Posted on 09/24/2003 7:30:30 AM PDT by The Rant
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 school’s 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 country’s 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 didn’t 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 wasn’t 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.
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Frank Salvato is a political media consultant, a freelance writer from the Midwest and the Managing Editor for www.TheRant.us. He is a contributing writer to The Washington Dispatch, OpinionEditorials.com and AmericanDaily.com. He has appeared as a guest panelist on The O’Reilly Factor and his pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com and occasionally featured in The Washington Time sand The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.
Congressman Billybob
The passion of which you speak is not necessary here and would only enable the detractors of what this young lady is doing to attack her effort even more fiercely.
She is forced by an unsympathetic press to behave herself in every respect. The administration of this school has got to be sweating profusely. They have no justification for interfering whatever. If a court case grows out of this, the school loses.
Annika wasn't the first and will not be the last. It is only all-male currently becuase no women has come along with the ability to get through Q School. The PGA Tour is open to ALL people with the ability to qualify, either through Monday qualifying or Q School.
And there is a reason that Rush calls them the NAALCP. And he is dead on right about it.
This was my first thought. Whether there was any court case going forward about this. I'm not concerned so much about the school. I'd like to see a federal judge try to weasel out of the obvious conclusion that this is racist.
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