Editors: Jessica Opoien & Gabriel Stoffa | opinion iowastatedaily.com
Thursday, April 7, 2011 | Iowa State Daily | OPINION | 7
Letters
Guest column
Arizona legislation proves Words, even simple racism is still a problem ones, possess power Senate Bill 1070. This one act of Arizona legislation is sufficient enough evidence to repudiate Robert Bender’s article, “Racism is dead, let’s move on,” in its entirety. Part b of article 8 in the bill states that “for any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or agency of this state or a country, city, town or other political subdivision of this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person.” Translation: Law enforcement should ask for one’s documentation of citizenship if given reasonable cause. The bill itself is not as explicitly racist as its implementation. It has caused Arizona law enforcement to stop suspicious looking persons, those who have Mexican features and request their documentation. In short, this is allowing the authorities to single out people based on their skin color and assumed race. Giving the police this power is essentially legalizing stereotyping, an integral
Joseph Shannon, junior in
history
component of racism. Mr. Bender fails to even acknowledge this piece of legislation and its racist aspects. He instead focuses on racism, or lack thereof, directed toward African Americans. He states that “Racism was doomed the moment racial equality reached Hollywood and professional athletics.” From this one can assume that after Jackie Robinson’s debut April 15, 1947, fans across the country welcomed African American athletes with open arms. This is obviously untrue as Robinson received a myriad of death threats during his career and the Negro League remained intact for another 11 years after his departure. Another assertion made by Bender to the death of racism was Obama’s presidency. The first African American president is elected and poof, racism no longer exists. In addition, there is no more poverty, world hunger or obesity. Isn’t this new utopia grand? These ignorant and naïve allegations can ostensibly be
attributed to the white privilege. White people are tired of hearing about racism because it doesn’t directly affect them. They’ve never had to deal with being called a hurtful epithet and neither did their grandparents. They will never be the exemplar of the acts of their disdainful generations before them. To declare that racism is dead and insist we move on is utterly ludicrous and delusional. Moving on from racism entails its gradual departure from the mindset and suggests that it should no longer be addressed. Racism has been an unfortunate but perpetual facet of American and world history. Moving on and in essence forgetting it ever occurred would be detrimental to the erudition and advancement of mankind. The battle against racism has not been won and it is not so lucid a subject that it can ever be declared over. How can you so easily ask us to move on? Hitler killed 6 million Jews and the Holocaust is over, move on. Jesus was publicly crucified 2,000 years ago, move on. These statements are not said so nonchalantly, and neither should yours, Mr. Bender.
Rebuttal: Atheists believe in freedom of, from religion Today I stumbled upon a letter in the Daily regarding the stance of American atheists as anti-Christian. It was a fair, well-taken view but I would like the chance to offer a rebuttal. I speak for all atheists when I say that your belief in Christianity affects me as much as an animist’s belief in wind-spirits affects you or me: not at all. Atheists have no problem with your beliefs. We only have problems when your beliefs spill over into everyone else’s lives. American atheists have seen too many funerals protested and too many human rights denied in the name of Christianity. Atheists in America realize that most religious people are not the nuts from Westboro Baptist Church. But we also realize that the main threat to religious freedom in America is Christianity. When Congressman Ron Paul incorrectly declared that our secular founding fathers “envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance,” everyone in America should feel threatened. In short, we focus on Christianity in America because of America’s vastly Christian overtones in politics and society. We focus on Christianity in America because Muslims,
This essay is the winner of the 2011 First Amendment Day High School Essay Contest. Martin will receive a $250 prize provided by the Iowa High School Press Association, which will be presented April 7 at the Feast on the First Amendment on Central Campus. The first runner-up’s essay was published April 5, and the second runner-up’s essay was published April 6.
It may be a simple hello or a caring note. Maybe it’s a joke to get someone through the day or maybe it’s a heart-to-heart that changes a friendship. Any way it is taken, there is power behind even the simplest words. The ability to use both written and spoken word for change is inspiring. I believe in the power of words, and although it has advantages, there are heavy consequences if the word has been used wrong. Since I was around 5 years old, I found that I loved to make art and write letters to my friends. They never had to reciprocate the action; I just liked to see their face after I gave it to them. That feeling of word power to show that you cared has followed me throughout life. Still, I must write hand-written thank-you notes after someone has done something kind for me; even if most of my generation prefers using the Internet. It’s always been a sign that I care. Another trait my generation has gained is texting. While texting may seem nice in theory, the ability to abuse the spoken word is always looming.
Hindus and animists should feel the same freedoms to practice their religion as those down at St. Thomas Aquinas or Memorial Lutheran Church. The letter I am responding to astutely requested atheists to, “Go to Tehran. That is in Iran for your information. Go there, and write ‘Keep Allah out of our schools, since we keep knowledge out of your mosques.’” Assuming that Iran and the United States have the same religious freedom is absurd. However, this brings up a great point for why atheists should focus on Christianity in America. The reason we do not go to Iran to hold conventions is because that is precisely what we are trying to prevent in America: a society so intolerant of other religions that the minority cannot voice their beliefs. I do not believe in Christianity as much as I believe in Islam, Shintoism, the Flying Spaghetti Monster or any other religion. I do believe that all humans, regardless of religion should have the same voice and rights as anyone else.
Jamie Johnson, senior in world languages and cultures
president and black sports stars does not mean that racism still isn’t alive and well. Saying this is just like saying that because we had openly gay politicians like Annise Parker and Harvey Milk that homophobia must be dead. However, we know that this is not true because we
always hear the stories about the victims of gay bashing and how some gay youth decided to take their own life instead of living with their close-minded tormentors. Just because you may not hear about racism a lot does not mean that it does not exist. For you to basically say that racism is over and that people should just get over it is a slap in the face to individuals who have to live with racism everyday.
Maggie Martin, student at West Des Moines Valley High School
Just the other day my friend and I were in a fight, and we were texting about it. I couldn’t help but realize that the texts I sent to her were all misconceived. I was attempting to stop the fight, yet she thought I was being sarcastic, so the whole situation was blown out of proportion. She told some of her friends this and that about me, I told my friends this and that about her, and it has made our friendship awkward. If only we had used the power of spoken word so that our inflection would have been realized, and she would have known how sincere I truly was. As journalists, it is our responsibility to present the spoken word to inform and engage others. It is also our responsibility to protect the spoken word by not slandering others, being truthful in fact checking and writing unbiased pieces that layout the facts. Yet ultimately we leave the decision up to the reader for their point of view. That’s the real power of words. It could be a note; it could be a mean text or a simple greeting. No matter which way it’s shaped, there is power behind it to change the world. I believe that my generation has the power to change the world for good with their words, but with the evil ability still lurking, words might do more bad things than good.
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Andrew Nguyen , senior in mathematics
‘Racism is dead’ letter presents unsubstantiated accusations Your article titled “Racism is dead, let’s move on,” came off ignorant and insensitive. Although unsubstantiated accusations may help to keep racism alive, it is not the only factor fueling racism. Plain and simple some people are just racists. If it were true that racism was dead then how would we categorize the women who called me a n***er because I couldn’t sell her a carton of milk? And just because we have a black
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