Wednesday, March 11, 1998
State overlooks history in race to be colorblind
EVASION: Legislation, buzzwords convenient ways to downplay
oppression by white ruling class
By Elias Serna
"Evade/evasion: trickery; to elude, avoid by misleading
statements; baffle; escape an argument, charge."
Amidst a looming, unforeseen cloud of confusion unfolding darkly
over the city of Hate – which has been distressed by the numbers
187, 209, 3 and 227 – Gov. Pete Wilson and others explain on
television that they are making a California that is "colorblind."
The term is an all too familiar buzzword for conservative
supporters of California’s own ethnic cleansing campaign which is
sweeping through all levels of education and other circles.
The meaning of the phrase is not far from something UC Regent
Ward Connerly (the key African American spokesperson of Proposition
209) stated on the day of the initiative’s victory at the polls:
"We can’t move forward … by looking in the rearview mirror at
America’s mistakes."
The metaphor is fitting, clever and convincing. It is also very
telling in that it deliberately eludes the very basic argument of
affirmative action activists and supporters: history.
If Connerly’s mirror is any indication of the outlook of
conservative and neoliberal politicians – blazing down a
superhighway toward California’s "colorblind future" – it should
alert us to the exclusion of those who have built the road and are
being left behind to walk. Many believe this machine needs to be
repossessed.
Most importantly, these statements embody the misleading nature
of right-wing discourse. Indeed, a predominant theme in the current
chapter of California’s race politics is evasion.
The authors (and supporters) of Prop. 209 strategically avoided
any reference to racial history to escape the issue of whites
having privilege in this society through the historical subjugation
and exploitation of other ethnic groups. They have also offered no
significant rebuttal to Jesse Jackson and others’ charges against
the shameless appropriation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words and
the term "civil rights" (initiative).
Without a doubt, discussing race has become intolerable to many
white students and other conservatives. Many feel – or worse, know
– they are going to be "attacked."
As communities of color and students across the state protest in
defense of programs that serve them, supporters of the "Civil
Rights Initiative" (Prop. 187) and now the anti-bilingual education
initiative (Prop. 227) are uncomfortable and resent allegations
that they are racists.
"Race is not the issue," many respond. "Race is not an issue" is
perhaps the more likely underlying thought – and is wishful
thinking. In the midst of this flurry of state and federal
legislation attacking people of color, it is ironic that the most
privileged group in history (white males) are now claiming to be
the new "oppressed."
The Mexican American Education Commission, itself a current
target of Prop. 209 and the L.A. Unified School District’s
downsizing plans, held a symposium on the educational status of
Chicano/Latino students "from the 1968 East L.A. walkouts to
209."
Among the calls to "reignite the struggle" and the emphasis on
understanding the ties between class and culture in this struggle,
panelist Peter McLaren, an associate professor of education at
UCLA, recognized the nature of recent right-wing attacks and made
the important distinction between oppression and malaise.
Oppression is the condition of the slave undergoing social and
economic exploitation by another group (whites) or a group that has
been historically subjugated to such a relationship.
Malaise is the discomforting psychological condition experienced
by the slave-owner, dehumanized because of his powerful
position.
The distinction is necessary and directly applicable to the
misleading racial policy and cultural attacks going on this very
moment in California and the world.
Therefore, to understand the core of right-wing discourse, one
must come to terms with two things: first, the key word in the term
"colorblind" is "blind" (that is, to history). Second, there is one
issue at the center of this Euro-American political
self-consciousness, and that is white privilege.
A more just and inclusive concept is "colorful," introduced to
me by a first-year student whom I met in the Freshman Summer
Program sponsored by the Affirmative Action Program here (now
threatened by UCLA’s post-209 administrative decision-making). In
our class, students expressed that they hoped to learn more about
their history, since their high schools didn’t teach them.
I explained how revisionist history has threatened the power of
traditionally male, Euro-American scholarship and how people of
color have struggled since the ’60s to affirm and inscribe their
perspectives on the pages of history books that consistently
excluded them. This struggle is more heated now than ever.
Indeed our victories, from the ’60s to the struggle for the
Cesar Chavez Center in 1993, are important lessons calling for a
necessary militancy if we are to turn the tide on this flurry of
racist legislation. As McLaren and the panelists urged, we must
make personal life commitments in a struggle for our souls, to
"reclaim the public sphere."
This fact alone – that people of color literally forced the
doors of academia open in the late ’60s – is enough to threaten the
aging white elite of California. It explains why Gov. Ronald Reagan
in 1970 began drastically increasing tuition at the UCs, from $100
to over $4,500 today.
The truth is, however, that people of color have arrived and are
not going to be so easily moved by misleading legislation or
baffling buzzwords. We have a more inclusive vision of society
because our vision includes us, the "historically
underrepresented."
Our politics are, in fact, for all and most likely threaten
California’s political order. As one of the blow-out participants
stated, "La victoria nos pertenece: victory belongs to us!"
We should all know by now that if you ignore history you are
bound to repeat it. Ignoring the regional history is apparently
convenient to California’s aging white ruling class. To everyone
else it is an insult.
Responsible citizens would be wise to open their eyes and
redirect the machine now being controlled by people like Connerly,
Wilson, Ron Unz and the UC Regents.
As for the vehicle itself, which these people are driving at
record speeds: It will most likely hit a bump in the road, if not
fly off a dark cliff entirely.