UCSD Racism In Review

Even while many folks are up in arms, others around the country might look at the racism issues raised recently at the University of California San Diego (here), and ask what’s the big deal? So what, some clown made a hangman's noose. Big deal, another knuckle-head made a pillowcase into a KKK hood. Or who cares that the N-word got dropped on campus cable. Do these events merit all the hoopla? Maybe, maybe not.

College kids are the traditional canaries in the coal mine. They tell us to do things that we otherwise ignore - like stop the war, end apartheid, and no more genocide! On the other hand, they are immature and prone to do stupid things that folks in the real world know better to avoid - like dressing in black face and attending Compton Cookouts.

Then there is the reaction to their reaction - and this is where it gets dicey. Civil disobedience is a fundamental right of citizenship, and college administrators are loath to tell our kids that their mountains are often rolling hills, or even mole hills (God forbid). So they stroke the kiddies, as part of teaching civics lessons in freedom of speech and protest. But sometimes this approach goes wrong – and the kids get even more pissed and reactive, and some knucklehead remembers that he's got matches.

The bottom line - when it comes to college kids complaining about the outside world, including racism, we should listen with our best ears on, because they have a record of being right. Now, when they’re complaining about tasteless dorm food, too much homework, or their own immature behaviors, they need to be gently and firmly instructed to grow the blankety-blank up. Compton Cookout attendees and folks that want to riot need a serious dose of this.

The Black students also need instruction on how not to mix their apples and oranges arguments. The immaturity of the Compton Cookout would exist whether UCSD was 1.7% Black or 25%. If the Black students want to increase their numbers, they need to know that pointing out White immaturity is not the way. Figuring out why so few Black kids meet UC's admissions requirements - now there's something to get the shorts all uncomfortably wedgied.

James C. Collier

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