Tuesday, May 28, 1996
Don’t ask women of color to ignore issues of race in name of
solidarityBy Anna Wang
Why is it that people can be so short-sighted as to limit
individuals’ identities to a single component?
According to some attendees of Thursday’s "Take Back the Night"
rally, the purpose of the rally should have been to "just focus on
us as women, not as people of color." Can someone’s identity be
boiled down to just that? Does that mean that when I attended this
rally, I should have left my experiences and my identity as an
Asian American at home? I think it was obvious by all the lettered
sweatshirts and T-shirts that these sorority women did not leave
their identities as greek women at home.
The rally began so well  with powerful and inspirational
speeches made by several speakers. Perhaps this is what led to the
eventual conflict. We should not have mentioned how women of color
have suffered  the most exported "product" out of the
Philippines, the slave labor employed by garment subcontractors. We
should not have tried to address how women of color are pulled in
two directions  some vocal women claiming that womanhood
comes first, and our brothers of color, who equally insist that
people of color cannot allow the establishment to divide us.
My answer to these claims is that I cannot be divided. I am not
half woman, half Asian American. If more women had been listening
rather than talking so rudely during these speeches, perhaps some
of these points would have been heard.
But what I personally believe most upset the crowd of attendees
is the attention that we drew to the horrible legacy unearthed only
recently  the racist, sexist lyrics of the fraternity
songbooks. The Daily Bruin’s article on the event includes a
startling statement made by Michelle Gossun. Gossun claims that the
fraternity books are irrelevant because "it’s over and done with."
Does Gossun not understand the purpose of studying history?
We do not study history to laugh at the mistakes others have
made  we study history to learn from those mistakes and avoid
repeating them. Would Gossun prefer we eliminate references to the
Holocaust, to the World War II internment of Japanese Americans and
to the countless lynchings in the South that continued until far
too recently because "it’s over and done with?" You cannot resolve
painful events by pushing them under the rug, forgetting about
them, and claiming that they are irrelevant to today’s events.
I do not condone greek-bashing any more than I do Asian-bashing
or gay-bashing. But what I want members of the greek system to
understand is that I cannot forget what has happened. I cannot help
but wonder what has changed so that this will not happen again in
the future.
Instead of denying its existence and ignoring the implications,
we as a community must confront this issue. Do new pledges know the
history of their houses? Do they know what their house has done to
try to prevent such racist and sexist actions and thoughts? What
can the greek system do to reassure me that this has not continued
and that this is not an institutionally accepted "tradition?" When
will the leadership stop pointing to "our diversity" and do more
than spout empty rhetoric?
In no particular order, I am a woman of color, a UCLA student, a
daughter, a friend. I hope the list will continue to grow, and I
mean exactly that  a list of who I am and not a breakdown of
the different "components" of me. Even if there are other women
with exactly the same characteristics, I know that I am an
individual. Do not attempt to dictate who I am or how I should act
around you. I have my issues, my viewpoints and my own agenda.
"Take Back the Night" was a chance for me to do that, but you
decided you wanted to redefine how.
If the Women of Color Coalition had not sponsored this event,
perhaps then I would not have felt as hurt and angry as I did.
Women were announcing for all the world to hear their own pain,
their experiences and their thoughts in order to empower themselves
and to serve as inspiration for the rest of us. You who would not
accept this, I, too ask you to leave. I have no need for you to be
with me on this journey if you seek only to minimize experiences,
laugh while I speak out in pain and argue when I assert my pride in
being a woman of color.
Wang is a second-year undeclared student.
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
While some sorority women marched along Bruin Walk toward
Fraternity Row during "Take Back the Night" (above), others refused
to participate and left in protest.SUSIE CHU/Daily Bruin
Melanie Tendido, a fifth-year Asian American
studies/anthropology student, participated in the "Unity Clap"
during the rally in Westwood Plaza.