The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 19, 1996, Image 11

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We can t
forget our
history
Aja
Henderson
Columnist
W hy do so many people
detest Black History
Month?
I gave the closing remarks at
the Black Action Committee’s
exceptional Black History
Month program recently. The
program was held in the MSC
Flagroom. It was greatly annoy
ing to see students nonchalant
ly finishing their homework or
just shooting the breeze, slouch
ing down in their seats or
rolling their eyes as we stood
and sang our “Black National
Anthem.” Couldn’t they have
just left or at least stood up for
the anthem, a song that sym
bolizes pride and unity within
my culture, instead of “dissing”
it? This enraged me.
My best guess as to why
people detest Black History
Month is that it makes folks
uncomfortable. People are
forced to remember one of the
most gruesome times in this
country’s brief history. The
picture is not pretty. The
whippings, the mass rape of
slave women, the cruelty of an
institution that divides the
races even today. Well, this is
the thing. Black History
Month is not here to ease the
soul, to pat people on the hand
and say that things are all
right. Rather, it is designed to
bring remembrance so that
history will not be repeated.
Do you think it is any easier
for a black person? Do you
think that I am comfortable
imagining slaves being whipped
or thinking back on the day
when blacks couldn’t even sit at
' the front of the bus? Do these
things bring rtte joy?
They do not. They give me a
fresh wave of hate against that
institution. They make me
wonder where my last name,
Henderson, came from and
where exactly my ancestors
were from. Unlike people who
can say, “I’m an Irish-German-
English whatever,” I can’t
name countries like that. I
don’t know any particulars — I
can only tell by my dark skin
and features that my ancestors
were snatched from a big con
tinent called Africa. And that’s
sad, because I want to know.
And Black History Month re
minds me that I do not know.
So, it’s not easy, but I will keep
on celebrating the folks who
helped bring about change and
mourning for those crushed
under the system. I will cele
brate and wipe my tears at the
same time.
Some people think we should
just sever our ties with the past.
“My ancestors didn’t do it” ... “it
happened a long time ago” ... “I
don’t know why they have
Black History Month, anyway
— we are all Americans.”
How shallow.
I don’t need reminders that I
am an American first. This
country was built on the back of
my ancestors. Hell yeah, this is
my country. And I am well
aware that most whites were
not “fortunate” enough to have
the money to even dream of a
having five slaves, much less
live the Gone With the Wind
lifestyle. Thus, I find it to be
gross self-flattery when some
one spits, “Don’t hold me re
sponsible for what my forefa
thers did.”
As for the people who voice
opposition to Black History
Month with the insincere ex
cuse that it further divides us ...
OK, first you don’t want me to
call myself a Black American,
then you want my month to be
blotted out under the justifica
tion of racial harmony. Well, if
you think that these things will
bring us closer together, you are
wrong. The way we will come
closer together is to stop the de
nial of what happened (and is
still happening in this country
and on this campus). We must
swallow the atrocities before we
move forward.
Then, perhaps, maybe every
one can stand up together for
the “Black National Anthem”
just as easily as they can for
“The Star Spangled Banner.”
Aja Henderson is a junior
political science major
Opinion
Fair gives the boot to ethnic days
Michael
Landauer
Opinion
Editor
B ig Tex is being downright uncordial.
Organizers of this year’s State Fair
of Texas are shutting the door on
ethnic days, which have been part of the
fair since its early years. Errol McKoy,
president of the fair, told The Dallas Morn
ing News the decision was prompted by a
loss of S65,000 on such days from last
year’s fair. But something else happened at
last year’s fair.
Gay and lesbian organizations sponsored National
Coming Out Day at the fair. That day also lost money.
Now, I wouldn’t want to suggest that just because the
gays and lesbians sponsored p day at the fair that the
good ol’ boys in charge would do away with all of them. I
mean really, Texas is the “Homophobic State,” but to
make this accusation is going too far.
But it’s not.
Eileen Stangeland, chairwoman of Norway Day, was
told in a letter from organizers that last year’s 20th Nor
way Day would be the fair’s last.
“It said that, because of other groups wanting to have
similar functions, we weren’t going to have ethnic days
anymore,” she told The Morning News.
So now we have it. The cat is out of the bag.
