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Page 10
The Battalion
Thursday, September 23,1
Western civilization
superior to all others
Permit me, please, to take a moment of
time to examine the current controversy sur
rounding multicultural education. I am very
much in favor of it. I think that all college
students should have to take at least one or
two courses regarding the study of non-west
ern cultures.
Why? Because it is the best way to make
them understand and appreciate the superi
ority of western civilization. Notice that I did
not say "the superiority of white people."
This is because whites are not inherently bet
ter than anybody else, they just have less pig
ment.
I'm not a racist; I'm a culturalist. The dif
ference is that a racist dislikes other races; a
culturalist dislikes other cultures. It is wrong
to say "whites are better than blacks." It is
not wrong to say "The culture that produced
classical music, modern medicine and the
concept of human rights is' better than the
culture that produced tribal wars, human
sacrifice and dancing around the fire to ap
pease the gods."
Have I just insulted all blacks. Orientals
and other non-westerners? No. Have I said
that immigrants to America are not as good
as Americans? No. I have said that America
is the greatest nation the world has ever
known and that we owe it to having sprung
from the greatest civilization the world has
ever known.
Earlier, I said that I was in favor of multi
cultural education. Let me qualify that state
ment. I am in favor of true multicultural ed
ucation. If we're going to study non-Euro
pean cultures, let's also study Greece, Rome,
the British Empire, etc. If we concentrate on
the study of non-western civilization, we will
lose sight of the wonderful culture which all
Americans can claim as their own, regardless
of minor things like skin color.
who make us non-conservative "freaks" feel
like we shouldn't be here. Although I'm not
a conservative. I've found my place here at
A&M very well because I don't exclude those
who happen to have a different belief (which
in my case is a great number of people).
I believe you have the right to be an Ag
gie, whether I like what you say or stand for.
Please, learn to tolerate the ideas and
lifestyles of others even if you don't approve.
How many times does it have to be said?
"Nothing else matters. We are all Aggies!"
of parochialism. They advocate repression of
any ideas of others and doggedly insist that
A&M remain an intellectual backwater.
Unable to deal with social change and
committed to mediocrity, it seems that these
opponents of multiculturalism at A&M can
only shout, "Gag 'em, Aggies!"
If Texas A&M graduates are to be nation
ally respected and adequately prepared to
move into the workforce of the 21st century,
our students must develop a broader per
spective and a more sophisticated approach
to issues of gender, ethnicity and race.
Multicultural course requirements incor
porated into the core curriculum seem an ex
cellent way to encourage development of
such a perspective.
Ethel Ashworth-Tsutsui
Professor of Biochemistry anti Biophysics
Fortner Director of Women’s Studies
Corbin P. Wickman
Class of'97
Objective thought, not
indoctrination needed
Conservatives don't
I wonder if the majority of the Liberal Arts
endorse racism, bigotry
•ity
the
Roy McIntyre
Class of'97
Aggies don't exclude
those who don't fit in
After reading through Joseph A. Bell's ex
tremist ideology in "Conservatives lose right
to free speech" in the Sept. 15 issue of The
Battalion, I felt compelled to respond imme
diately.
Who, exactly, made him in charge of ad-
ific
Mr. Kraft, I emphatically object to being
accused of being a bigot and a racist. I am a
Republican and a conservative, and I also ob
ject to Texas A&M University trying to force
me to take classes that I feel are aimed at tak
ing potshots at my set of beliefs.
Whether you want to admit it or not
makes no difference to me, but the main ob
jective of required multiculturalism classes is
to indoctrinate students in the liberal way of
thinking and only serves as a vehicle for lib
eral professors to promote their political
agenda.
As to who is racist, I believe you are, sir. It's
called reverse discrimination, and from the
sound of your letter, you actively endorse it.
If minorities want equality, then they
should accept the fact that equality doesn't
include special preferences. It means the
elimination of the check box that says,
"Would you like to try to qualify for African-
American scholarships?" It means the end of
Latin-American students getting into schools
with lower SAT scores, while Asian-Ameri-
cans and whites are expected to be in the top
five percent range.
It means that people are hired because of
their abilities, not because their race was un
justly treated in the past. And it most certain
ly means the end of pushing multicultural
ism courses that harp on wrongs and injus
tices committed by the the majority and then
condemns them.
