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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1988)
Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, March 28, 1988 Mon Opinion Brian, it’s time we the record straight My first reac tion to Brian’s col umn was that of a shrug-off. I pa tiently reminded myself that not many people are that simple- Rasheed Ladapo Guest Columnist minded to swallow his elaborate distor tion of facts hook, line and sinker. How ever, I could not help but notice that the guy is a senior history and Russian ma jor at this great university; and the se riousness of the matter at hand soon dawned on me — here is a guy who is supposed to know better, and who, not very long from now, may find hipiself in Washington as an expert on this or that. The image of another budding Donald Regan stupidly arguing that American women would not like to give up their jewelry as a defense against trade em bargo on South Africa flashed through my mind. I found it pertinent to put the record straight before someone starts to take Mr. Frederick too seriously. minded indeed to expect an adherence to the liberal democratic institutions hurriedly set up by the Europeans be fore they left by their African succes sors. Unfortunately, this is the position often taken by some Westerners. They, like Brian, conveniently avoid to look at the development of the past 25 years as a part of a continuum in which indepen dence will not be seen as a historical di viding line. To them I say wrong. I also argue that the savagery displayed by the likes of Amin and Bokassa was only a rub-off of the greater savagery of their teachers and masters i.e. the European colonists. Afghan Nicaraguan U.S. 6 Freedom Fighter ’ 4 Freedom Fighter ’ Freedom - Fighter V While it is not my intention to take him up on all his distortion of facts, his assertions that famine in Ethiopia is at tributable to the form of government there and that the ANC is a terrorist or ganization are nothing but balderdash. The situation in Ethiopia was caused largely by the drought but exacerbated by the civil war; while the history of the ANC shows an organization that pur sued peaceful non-violence change for more than two decades but later re sulted to armed struggle when all peace ful avenues closed to it. Inter-tribal conflicts, dictatorship and repression are not, as some would like us to believe, restricted to Africa. The on-going bloody tribal war in Northern Ireland, the not too long ago attacks on democracy in Europe by the fascists and the fact that neither the Spaniards nor the Portuguese had proved any better to their own people that government should be based on consent not force, should awaken the likes of Mr. Freder ick from their better-than-thou delu- range tunitit to tab foreig count! said at Ste> the sc: 1 k*t Oh, no, not the ELECTIONS sion. Brian’s article is a complete rehash of the same flawed line of reasoning that has repeatedly failed under critical anal ysis. Over and over again, apartheid apologists like Brian, the majority of whom are found in the West, are quick to naively argue that conditions in the rest of Black Africa are no better than that of South Africa. And they often buttress their position by citing the atro cities of the likes of Idi Amin and Mo butu. The truth is there are human rights violations everywhere, even in the “good ole U.S.A.” But it is absurd to compare what is going on in South Af rica with situations in the Soviet Union or the rest of Africa. I am totally con vinced that the condition of the Africans in South Africa in only one step behind that experienced by the Jews in Nazi Germany, i.e. the absence of the gas chambers! They’re heeeeeeere! Da da da dum, the Stu dent Government elections of 1988. In good con science, what ad vice can I offer but RUN, RUN, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME, SAVE So, I tried to get involved. Really, I really did. I mean, I didn’t wear tennis shoes to the senate meetings (at least not at first), and I tried to shake peo ple’s hands, smiling simultaneously (do NOT try this at home). I tried. I really tried. Mark Nair But I couldn’t do it. So I went to the newspaper and begged for a job. Oh, and aren’t they sorry now. Their argument falls on its face, how ever, when we patiently remind them that the culture of violence that they posited as characteristic of contempo rary African nations was in fact an im port of the “white” man and that the as cendancy to power of men like Amin was made possible by both the British and American intelligence agencies. While inter-state fighting had been going on in Africa long before the arri val of the colonists — an incidence not peculiar to Africa, for the Europeans too were slaughtering each other at that time — the level of violence and the bar baric destruction of lives on such un precedented a scale was alien to us. Sometimes I marvel at the audacity of some Westerners to manipulate history. The simple truth is that, in spite of their efforts, undoctored historical studies had shown that for the most part the co lonial state, just like the creation of the United States, was conceived and main tained by the free use of violence and brutal massacres. Brian completely erred when he wrote that “Africans lack the cultural and historical basis for democracy, which is a western innovation alien to African experience.” One would expect that he avail himself of the opportunity to break from regurgitating the narrow historical perspective of the old and broaden his horizon by studying histori cal materials written from different per spectives — this would have given him a balanced education. If he had done so, he would have learned, for example, that the Yorubas of the Southwestern Nigeria, to mention just one, had for thousands of years developed a system of government equiped with checks and balances not unlike ones obtainable in a democratic form of government. This was later violently disrupted by the “w- hite” man. Besides, isn’t his claim, by de duction, that the west had the necessary cultural and historical basis for democ racy a staggering piece of arrogance considering the fact that democratic model has had such a chequered career in the west? A lofty idea like democracy was never the invention of any race. Re member, much of the elements of the so called western civilization were bor rowed by the Greeks from that far- reaching and awe-inspiring Negroid civ ilization along the Nile valley, ancient Egypt. YOURSELF! OPIE, OPIE, GET THE FRISBEE! OK, OK, wait a minute. Maybe we really