind. A group of black men
assaulted him In his own apartment. He
didn't know them and said and did
nothing to them. His reconstructive
facial surgery went quite well.
My friend endured a hardship you
apparenu^Uhinkis the exclusive scourge
of unfortunate minorities. The attack
against him Is ho less heinous than gay-
bashing, but what sets him apart from
you Is not his skin color, but rather, his
attitude — he is not petty; he does not
lick his wounds in public.
And more to the point he still salutes
the flag. He understands that to achieve
"justicefor^dl.'agoodflrststepistoask
our children, in schools and at ball
games, to work for that justice. The
salute to the flag Is a formal pledge of
allegiance to a nation which has gone
further and taster toward that goal —
and on a grander scale- than any other
nation on earth. The salute is an implicit
premise to protect the good In our nation
and eradicate the bad. And the warm
feeling you speak of suspiciously is the
love children begin to feel for something
they dont quite understand yet
It Is a good thing to teach love of
country. For If you dont love your own
nation, why bother changing It?
You claim yourself to want Justice. If
this is so. it would behoove you to under¬
stand that asking our children to re¬
spect their nation - a nation which
aspires to an elusive level of perfection
— is your first and last hope, Mr. Here-
Bill Pierce
tf
*%
COMEDY NIGHT
TONIGHT
RUSH
Lambda Chi Alpha
^
-i ~ *■ •' "-■ - "■'■
.....^
By Sylvia Castro
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
In May of 1989 CSUF President Ha¬
rold H. Haak established IheTaskForce
on Racism. Sexism said Homophobia as
a response to students requests for ad-
minis trauve action against alleged ra¬
cism in student politics.
Comprised of 22 members. Including
students, faculty, staff and administra¬
tors, the task force was designed to
Investigate and determine the extent of
racism, sexism and homophobia as it
exists on campus.
Task farce chair Walter Robinson said
that It will release results from a stu¬
dent survey that will provide statistics
regardlngstudent sentiments about dis¬
crimination on campus.
Haak said in an address before the
Academic Assembly last week that the
survey indicates "dlscriinlnationdueto
race/ethnicity, gender, or sexual orien¬
tation at CSUF Is not as widespread nor
as severe as has been reported."
In his address. Haaksaid. "We are the
only campus in the CSU system that
has such" a task force or that has taken
such aii affirmative stand on these is¬
sues.
"CSUF is one of the few university
campuses in the state that is attempt¬
ing to deal with these Issues In such a
proactive manner."
Haak said that although two-thirds of
the people surveyed Indicated they had
heard insensitive racial and ethnic
remarks, only 16 percent said they felt
uncomfortable on campus because of
their race.
ASI President Don Daves said the
results of this survey may not be accu¬
rate.
"Average studentsdo not have enough
day-to-day Involvement In campus -
wide activites to see the full rarninca-
Uons of racism, sexism and homopho¬
bia.* DaveS said.
"Racism is not like it was in the '50s;
overt arnblatant Today. It Is institu¬
tionalized and hidden In the guise of
political moves, such as when the by¬
laws were attempted to be changed In
-39."
Haak also said 8 percent of the re¬
spondents characterized the current
climate on campus as not being sup¬
portive of people from <liff«ent ethnic
and racial backgrounds.
"On the other hand, the survey did
reveal a strong expression of homopho¬
bia as well as some Insights Into prob¬
lems of sexism on campus," he said.
Robinson said preliminary survey
results painted a gloomy picture tor
campus lesbians and gays.
Many of the respondents expressed
indifference, and In some cases hate,
toward lesbians and gays. Robinson
said homophobia would therefore place
high on the task force's agenda this fall
One of the incidents that prompted
the formation of the task force was a sit-
in demonstration staged by students
protesting student-government bylaw
changes during the spring 1989 semes¬
ter.
Some of the student protesters al¬
leged that racism and sexism were the
basis of bylaw changes which shifted
powers away from the president-elect
and vice president-elect, both of whom
went Chlcanas.
Another Incident that spawned the
task force was vandalism of the Gay.
Lesbian and Bisexual Student Alliance
booth In the Free Speech Area. The
booth was spray-painted once and
overturned several times.
The Daily
Collegian.
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