Publicly, 1 would like to say that I do not
endorse racism or bigotry and neither do
conservatives. What we endorse is the end of
reverse discrimination and preferential treat
ment that so many minorities have come to
enjoy aJfheir birthright.
missions qualifications? If he had it his way,
only those who met his specific qualifications
would gain admittance into this great institu
tion. Who is he to say what all Aggies must
be or must believe in?
Here in Aggieland, my friend, you can be
lieve in whatever you want. The last time I
checked, everyone was welcome at Texas
A&M. In Mr. Bell's society, those who were
somewhat different would be denied their
basic rights. Personally, I think he is afraid
and threatened by anything different.
Let me tell you something, Joe, you are
going to leave A&M someday and enter the
real world where there are also gays, atheists
and others who are not the same as you.
You'd better learn now to live with everyone,
regardless of what they are or what they
should stand for. Another thing, does it real
ly matter that this school is primarily conser
vative? Does this fact mean that the minority
who isn't conservative doesn't deserve to be
here ?
The A&M you want would be comprised
of 40,000 clones, all possessing your extreme
ly exclusive criteria. It is people like you
Joseph A. Bell
Class of'97
Multicultural backlash
shows need for courses
Your recent article on the public forum for
the discussion of an American Cultures and
International requirement for the core cur
riculum reported that two officers of the
young Conservatives of Texas lashed out
against a more open and inclusive curricu
lum, bemoaning the fact that "only" 120
course choices with a hidden political agen
da" might be available and that there might
not be "any classes about whites or males."
This asinine analysis only underscores the
need for curricular reform in this area at
Texas A&M. It is the responsibility of educa
tors to expose students to the complexity and
diversity of the society in which they live.
At the moment, when faced with unfamil
iar ideas, some students at A&M can only re
spond with the unthinking fear and bigotry
Council members saw the Sept. 12 Sunday
Doonsbury cartoon. In it a university presi
dent laments the establishment of separate fa
cilities—everything from dorms to graduation
ceremonies — for black students. The president
speaks of marching with M.L. King and then
readies himself for the latest demand from
black students — separate water fountains.
The development of a multicultural re
quirement in the College of Liberal Arts leads
me to believe we are on the very road the uni
versity president in Doonsbury laments. It is
the first crack that will open up the chasm of
separate curricula for blacks, women and any
other group of individuals who feel them
selves trodden upon.
Higher education is about the pursuit of en
lightenment, not about indoctrination. Unfor
tunately, indoctrination is what the new multi
cultural requirement is all about.
Dr. Richard Stadelmann of Texas A&M has
pointed out that in a course "Women in Poli
tics," it was taught that "Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison does not support women's issues
and is not, therefore, a real woman," and that,
"U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
is an 'aberration' and is not really black." The
course was taught here at A&M.
Some who oppose this requirement agree
that an international studies requirement like
that of Indiana University at Bloomington
would be good thing. There, the student must
take six hours of study concerned with one
culture. Cultures and systems studied are tru
ly diverse and global, including courses on
France, Japan, and Latin America. None of the
possible courses ofxftudy include "gender is
sues" courses which are so clearly doctrinaire.
Debate was and still should be a part of
everyday life at a university. However, so
confident are the proponents of multicultural
education that they have found the ultimate
truth, debate is not to be allowed. After two
years of what was probably scheming rather
than study, the university-funded travel to
"study" other schools' multicultural require
ments (sounds like Congress), the multicultur
al requirement was imposed during the sum
mer when relatively few students were around
to oppose it. And, those who passed the pro
posal impose the requirement on students
who have no voice, the freshman and transfers
of the future. The hypocrisy of this generation
of faculty , many of whom took part in the
protest of the '60s for a stronger student voice
in education, is particularly galling.
If there is truly an objective argument that
more diverse views need to be presented in
the classrooms of today's university because of
a past "Eurocentric" or male-dominated view,
let us debate the issue openly and incorporate
changes in the courses already taught. Let us
look at issues analytically and resist creating
tensions among groups in our society simply
out of some revolutionary bent and an empty
attempt to "feel" another's pain. Come, let us
reason, together.
/. Byron Schlomach '84
Assistant lecturer in economics
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Thursday, S
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