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^ The Battalion
Opinion
Friday
November 17, 1995
Racism prevalent at Texas A&M
T exas A&M is infested
with bigotry. However, no
one is willing to admit
there is a problem, partially be
cause it is so well-disguised.
Racism hides in campus or
ganizations, justifies itself un
der the name of reverse dis
crimination and refuses to
change for the assumed pur
pose of higher education.
Racism is also well-disguised because it is
unintentional. Many students add to the
problem, yet they have no idea. Self-right-
eously, most students boast they are not
plagued by racial prejudice.
Bu, just look around this campus. Voluntary^
integration is scarce. In classrooms, the seating
arrangements form distinct color patterns. And
it’s not just in the classroom — this holds true
almost eve v ywhere on campus.
Organizations are the epitome of segrega
tion. Specific groups exist for African Ameri
cans, Mexican Americans and Asian Ameri
cans, but few minority members belong in oth
er campus activities.
The Greek system is also plagued by this
problem. The Interfratemity Council repre
sent and govern only white Greeks. The Pan-
Hellenic Council only represents and governs
African American Greeks. The councils work
together, but to cross the line from either side
is taboo. Those few people who decide to bold
ly break down racial barriers on our campus
are shunned by their own race as well as oth
er races.
Although few white Greeks complain about
the system, many hold the common view of “re
verse discrimination.”
White males complain women and minori
ties get their own organizations; therefore, they
demand to form their own, too. But if any white
male decided to join one of the established mi
nority organizations, it might be difficult — but
not impossible. To turn a white male away
would be discrimination. Instead of questioning
the system, white males cry reverse discrimina
tion and blame minorities for racial attacks.
The same voice is heard in the considera
tion of a cultures course. No one wants to
sound like a scared racist, so in
stead they say, “Requiring a
course like this will only make
races hate each other more.”
Obviously these people have
never taken such classes.
Cultures courses provide our
campus with the atmosphere
needed for association among
races. The interaction and discus
sions in such courses often get
personal. But the intense, heated moments add
to a better understanding of one another.
More than once I’ve heard Aggies refute the
need for a required cultures course by asking,
“Why should we study our differences? Minori
ties don’t have to study whites. Why can’t they
just be like us?”
The necessity for a cultures requirement
stems from
people who
make these re
marks. They
are the same
people who see
an ambitious,
well-spoken
African-Ameri
can male and
say he is more
white than
black. Advocat
ing assimila
tion is ironic,
considering
many continu
ally stereotype
and classify individuals as “wannabees.”
Others have taken the stance that having re
quired cultures courses will make Texas A&M
another UC Berkeley, or it is not the Universi
ty’s duty to interrupt students’ major field of
study. They say the University should not dic
tate what is important in their core curriculum
and that this requirement would detract atten
tion from classes necessary for the “real world.”
Unless you are going to work in a lab with
rats for the rest of your life, studying differ
ent cultures, learning to better understand
one another, is incredibly beneficial.
Learning and growing through the social
interaction in these courses will (at least)
improve the atmosphere of the campus
through teaching students how to effectively
communicate. We should strive to become a
hybrid society. Who cares if graduates of
Texas A&M take .4 years longer to gradu
ate? The quality of education is more impor
tant than a quick graduation.
Students of this conservative campus will
suffer from the current sheltering of such is
sues as interracial relationships. This is some
thing our campus rarely faces, but something
that must be dealt with nonetheless.
No one will come right out and say they
simply do not want to learn about other cul
tures because they do not want to look like big
ots. Instead, they hide their resentment and
justify themselves with phony sensitivity.
Yet, these
people are
n >latantly
rac.st — just
your average
student. Be
hind closed
doors the
bigoted re
marks are
made,
laughed at
and be
lieved. Un
fortunately,
their closed-
minded pok
ing fun sets
back the development of our minds and society.
However unintentional these actions may
seem, cultural illiteracy causes offensive lan
guage, beliefs and thoughts. Only education,
even if mandated, can cure our campus.
If only Aggies would let down their guards
and examine their beliefs. People against re
quired cultures courses could learn a lot from
an alcoholic’s 12-step program ... the first step
is admitting you have a problem.
Erin Fitzgerald is a senior
English and political science major
Understanding hatred will
M y friend’s name is
Jack. I kept butcher
ing his Hebrew name
so he let me call him Jack.
Jack was a native Israeli in
the United States on an ex
change program.
By the time he was 18, he
already had a degree in both
business and math. He spoke
Hebrew, Arabic and English, and in addition
to his academic achievements he had a con
genial, affable character that was pure elo
quence. He was one of the nicest guys I had
ever met.
We had become pretty good friends, and
during summer school one day I asked
him what he thought about the
Israeli/Arab relationship.
It was during this time that Jack’s soft
demeanor abruptly changed.
A fire lit in his eyes, and he stared at me
for a moment.
In a cold, icy voice he said something I
never expected.
“Adam,” he said, “all Arabs should die.”
Whoa. I expected maybe a little animosi
ty, but I didn’t expect that from Jack.
, I couldn’t fathom how this guy, who had
been the perfect gentlemen in every way,
could have these feelings.
So I asked him why he felt that way.
Then he told me a little of his history.
Both his father and his uncle were killed
in the Yom-Kippur War with Egypt. His
brother, at the time of the conversation was
getting shot at in occupied ter
ritories in Palestine.
And even Jack at the age of
10 faced his own mortality
when a Palestinian terrorist
threw a hand grenade in his
crowded school bus. Fortunate
ly, the grenade was defective
and didn’t detonate.
I do not pretend to under
stand what is going on in the minds of the
Arabs and Israelis.
