The Battalion
OPINION
Wednesday, February 22,1989
Mail Call
Racism thrives in America
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to Dean Sueltenfuss’ column about placing a
minority on the Texas A&M Board of Regents.
First of all, Mr. Sueltenfuss, when you wrote that “Racism is close to being
eradicated in the United States,” you were obviously joking. That is the only
explanation I can come up with for such a fallacious statement.
If you had bothered to do any research on discrimination, you would
have found that the National Institute Against Prejudice and Violence cited
that racial incidents have occurred at more than 160 colleges in the last three
years.
Furthermore, you would have known that Texas A&M has had its share
of racial incidents.
Mr. Sueltenfuss, am I assuming too much when I say I am sure you agree
with Congress that there should be equal representation for states in the
House of Representatives? Shouldn’t the Board of Regents equally represent
the students of A&M? Not everyone at A&M is white, like the members of the
board.
Also, Mr. Sueltenfuss, your argument that a minority might not “give a
damn” about his own people is weak. Very few minorities are ashamed of
their heritage.
Even if that was the case, do you think Gov. Clements would appoint
someone who would not support his own race? I suggest you re-evaluate your
argument.
Diane Bass ’91
Making the grades
EDITOR:
Several weeks ago, Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson walked
off the court in protest of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s
Proposition 42. This proposition which would require students attending
college on athletic scolarships to score at least a 700 on their SAT and have a
2.0 grade point average in high school.
Thompson and other coaches against Proposition 42 contend that it will
deny black athletes a chance to attend college. They also claim the NCAA is a
group of racists and that the SAT is culturally biased.
Perhaps.
But the issue remains that countless athletes (mostly black) are being
given free rides at colleges all over the nation based only on their ability to
run, jump or dunk.
Seventy-five percent of all black athletes fail to graduate from college.
Not only is this an insult to hard-working students, but also (and especially) to
student athletes, both black and white.
When an athlete receives a scholarship for a sport, he or she is given free
tuition, free room and board, and free books, as well as a monthly check for
other expenses.
However, I know of cases where athletes have also applied for financial
aid or grants. Why? I doubt it’s for tutoring.
I realize that there are many distinguished graduates in society who
wof Idn’t have graduated if Proposition 42 had been passed earlier. But a
message needs to be sent to the 75 percent who choose to leave early: If they
want to play pro ball, they’d better have the.grades-
Matt Flanagan ’90
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters
for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and
must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
t
4
English should be official
As thousands of people cross the bor
der and become American citizens, the
language of the land is becoming an im
portant issue. There is no official lan
guage of Texas or of the United States.
I propose that English should be made
the official language.
Official English, which has already
been passed in 16 states, including Flor
ida and California, would prohibit the
government from making bilingual ed
ucation a general entitlement. It would
also prohibit the government from re
quiring multilingual government publi
cations, including ballots.
A national official English law or
amendment to the Constitution would
prevent schools from requiring immi
grant children to remain in bilingual ed
ucation, which tends to isolate them
within their language. Many studies
have shown that English “immersion”
helps students learn the language faster.
Even an accelerated English lesson with
quick transfer to regular classes taught
in English is preferable to the separate
educations Spanish-speaking students
are receiving in Texas and many other
states.
Critics of the movement falsely char
acterize it as “English only.” Yet official
English merely means that the acts and
duties of government will be carried out
in English, except for special circum
stances. Also, most of the statutes and
constitutional amendments already en
acted by the states provide for legis
latures to make laws that would enforce
official English.
Critics accuse the proponents of offi
cial English of being racist. Yet racism is
an easy, yet weak, defense for those who
do not understand the issue, and those
who have an interest not to understand
it.
Let’s try to understand it better by us
ing a hypothetical situation. Suppose a
group of reasonable people of this state
are deciding in what language ballots
should be printed. Most reasonable peo
ple would know that more people in
Texas speak English than any other lan
guage. They would also know our state
constitution was written in English, and
that Texas heritage is inseparably en
trenched in the English language.
Timm
Doolen
Columnist
These people probably believe the bal
lots should be printed at least in English.
Looking at a statistical analysis of the
primary languages spoken in the state,
these reasonable people would see that
Spanish is spoken widely throughout
the state, and many other languages are
spoken in far less proportions. So these
reasonable people might say that the
ballots should also be printed in Span
ish.
