Thursday, November 13, 1997
UCLA must lead in diversity, tolerance
HATE CRIMES:
Differences are cause for celebration, not ignorance, violenceBy
Darnell Grisby
While walking down Westwood Boulevard the other night, a truck
full of drunk, college-age men shouted obscenities at a young man
in front of me. They taunted him, yelling, "You’re a faggot, aren’t
you?!" The young man, who was clearly shaken, continued to walk,
but he continually looked behind him. He clearly understood that
hate speech is often a precursor to and an incubator of
violence.
Many law-enforcement officials agree that hate speech can
encourage people to carry out acts of terror against groups they
dislike. Following the national trend, Los Angeles County has seen
a surge in reports of hate crimes. The rising tide of hate has
prompted President Clinton to call the first ever national hate
crimes conference in an effort to develop initiatives.
However, the root cause is clearly our society’s willingness to
tolerate disdain for disadvantaged groups. Our conservative
political environment has deepened the cleavages that already
separate us. Demagogues blame these underrepresented groups for our
society’s demise.
For instance, no one had heard of Angie and Debbie Winans before
they decided to sing about the sins of homosexuality. Because they
have no talent, they decided to join the scapegoating band Aragon
to make money. If that isn’t downright sinful and disgusting, I
don’t know what is. If they ever decide to perform in Los Angeles,
please throw eggs at them.
The racially charged debates surrounding Propositions 209 and
187 created an unhealthy environment for people of color. The media
characterized minorities as lazy and further provoked bashers to
assault and murder people of color.
Given that UCLA is a microcosm of a larger society, some of
these same issues have had a negative impact on our education.
Some members of oppressed communities on our campus do not feel
completely safe.
For example, a segment of the gay, lesbian and bisexual
community are not comfortable openly expressing who they are. When
I ran for student government last May, I had to decide how "out" I
wanted to be. I was afraid of losing votes and possibly getting
bashed.
I made it through, but some are not that lucky. Some students
who are not politically active have been victimized. The relative
lack of visible, openly gay and lesbian couples on campus is proof
enough that people do not feel safe. There are thousands of us on
campus, but we do not walk around campus as freely as heterosexual
couples do.
Students can do many things in order to create a better campus
environment for every Bruin.
In the classroom, do not hesitate to question "isms" that
professors may perpetuate. Under the guise of "academic freedom,"
some professors have reinforced early 20th-century notions of
people of color, women, lesbians, bisexuals and gays. These
professors think they can get away with being bigots, but if
students continue to question them, we will win.
If you go to a church, remind the congregation that God is love,
and love is for everyone. We must put an end to religion that takes
words of love and uses them for hate.
Students should also move away from the notion of
"color-blindness". By being "color-blind" we are not seeing one
another as we truthfully are.
As a African American gay man, I would hope that my friends can
see me for all that I am and accept me without having to ignore any
part of me. In other words, ignoring something does not mean we are
accepting it.
While students should take the initiative to improve our
university, we should expect the administration to do some work as
well.
Students have been advocating for general education (GE) reform
that will allow us to learn more about one another. We have called
this GE reform a diversity requirement.
If the university will give us a diversity requirement, it will
allow students to learn about other cultures and enliven our
relatively dull GE requirements.
A diversity requirement will go a long way in reducing hate
crimes on campus, but the university continues to drag its
feet.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and ethnic theme
housing in the residence halls would allow students to experience a
culture by living it. Ethnic and racially diverse populations would
be able to exchange experiences and build communities.
The education that students receive could be a potent tool in
the fight against hate crimes. Yet, the university is against this
idea.
Our nation will compete best if we can facilitate the type of
discussions that will move us toward greater cultural
understanding. As the most diverse top university in the country,
UCLA is a laboratory.
We should be doing much more to give the rest of the nation the
answers we will need in the 21st century.