Feeding the Fires of Racism

I have a problem. It deals with people, words, attitudes, semantics and Goud Maragani's infamous opinion article. As you may know, there was a rally protesting the Flame in the Quad on Friday the 23rd. It was a profoundly dramatic affair, and in my eyes accomplished very little. People went up and rightfully got to have their say, rhetorically or otherwise. But the real fun was later, when the Flame invited attendees and organizers of the rally to meet with Flame staff in a lecture room A6. For those of you who weren't there, I'm sorry to report that you missed the Entertainment Event of the Season. There was so much mud slinging, shouting, and name-calling you'd think you were watching the Jerry Springer show or a bunch of politicians go at it. Associate Flame publisher Rob Olmstead succeeded in keeping the rallygoers from resorting to blows, but many people there didn't realize what else was going on, and this is where my problem lies.

First of all, Goud's article (along with the entire staff of the Flame) was repeatedly described as 'racist', one of the most heinous accusations you can call smear somebody with in today's PC-ridden culture. Yet the Merriam-Webster Dictionary's definition of 'racism' is "a belief that some races are by nature superior to others, also: discrimination based on such belief." Period. I do not believe that in Goud's article he ever says, "I'm better than black people" In fact, he never even mentions "black" at all. I think that the overall ambiguity and vague demeaning tone of the piece is what's causing this predicament in the first place. Don't get me wrong, Goud's article is a stylistic nightmare, along with several others of his. Filled with misinformation, inconsistencies, antipathy and general bad taste, it should've been tossed on the garbage heap

But that's not my problem.

Here's my problem. The rallygoers demanded an apology from the Flame. Think about that for a minute: Demanded an apology. How can you demand an apology? What good is it if doesn't come from the heart in the first place? It might as well be your mother making you apologize for saying a bad word when you were a kid. Thing is, that's the culture we live in. We think, "Oh if the offending party apologizes, everything is all settled"

But that's not all.

Racism is still a problem in the United States, and has been for hundreds of years. Apologizing for and firing someone who wrote an article that some people found offensive isn't going make the problem go away. Petitions aren't going to make it go away. Stealing copies of the Flame and instigating its editors isn't going to make it go away. The only thing that will make racism go away is dealing with it.

Let us use this incident as an impetus to deal with racism, rather than scream and yell for a while, then let it drift back under the table where everyone seems to think is belongs. That's not where it belongs. It belongs being dealt with in our homes, boardrooms and classrooms, not as a soapbox for people with private agendas. If everyone is so appalled and offended by racism as they say they are, why don't they get out and do something about it? A rally may be a good way to voice disapproval for something the Flame did and to demand an apology, but that's all it was because that's all it was left to be.

And suddenly it's not just my problem anymore. It's our problem, as a community, as a city, and as a country. The only question that remains is what are we going to do about it?

What do you think? Mail me