The State Fair celebrates Texas — its people, its his
tory and its culture. The fair should represent all Tex
ans. Germans, Norwegians, Czechs and Italians played
important roles in the development of this state.
But now the fair only seems to represent the glorified
image of Big Tex — the great white cowboy who fought
valiantly against Mexico to win independence.
McKoy says that African Americans and Hispanics
have a more constant presence at the fair, and so we
don’t need any other special days. McKoy shouldn’t
flaunt their presence as some sort of concession. It was
n’t until well after statehood that whites surpassed His
panics in population here. If they did not have a con
stant presence at the fair, there would be some major ex
plaining to do.
Instead, the organizers should be spending their time
explaining the exclusions of smaller groups.
I doubt we’ll see enough volunteers of Norwegian or
German descent to have such a constant presence. That
is exactly why those groups deserve to have special days
set aside during the fair. If these days are losing money,
then other solutions should be sought. Perhaps there
needs to be an increased call for volunteers and fund
raising within those communities. They might rally
around the cause to keep them from
being excluded from Texas history.
But we’ll never know if this knee-jerk
decision is left to stand.
But let’s face it. People are expect
ed to go to the fair to ride the rides,
eat the cotton candy and eat barbe
cue. They aren’t supposed to go to ex
press their homosexuality. That idea
scares the hell out of the good oT
boys in charge.
But they neatly avoided the issue by doing away
with all special days that weren’t profitable (Senior
Citizens Day and public and private schools days
still turn a profit).
So they’ve set the ground rules and disguised
their homophobia, but Texas continues to progress
despite their best efforts. Eventually the fair will
have to celebrate all Texans. Someday people will
recognize that several cultures have existed with
in our boundaries. These cultures and these peo
ple won’t go away, but hopefully closed-minded
ness will.
Until then, the message is clear; No group
will be part of the celebration of Texas unless it
can turn a profit for Big Tex.
The organizers can try to narrow the scope
of the fair all they want. They can create
some lilly-white, legendary sense of what
Texas was, but one thing is clear: The fair
no longer represents all Texas is.
Michael Landauer is a junior
, journalism major
There's more to
baseball etiquette
Sports columnist Lisa Nance’s
Olsen Field etiquette is vital when
attending Aggie home games. It
can be very embarrassing if you do
not know the proper response to
the action in the game. Also, the
Aggie players in the dugout love
watching the fans act the way
they do. Here are a few additions
to the etiquette list.
1. Bill Hickey, the first-base
coach, is known as “Wildman”
and deserves a standing ovation
every inning when he runs out to
his spot along the base-line. This
is the students’ way of letting him
know he does not go unnoticed.
2. When a big rally or thq
shark fin goes across the score-
board, the students are supposed
to do the chomp. That is, you clap
hands like a shark mouth open
ing and closing.
3. Don’t do normal Aggie yells.
Baseball is played in the spring; let
the students relax in the great
weather and watch baseball. ’Fine
extreme case docs come into play
against Texas, when the expected
“Beat the Hell outta t.u.” is needed.
4. If a player is hit by a pitch
or falls down, say “ouch" every
time he takes a step or swings
the bat.
5. When an A&M pitcher
strikes out a batter, they play the
rifleman over the P.A. system and
Mail
the crowd stands up to empty
their shells from their gun.
6. If a fan drops a foul ball hit
into the stands, give him an
“EEEEEEEEEE,” just to let him
know that every person there saw
him make that error.
7. After a foul ball is hit and it
leaves the stadium, the P.A. guy
will play a car window smashing
or cow “moo.” It is always polite
to give him a golf clap to let him
know he has done a good job.
8. When an Aggie hits a home
run over the monster or makes an
amazing defensive play, it is prop
er to give that player the “we’re
not worthy, we’re not worthy” bow
repeatedly out of respect.
9. Late in the game, when the
relief pitcher is brought in, wave
your arms like a vulture and call
out “CaawlHCaaw!!!” This is to let
relief pitchers know they are like
vultures in stealing the show
from the hard-working starter.
10. At the beginning of the last
inning or any half inning that
may end the game, everyone
stands for the War Hymn.
If the player is short ask him
“Who makes your uniform?
