Posted on 09/23/2003 1:20:49 PM PDT by TaxPayer2000
Lisa McClelland simply wanted to be included. You see, at her school, the Freedom High School in Oakley, California (a contradiction of terms if there ever was one) there is an Asian Club and a Black Student Union, both of which she was excluded from because of her race. These groups are accepted by the schools administration and by the local community on the whole. But when Lisa wanted to form a group called the Caucasian Club it would seem this is when the hypocrisy started to flow at Freedom High.
It should be pointed out that McClelland is of a diverse background and actually represents the mainstream in the American culture. She counts among her ancestry American Indian, Hispanic, Dutch, German, Italian and Irish backgrounds. She is a perfect example of our countrys once proud melting-pot identity, an identity that promoted no single racial background but the diversity of being an American. That being said the fact she is being denied the opportunity to be included is even more ridiculous.
McClelland didnt try to buck the system by being the only white girl in the Black Student Union or the only non-Asian in the Asian Club, both exclusive clubs that obviously discriminate against those not of their heritage. She wasnt blazing the trail ala Annika Sorenstam when she challenged the exclusivity of the all-male PGA tournament not so long ago. What McClelland wanted was to form a group that used the same criteria so that others could feel included as well. If the notion of common sense were to be applied here it would champion the idea that if there were going to be extra-curricular student run organizations that had racial requirements for the purposes of membership, then every racial group that wanted to have a group should be afforded the opportunity. Equal treatment.
It would seem that Darnell Turner, the first vice-president of the local NAACP chapter believes otherwise. Mr. Turner stated, "The club, in name, seems like a backdoor approach to separation. From a historical perspective, this will bring up fears." In other words Mr. Turner believes that it is okay for the school to sponsor an all black club and an all Asian club, after all these segregated groups would not promote separation even though they exclude. It would only be the existence of the Caucasian Club would be bigoted, divisive and threatening.
This is a perfect example of how hypocritical and bigoted the NAACP has become. It has become the ultimate special interest group promoting divisiveness and discrimination, racism and segregation. In this case they promote their special brand of racism by asserting that it is acceptable to exclude in the name of the black community, or any other racial community for that matter, but it is unacceptable to exclude in the name of the white community. They charge that the mere mention of something all-white would reignite the flames of pre-Civil Rights Era behavior all over the country. Of course, this is a ridiculous notion. It would seem that in the land of fairness common sense and equality take a backseat, or the back of the bus as it were, to special interest and social inequality as the NAACP fans the fears of racism from decades ago.
If for no other reason Proposition 54 must be passed in California and the racial colorblindness that it proposes needs to be championed around the country. We must all break the barriers that bind us to classification and the existence of groups such as the Black Student Union and the Asian Club only serve to widen the gap between the races. If Proposition 54 fails and fades away then the once honorable notion of equality will be shattered for the rest of time and by the hands of those who were initially discriminated against. Free a last? Hardly.
Evidently, this isn't the kind of civil liberty they'd like to protect.
Remember, there's fashionable civil liberties, and NON fashionable civil liberties. They only protect the FASHIONABLE.
"The club, in name, seems like a backdoor approach to separation. From a historical perspective, this will bring up fears."
What a couple of nonsensical, dopey liberal sentences. All codewords and catch phrases that add up to absolutely nothing.
They all talk like this, because they have nothing factual or concrete to back up their obviously hypocritical stances.
Darnell Turner, as an institutional representative, seems, in many ways, and on certain levels, indicative of the problem as it exists not only in the abstract but also the symbolic realm. From an inclusive viewpoint, irrespective of context, he seems not unlike a blowhard, as it were, and ipso facto therefore must be considered in a less than positive light, if one were so inclined to be judgemental from this admittedly limited perspective.
Is this the National Association for the Advancement of Caucasian People?
It seems that racism isn't dead, it's just reversed polarity. 'White' is now the wrong color.
Have to disagree with you on this one. Although you may not have seen racist acts by whites, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Here's one example, which is completely true and factual.
My younger sister was working for a big medical group in San Francisco. Primarily all white workers. Although she is married to a Mexican-American, she continued to use her maiden name (Jewish but white enough). So they're trying to hire some new workers and my sister is helping to sort the incoming applications prior to setting up interview sessions. She notices the other workers periodically tossing applications in the trash can, and notices they all seem to bear non-white names (spanish or asian surnames). When she complained, the managers told her to get with the program, that "we" don't need "those" people here. She argued the point that they aren't even looking at qualifications, just the names. It wasn't long after this that my sister was so disgusted that she resigned.
Oh, by the way... a majority of the white staff was gay and arguing against discrimination against gays.
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