shouldn’t panic. After all, no sports writers are running for anything. Maybe there is a C»od. But then again, it is Student Govern ment. And then again, it is election time. And then again, this is my job. Ah, you gotta do what you gotta do. The following is a true and ugly story. Those weak of stomach and weak of mind are advised to read it cautiously. Anyway, back to the elections. I have decided, after months and months of in trospection and despair, to finally make my mark on the student body here at A&M. I have decided to jump back into the wonderful world of Student Gov ernment. And since only two people have decided to run for Student Body President this year, I figure that my chances are pretty good. Thus, there fore, so ii follows, simultaneously and at the same time, I am now officially run ning for Student Body President as the un-Offlcial Write-In Candidate of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. • The name Student Body Preside will be changed to “Quaffer of manycoloredmultifruitydrink.” • Release of all the hostages. • Put the liberal arts classes bad the liberal buildings. (No more philos phy in Blocker, no more politicalsder; in Zachry, no more English in thesis tunnels.) • Slide rules for everybody. • Change the name of the Phvsic Plant to Special Effects R Us. • Nominate Captain Kirk for Pn dent of the University. • Buy a book for the library (veryki portant agenda item). • Free showers at the Y. ment volunt spoke opmei day. Lon McGai Corps sent b gency. Lon challer person functic Hov from i open-r travels “Wh it's irr things and tin sons, “It’s duty t( sons,” 1 As a chance on a sc impori 'ong s; Whil unteer or mor tures. 1 :sting trong When I was a small urchin, my par ents were always trying to convince me to be someone important, someone powerful, someone famous. They were very disappointed when I decided to become Student Body President. But those were the old days when I was young, impressionable and strung out on Underdog reruns. I wasn’t responsi ble for my actions. T he good news is, I believe I have a very good chance. Why? Because only I, out of all the candidates, actually have an established, non-profit campaign or ganization — The Spam Eggs Spam Ba con Spam Spam And Spam Party. Our motto: “Two cans of Spam in every driveway, a spoonful of sauerkraut in every pot.” • H ave all student senators w those little cafeteria plastic thingiesa their heads. Anyone who wears a dew be summarily shot. And this is just a rough list. AHHM T HE POWER! Or rather, AH HA! T HE ILLUSION OF POWER! "Vol degree depenc iviews [change Of course, one problem remains. Ii a senior. I am graduating. Then,hi be a bum of the worst kind —i.e., a I? student. So, how will I rule? And then, suddenly, I was in college. And then, suddenly, it was Student Government election time. And then, suddenly, I was elected to the Student Senate. And I found that rather neat, because, you know, I wasn’t running for any Student Senate position. I won as a write-in candidate. Now, I suppose that even an un-Offi- cial Write-In Candidate should have some sort of political platform. No problem. The Gang and I at party head quarters have devised an agenda for my first year in office. It goes along these lines: No problem. I will rule with an fist. 1 will rule by proxy. I will senddt larations, proclamations and execoc orders by way of my faithful mime' Hal H. Hammons. Believe him, tne him. He is my right hand man. (Heal; writes sports, but we all have our pro: lems.) With six votes. A good case in point was colonial Ni geria — a country that was ignorantly described by Mr. Frederick as being rid den with “racial strife.” In 1906, the British once again demonstrated their unequaled barbarism by a ruthless su- pression of the Satiru revolt in North ern Nigeria. T his use of unbridled violence to sup press protest or any challenge to the “w- hite” man’s rule continued throughout the colonial period and into the eve of independence. By importing this brutal use of force into Africa, the colonial rul ers indeed provide a paradigm of gov ernment to their African successors, i.e. government rested not on consent but force. One then has to be very shallow- Yes, Mr. Frederick, Africans have spent the last 25 years trying to dis mantle the European legacy of violence. We did that in Uganda by throwing out Amin and his successor, and we are struggling to do just that in Zaire, South Africa and Liberia. Ironically, our struggles are not made any easier by the fact that the old masters of violence, though they like to portray themselves as the champion of human freedom, continue to prop up and aid these op pressive regimes as long as they get what you familiarly described as “strategic minerals.” In spite of all this formidable opposition to our freedom, we are mak ing progress everyday. We believe God is on our side; and with the help of peo ple of goodwill here in America and around the world, Azania shall be free. That’s right. I garnered that power ful (verging on omnipotent) position with six write-in votes. I knew my time in Student Government had come. • No more wimpy five-day school weeks. Classes will now go from six a.m. to 12 p.m., seven days a week. Profes sors will give comprehensive finals every other day. Every third week, students will have one day off from class. This day will be used for mood enhancement and catching up on the lost Munsters episodes. Above all, though, if you vote,'® for ME! This isn’t a question of doesn’t matter who you vote for,justs® te.” Heck no, VOTE FOR ME! That's! I care about. And if you don’t vote for me, Is break your face. Gosh, I love denis' racy. Mark Nan' is a senior political scie0 major and opinion page editor for^ Battalion. BLOOM COUNTY by Berke Breatbfl MILO / THIS IS Oft/5 CHecKW in/ srevz Id P&FINITELY Nor,.. RepefiT,NOT.. H/MSeLF/ Rasheed Ladapo is a graduate student He BOUGHT FeeftTeP mNTd / fnp hf me just OKftpes BNP PR/E CHEESE FOR LUNCH/ 1 TELL Yfi, -mepe's nothing he coulp PO THHT U/OULP SURPRISE ME , RNYMORE/ / The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Sue Krenek, Editor Daniel A. LaBry, Managing Editor Mark Nair, Opinion Page Editor Amy Couvillon, City Editor Robbyn L. Lister and Becky Weisenfels, News Editors Loyd Brumfield, Sports Editor Jay Janner, Photo Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspa per operated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily rep resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac ulty or the Board of Regents. 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