Geranimals!” Or if he is a husky
fella say “unbutton your shirt so
the other guy can breathe!” Un
like other sports, don’t be afraid
to start new traditions at base
ball games.
David Minor
Class of '95
Business fraternities
do more than party
I am writing in response to the
column by James Francis that
appeared on Feb. 15 in The Bat
talion. It is truly sad that colum
nists today can not compliment
someone without tarnishing the
image of others. The thought be
hind this column was sound.
However the approach to its com
parisons were biased. The graph
ic shown with the column pre
sented an image that does not
truly represent social or business
fraternities on campus. The
stereotyping of all Greek fraterni
ties with a keg is ludicrous. Had
Francis done more research he
would have found that some
Greek fraternities on this campus
actually do more that party, they
are professional organizations
that focus on the betterment of
the members not only in college,
but in the world after graduation.
Maybe Francis should have
thought about these things before
categorizing all fraternities by
representing them with a keg in
the newspaper.
Walt Smith
Class of'9 7
The Battalion encourages letters to the
editor and will print as many as space al
lows. Letters must be 300 words or less
and include the author's name, class, and
phone number.
We reserve the right to edit letters for
length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be
submitted in person at 013 Reed Me Don
ald. A valid student ID is required. Letters
may also be mailed to:
The Battali-m - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1 111
Fax: (409) 843.2f>47
E-mail: Batt@tamvm1 .tamu.edu
Education requires
practical application
Heather
Pace
Staff
Writer
M y first
class at
A&M
was in 102
Zachry, a class
room that looked
remarkably
similar to the
inside of the
Astrodome.
Suddenly, in my spare time,
I was memorizing large text
books filled with information
that disappeared from my
mind the day after the exam.
I learned how many judges
were on the Texas Supreme
Court and which button you
pressed on the computer to
center titles, but my intellectu
al faculties were hardly being
cultivated — more like
stomped all over.
I don’t need a teacher to tell
me how to justify the right side
of my papers—I know how to
read. I need a teacher to chal
lenge me to think for myself.
The purpose of an education
is not to compress as many
facts as possible into students’
heads, but to enlarge their un
derstanding of the world and
their ability to survive in it.
It’s because edu
cation is all
about learning to
think for your
self, something
that is lost in the
shuffle of earning
128 credit hours
to graduate.
So how can
our system of education be im
proved? I am taking a philoso
phy class that is examining the
existence of God.
As I sit in class, I listen to
my teacher expound
intelligently on various
theories with complicated
names that we memorize so we
can fill out scantrons every
once in a while.
Then, our class of 360 di-.
vides into discussion sessions
where our TA expounds intelli
gently on what our teacher al
ready said in class. I am still
waiting for the discussion part
of our discussion session.
I propose learning not who
believes what theory and why,
but whether my classmates
believe in God, what religion
means to them, etc. . . .
Although we might not
The purpose of an education is not to compress as
many facts as possible into students' heads, but to
enlarge their understanding of the world and their
ability to survive in it.
There is an old saying that
goes something along the lines
of, “Give a man a fish, you
feed him for a day; teach him
how to fish, you feed him for a
lifetime.”
The useless facts I am
spoon-fed soon leave me, but
the lessons I learn from the
teachers who bring the world
into the classroom will always
be invaluable to me.
It is not sitting through
countless lectures and spend
ing Friday nights in the library
studying for a 4.0 that will en
sure success; it is getting out
there and discovering how the
world works.
One of my friends is a
construction science major
who spends his weekends
working for a builder because
he believes he has learned
more through first-hand
experience than he will ever
learn in his classes.
How is it that some Fortune
500 companies are run by peo
ple without college degrees?
impress anyone with our
knowledge of the “Principle of
Sufficient Reason” at a cock
tail party 20 years down the
road, we will leave the class
with a better understanding of
ourselves and a greater ability
to reason.
That will put us in better
stead than memorizing Plato’s
Republic would ever do.
I am still trying to figure out
how college is educating me by
“cultivating intellectual or
moral faculties,” as Webster so
aptly describes it.
If all my classes challenged
me to think— to look at
something in a different per
spective— instead of just
following my textbooks, I
would feel that my schooling
had prepared me for life.
I only wish my parents
would try to understand this
the next time they get my
grades.
Heather Pace is a freshman
English and philosophy major