Tuesday, January 28, 1997
OFFICE:
Job not just in executing policies, but deciding their
fairnessBy Kendra Fox-Davis
"If we don’t forgive others, we eat ourselves away with
resentment, and seek revenge against those we consider to have
acted badly towards us. Hence we have the conflicts that span the
generations …
It is right that we know what is going on and those who are
seeking to control us. Without that knowledge we will go on being
manipulated. (Those trying to control us) are victims too, the
physical result of emotional and spiritual imbalances within them
which desire to control and dominate others. The last thing they
need is our hatred. They need our love.
By that, I don’t mean a love that talks walks and allows all
this to continue unchallenged. I mean a love that does challenge
the imposition, but without hatred or a desire for revenge." Â
David Icke
I promised myself I would not add to the hype and furor over the
Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) Student Judicial
Board clash. I believe that the good work many organizations,
including USAC, do on this campus speaks for itself. I also am wary
of dignifying the Judicial Board’s conduct with a response, because
acknowledging them serves to stroke the one too many egos that sit
in the guise of "Justices." That was until the African Student
Union began to be associated with this conflict. As an executive
officer on the Board of the African Student Union, I feel compelled
to write this, not only so that our constituency has a clear
understanding of the events that have taken place, but so that all
students see our organization for what we are without the taint of
the J-Board’s actions.
The difference in having a progressive student government versus
a conservative one is that progressive students challenge the
system from without and within, to create actual dialogue between
officers and voters, and to hopefully reverse the apathetic trend
that has swept away the voices of many young people. The difference
between having progressive versus conservative students on the
Judicial Board is that progressive students know the difference
between corruption and justice, not only through applications of
Robert’s Rules of Order, but through the lives of people in their
community, and through the application of a political ideology
based on attaining freedom and justice for all people. Obviously, I
prefer that a progressive agenda is pushed by our student
government, and, as a voter, I expect to see the results of my
faith in Students First! council reflected in their actions.
The Judicial Board claims to be the objective body on this
campus. All I have seen them do thus far is hear complaints from
students who have the leisure time to pick over every USAC flyer
and newspaper, searching for a way to validate their frustrations
over losing last year’s elections. The Judicial Board claims to be
objective, yet there is only one woman on the Board. How can a body
that hasn’t even caught up with one of the basic tenets of Women’s
Liberation, meaning gender balance, tell all of us about what’s
fair and best for our school?
The Judicial Board has the duty to ensure that USAC adheres to
university policies. However, they can not, in good faith, enforce
university guidelines with no consideration of whether or not
certain policies are just within themselves. Imagine, if the
Supreme Court Justices crippled themselves with a tunnel vision
that limited their decision making to that dictated as law in the
Constitution. My people, black people, would still be property,
two-thirds of a person in Southern states and not considered human
beings worthy of respect and compassion in any state.
Imagine if those who we entrusted with deciphering truth did not
trust their own abilities enough to analyze the policies they were
adhering to, but instead applied the law with a blind eye to what
was actually right and wrong. Is it right for students to pay fees
and have no say as to where their fees are applied? Is it right
that the Judicial Board is telling USAC that they can not use the
money of students to advocate on the students’ behalf? It is not
simply a question of what the university administration says is
right and wrong  it is a question of justice. Justice is not
always apparent on section 2, line 3-4, or whatever document is
quoted to justify exploitation. If the Judicial Board feels
unqualified to make those distinctions, and challenge what is truly
unjust about where student money is going, then they should all
step down.
To return to the issue of the African Student Union, let me say
first that I have been an officer on the Board of ASU for two years
and an active member for all three of my years here. The work that
I do on campus is not to gain personal notoriety, but for the
benefit of a true collective. As an African student on this campus,
I expect my representatives to do what is in the best interests of
the organization. I do not believe this standard is too high. As
progressive students, we often find ourselves on the other end of
the bargaining table, excluded from power and decision making. We
are often the first to call upon USAC and the Judicial Board to
legitimize themselves so that there might be, at least, the
perception of fairness.
The same principle must apply when we are in positions of power.
USAC is making an effort to legitimize the Judicial Board so that
no Justice is deciding on a case where his/her organization is
directly affected by whatever decision is rendered. I support this
effort because the principle of USAC’s actions is right and it sets
precedent for a more legitimate J-Board in years to come.
I was stunned by the recent Viewpoints, by students claiming to
represent the interests of our community, blasting USAC for their
alleged abuse of power. This pattern of internal dissent is more
than common among student coalitions. We get into positions of
authority and mimic our oppressors. Why? Because regardless of our
"outsider-within" positionality, we read the same newspapers, watch
the same television, are exposed to the same image of what it means
to be a politician and have power as white men who attain it more
regularly. Why do we see the same amount of USAC bashing with a
progressive council as with a conservative one? Because as
progressive students we have yet to develop a true alternative to
the corrupt model of government that exists.
However, I would argue that it is the duty of those students who
fight for justice within communities of color to work on developing
such a system. It is our obligation to prove to our people, who
have been totally disenchanted with the American system, that there
is some value in our participation. We stick it out. We do not jump
back to the sidelines and accuse our comrades of tyranny when we do
not get the appointment we want. We do not abandon ship because
Students First! failed to revolutionize student government in one
quarter. To those who take advantage of the opportunity to exploit
their own organization in exchange for a Daily Bruin column, I can
say only this, we have all learned to keep our enemies close.
Our organization has worked in coalition with USAC,
underrepresented student organizations, community groups and
students across campus on campaigns that we hope will better the
future for our generation and those to come. While the Judicial
Board and its few devotees continue to squabble over the use of
logos, our access to education continues to slip away under the
auspices of the same "objective" decision making that the J-Board
claims to represent. For students who truly want to make a
difference on this campus, substitute being force-fed information
by egotistical opportunists with concrete action. Students who
really care about accessible education, affordable housing,
effective retention efforts, free books, scholarship resources,
community programs and cultural programming, know who puts us
first.
I opened this article with a quote on forgiveness because at
some point, this all has to end. I don’t mean the USAC-Judicial
Board conflict, but the conflicts that have kept us at odds with
each other for what seems like forever.
Kendra Fox-Davis is the Access and Retention Coordinator of the
African Student Union.