Then one of the reasonable persons
might suggest that to have a true sense
of democracy in the state, the ballot
should be readable by all people who
are eligible to vote. (In this hypothetical
case, let’s disregard illiterates, the blind,
and other pepople who couldn’t make
use of a normal ballot.) This would re
quire that the ballots be printed in all
languages spoken by registered voters
in Texas.
Then one of the reasonable people
might point out that when the state
prints a ballot in two languages instead
of one, it almost doubles the cost, and
when the state prints a ballot in more
than two languages, it almost triples,
quadruples, etc., the cos e rea
sonable people might decide that it is
only cost efficient to print the ballot in,
say, two languages — English and Span
ish, as is currently done in Texas.
This leads the reasonable people Jo a
dilemma. How can they print the ballot
in only English and Spanish, and not be
accused of being undemocratic, and
worse, discriminatory, against all the
persons who only speak other lan
guages? The reasonable people might
conclude that there is no way to be non-
discriminatory without making the
printing of ballots, and many other offi
cial publications, extremely costly to the
voters.
But let’s say that the voters of the
state have provided in their constitution
that English should be the official lan
guage of public discourse. And further
more, the language is promoted in the
public educational institutions of the
state. Then the state can print the ballot
only in English (saving money), and not
be discriminatory in its actions. Forifit
is stated in the constitution of the state
that the official language is English, and
all citizens have access to learn English
through the public school system, then
the state would not be discriminating
against any person when the ballots
were written in English.
The complications of a bilingual or j
multilingual state or nation are com
pounded when we consider such publit
occurrences as court proceedings and
even simple things like getting a driver’s
license. Since we have bilingual ballots,
are we also going to require that most
government officials learn a secondlan-
guage so they can communicate with the
people of the state. After all, many of
the people who read only the Spanish
portion of the ballots also get driver’sli-
censes. Attaining a driver’s licenseisdif-
ficult when the government employees
don’t know the language of the appl-
cant.
A reasonable person would say that
in our free country, an employee should
not be forced to learn another language
to be gainfully employed. Yet there is
currently no law in Texas that would
prohibit this. And further, if that em
ployee had to learn Spanish instead of
another language, that would againdis
criminate against non-Spanish speakers
The only reasonable solution is a
common language that all citizens can
share. Could there be any doubt thatthe
language should be English, thehiston-
cal language of our country?
An amendment to our Constitute
establishing official English may he
needed to promote the general welfare,
as stated in the preamble. Our countn
is fdled with Anglo culture, indudinga
document that went into effect 1
years ago, which was written in English,
Timm Doolen is a sophomore com
puter science major and a column!!
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Skin color not the only difference among races
I do not profess to be a master of
physics. Therefore, when someone asks
me for help with physics, I send them to
my roommate. I do not profess to be a
master of law. Therefore, when some
one asks me for advice on legal situa
tions, I send them to my father. I do not
profess to be a master of engineering.
Therefore, when someone asks me
about engineering, I send them to my
fraternity brother. Being intelligent is
realizing what you do not know.
/
Assuming the above is true, we have a
large amount of people here at Texas
A&M who are less than intelligent. By
that I mean there are many people here
that act as though they know what is best
for minorities, or majorities, or half-
breeds like myself. We should only
speak about that which we know.
If you have never been black, if you
have never been Hispanic, if you have
never been Oriental, and yes, if you
have never been white, how can you say
what is best for that group of people? If
you do not know the struggles that par
ticular group has encountered, how can
you be sensitive to their needs? To make
it easier I offer this analogy: If you have
never been poor, how do you know
what it is like to be hungry?
Gov. Clements made a" smart move
when he appointed a Hispanic to the
Texas A&M Board of Regents. To have
overlooked such an opportunity would
be to tell all minorities: “Sorry, you got
lost in the shuffle.”
Whether the student body or Texas
A&M (and yes, there is a difference)
wants to admit or not, the needs of mi
norities are not being met here at Texas
A&M.
A perfect example of someone
judging what they do not know was the
argument concerning funding for the
Multicultural Services Center for this
year. From what I understand, the Stu
dent Senate didn’t feel the center was
representative of all races and also
didn’t see the importance of such a cen
ter.
Of course they didn’t — the Senate is
not predominantly minority, which
would have allowed for a better voicing
of minority opinions. In short, they
didn’t understand.
Just recently I read the following
statement: “Racism cannot be elimi
nated until everyone realizes that the
only difference between a non-white
person and a white person is the color of
their skin.”