But after my conversation with Jack, I re
alized that the conflict in the Middle East is
much deeper than politics or territory or
even religion.
Over time, the fighting has graduated to
something more akin to a blood feud.
I’m not saying that a blood feud is the
reason behind all the killing in the Middle
East. Religion and territory obviously are
major instigators. But during my entire con
versation with Jack, not once did he mention
territory or religion. It was all pure hatred.
The alarming thing is that Jack’s senti
ments can be found elsewhere — even in the
top leaders of the Israeli government.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the
Right Wing opposition party was accused by
Prime Minister Yitshak Rabin’s wife of indi
rectly.causing Rabin’s assassination by stir
ring up anger in Right Wing extremists.
I don t know if she’s right, but I do know a
little about Netanyahu that may give some
credit to Rabin’s accusations.
Netanyahu was shot in the hand by a ter-
bring peace
rorist when he was with a counter-terrorist
unit that raided a hijacked airliner.
In addition, Netanyahu’s brother was killed
while leading the most incredible hostage res
cue in history — “Operation Thunderbolt.”
I would bet that these events had at least
some effect on his political position.
Countless Israelis and Arabs have lost
family members in this ancient conflict. And
it seems that every time peace is at hand,
some extremist group manages to stall or de
rail it. The hatred between these two peoples
bums beyond anything I can fully under
stand. I’ve never lost a family member to a
conflict. I can’t imagine what that’s like.
The anger may be the only thing many
Jews and Arabs have to keep from facing the
pain. Hate can keep you warm. When you
try to take away that hatred with peace, it
causes fear. A fear of losing the enemy, a
fear of facing the unknown.
When the Berlin Wall fell, the Soviets’ top
military leader committed suicide. His entire
life had been spent fighting the United
States. When that threat was suddenly gone,
he was like a child lost in the woods. The
same thing can be applied to the Middle
East. If the threat of peace is on the horizon,
some may resort to extreme measures to pre
vent it — even assassination.
This hatred is what we will have to try to
understand if we are ever going to help bring
peace to the Middle East.
Adam Hill is a junior,
geography major
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Blow Out
The Athletic Department should work
to get better teams to play the Aggies.
“Beat the hell outta Middle
Tennessee State!”
For some reason, that yell
sounds cruel. Perhaps it is be
cause the Texas A&M Football
Team is playing a laughable op
ponent Saturday, and will not
likely need the 12th Man, or
even an 11th or 10th man to de
feat the Blue Raiders.
Although the Aggies will
have little trouble dispensing
of MTSU, the Athletic Depart
ment exercised poor judgment
in scheduling this game, and
the mistake could have nega
tive consequences for the foot
ball team.
Head Football Coach R.C.
Slocum said that the game ex
ists because there was a hole in
the schedule, opened by the ex
piration of the University of
Louisville contract. He insisted
that there were only two teams
A&M could play in the ninth
week of the schedule, MTSU
and Central Florida. Both of
these are Division I-AA teams,
or teams that are not strong
enough to be one of the 108 Di
vision I teams.
Slocum stated there were no
Division I teams available be
cause most schools are deep into
their conference schedules, fac
ing opponents they must play.
However, worthy opponents,
such as University of Nebraska
are not even playing this week,
so it appears the department
did not work hard enough in
finding a good team. Also, the
department could have planned
better by arranging a schedule
before it had to resort to Divi
sion I-AA schools.
This is a no-win situation for
the football team. If it beats
MTSU by 50 points, everyone
will have expected it. If the
game is close, critics will attack
the football team for being weak.
Besides, many people think
the football team lacks big-game
experience, and would find more
success against teams like Col
orado and bowl opponents if it
played more challenging teams.
MTSU will hardly provide the
challenge the Aggies need.
The Athletic Department
should avoid starting a trend of
scheduling opponents outside of
Division I, which means Bryan
High is off-limits.
Smokers should be
more considerate
It is 9:45 a.m. and you are sit
ting outside of Blocker. With some
time to kill and some studying to
do, you decide to sit outside and
take in the fresh air. The only
problem is that some disrespectful
person just sat down a few feet
away and lit up a cigarette.
Not only can you breathe, but
your clothes will now smell like
smoke the rest of the day.
Is this right?
I realize that it will probably
be a a long time before the cam
pus is totally smoke free — if it
ever happens. Until then I would
hope smokers would have the de
cency to ask the people near them
if smoking bothers them.
Just because they want to suf
fer the consequences of smoking
does not mean the people around
them do.
Swaggart and Jim Bakker.”
Many Christian leaders often
are hypocritical and deplorable,
but Swift has made a logical error
by inferring that such actions are
representative of the decline of
Christianity itself. Christianity
has nothing to do with the actions
of these individuals. Evil deeds
are done out of the imperfection
of humanity, not out of any im
perfection in Christianity itself.
If anything has changed re
cently, it is certainly not the
Bible, but simply the sincerity of
a few prominent people.
Swift further criticizes the
church for taking actions that
have caused it to lose its “promi
nence” in modern-day society.
To change the teachings of
the Bible to meet modern soci
ety’s tastes would be to falsify
the words of God. The absolute
truth spoken by Christ must not
be modified for the purpose of
pleasing people who wish to be
entertained every time they en
ter a church service.
Kim Wofford
Class of ’98
Don't judge religion
by actions of a few
I am writing in response to
Wes Swift’s Nov. 8 column “New
Century Calls for New Religion.”
Swift states that “Christiani
ty no longer has the kick it used
to” and blames the decline of
Christianity on “fallen” leaders
of the church, such as Jimmy
Matthew Morton
Class of ’98
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