First of all, why were “white” and
“non-white” used? I’m not “non-white”
— I’m Hispanic. There is a distinct dif
ference. Saying “white” and “non-whi
te” breaks everyone down to two ethnic
groups — obviously a mistake.
Secondly, the statement is a nice
thought, but a bit unrealistic. I myself
do not think racism can be eliminated.
Racism is a state of mind that cannot be
changed. It has been a part of our world
for ever and always shall be. All we can
do is pray for those who believe in it.
Discrimination, on the other hand, is
what 1 choose to attack. I don’t care how
you feel about me, just give me the same
chance to achieve that you have. Right
now, minorities at Texas A&M do not
have the same chance. There are few
people that we can turn to who will be
able to relate to the struggles we have
encountered.
1 want to make one last statement
How can you know where I am ur
you’ve been where I’ve been and k
where I’m coming from?
J.Frank Hernandez is a sophonm
general studies major and a staff m-
tant for The Battalion.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Becky Weisenfels, Editor
Leslie Guy, Managing Editor
)ean Sueltenfuss, Opinion Page Editor
Anthony Wilson, City Editor
Scot Walker, Wire Editor
Drew Leder, News Editor
Doug Walker, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
lary-Lynne Rice, Entertainment Edi
tor
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resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
ulty or the Board of Regents.
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Board needs minority member
When Gov. Bill Clements announced
his selections for the two open positions
in the Texas A&M University System’s
Board of Regents, Raul Fernandez was
one of the appointees. A Hispanic was
chosen not only because of pressure
from the state Legislature, but because
it was the only responsible decision to
make.
With the inevitable merger of the
A&M System and the University System
of South Texas, it will be important that
minority student needs and concerns
are represented in the Board of Re
gents, the governing body of the entire
A&M system. The three member
schools oTthe USST, Laredo State Uni
versity, Corpus Christi State University
and Texas A&I University in Kingsville,
have predominantly Hispanic student
bodies. Prairie View A&M University, a
member of the A&M System, has a pre
dominantly black student body.
A&M President William Mobley said
he recognized the need for a minority
group member on the Board in an Feb.
17 article in The Battalion. Some may
criticize Mobley for that statement and
argue that it would be wrong to appoint
a minority strictly on the basis of race.
And they would be right.
However, I don’t believe Mobley, or
anyone else concerned with the System,
wanted Clements to select someone
based on his or her skin color. What
they did want, and should have wanted,
was for Clements to search for and ap
point the most qualified minority group
member.
Anthony
Wilson
City Editor
That shouldn’t have be too difficult.
Many qualified blacks and Hispanic Re
publicans can be found in Texas.
In the Feb. 20 issue of The Battalion,
Dean Sueltenfuss made a valid point in
his column when he wrote that a white
man can be sympathetic to the needs of
minority groups. However, he goofed
when he proclaimed that the only dif
ference between whites, blacks, Hispan-
ics, Orientals and American Indians is
skin color. Skin color isn’t even the ma
jor difference between races.
Culture is.
No matter how attuned to minority
group concerns a white man may be, it is
almost impossible for that same man to
be in tune with minority groups’ cul
tures, unless he was raised in an envi
ronment in which he was a member of
the minority.
For example, as a white, Anglo-
Saxon, Protestant, middle-class male, I
know little and understand less about
the Hispanic and black cultures.
In a hypothetical situation, let’s say
the Board is comprised of five men and
four women, all middle-aged, of Orien
tal descent. Obviously, their culture is
vastly different from mine, or that of
Hispanics or blacks. As a student within
the System, I would have great concerns
that the Board would not be in tout!
with m concerns and needs — nottf
cause uiey wouldn’t necessarily be»
qualified, but because they would hi
little background or understandini
about what my needs and concern
would be.
Opponents of naming a
group member to the Board mayaifi?
that it’s not necessary, and they m
point to the growth of Prairie Vif
A&M in recent years when only one®
nority member was on the Board
However, much of Prairie Vie*
growth is directly attributable to itsprft
idem, Dr. Percy Pierre.
But Pierre, who has done an excels
job in the development of his universif
will be leaving his position in May.A*
whoever takes his place will have th
proverbial big shoes to fill. If
View’s next president is not the admi®
trator that Pierre is, that university* 1
need more representation on tl 11
Board.
Until the System’s Board isafairre?
resentation of highly qualified perse'
of diverse cultures, the System will
saddled with its good of boy image
course, the real losers would be the#
dents without that fair representation
Anthony Wilson is a senior jours'
lism major and city editor for The Hr
talion.