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Few UCLA students believe political correctness is a force at
our campus. But just because you can’t see something
doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. At UCLA political
correctness is so well-hidden you can rarely point to any single
public incident as thought-control in practice. But at the Jan. 15
USAC meeting, there was a brief flare-up of PC outrage to break the
veneer of harmony.
The spark was a “culturally offensive” film calendar
produced by the Campus Events Commission. You know CEC ““
they’re one of the few USAC offices that accomplishes more
than divisive declarations about the alleged racism of one group or
another.
Now, nobody’s ever accused Campus Events of being
diligently tasteful ““ some of their promotions would probably
raise Jenna Jameson’s eyebrows. Still, if Student
Empowerment! wants “diversity,” the least it can do is
swallow hard and accept a diversity of thought and ideas. If they
had followed this principle, we would never have had what is really
a tempest in a teapot ““ American Indian students raising a
fuss because the offensive calendar included a depiction of an
Indian.
When the calendar was distributed at the USAC meeting by Events
Commissioner Ryan Wilson, officer Kennisha Austin broke out of her
stupor and proceeded to berate Wilson about the calendar. Smelling
blood, Evan Okamura, Bryant Tan and the other members of the
Student Empowerment! cabal joined in the blamestorming.
The reaction was pretty predictable ““ USAC officers like
Tan have based their political careers on thin-skinned racial
sensitivity. But the story doesn’t end here.
Campus Events The Campus Events’ winter film calendar sparked
debate at a USAC meeting. Not content to browbeat Wilson once,
Okamura allowed staff member Crystal Roberts (a member of the
American Indian Student Association) to visit Wilson’s office
and continue the attack. The end result was a suggestion by Roberts
that future student-funded materials produced by CEC be
“cleared” by the council as a whole.
The whole story reeked of totalitarianism, so I spoke with
Roberts herself. Her feelings were genuine, but ultimately
misguided. Her objection was with the overall appearance and
context of the poster ““ it reminded her of Old West wanted
posters offering rewards for the capture or death of renegade
Indians.
Fair enough.
But the poster is much closer to a collage of vintage American
images than evocative of Indian genocide. The Indian head
dominates, as does the “Wanted” lettering, but what
about the dapper 19th century man with a woman in garters for a
lower torso? Also pictured are a smaller cowboy icon, a 19th
century woman and a small pistol. In fact, the only actual
“Wanted” poster depicted is one for a white man, Jesse
James.
The objective student understands what this poster is: an
eye-catching collage, not a political statement.
It turns out that AISA is also part of a larger coalition
seeking to remove all Indian sports mascots. This campaign is
nothing new, except that it seems to be gaining some momentum.
Certainly, there are some legitimately offensive uses of Indians
““ the old Cleveland Indian mascot, Chief Wahoo. Skin red as a
cherry, and nose as bulbous as a kosher dill. Also objectionable
are the moronic Atlanta Braves’ tomahawk chop and war chant,
and perhaps even the Washington Redskins’ name.
But it is disingenuous for American Indian groups to use these
exceptions as justification for removing all Indian associations in
sports. I can understand their desire to “re-educate”
or “sensitize” people ““ however Stalinistic that
seems ““ but as for Joe Six-Pack, Indian team names and
mascots are his only regular connection to Indians. It’s
foolish to throw this high visibility away ““ as long as the
depictions are reasonably accurate. American Indians gain far more
than they lose.
But the implications of Roberts’ ideas, and those of AISA,
is that any depiction of an Indian without their express permission
is a cultural affront. To unearth an old catch-phrase ““ who
died and left you in charge?
There are politically conservative Indians who don’t
subscribe to the victimology and hypersensitivity so much in vogue
for minority groups. One notable example is FrontPageMag.com
columnist David A. Yeagley, who scorns the “meaningless
existence in perpetual dependency” for Indians on a
reservation.
This is the real test for the politically active American Indian
““ whether to fight to eliminate Indian mascots, or fight to
help Indians who face problems of alcoholism and drug addiction on
government-funded reservations.
AISA and Roberts have made their choice clear, but this need not
be the choice for everyone.
Just like affirmative action was a pretty bandage to cover the
festering K-12 system, fighting imagined or irrelevant
“discrimination” in society and the media serves to
keep America from focusing on the very real troubles of the
American Indian.
Correction: The column “Poster not meant as a
political statement” (Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, Jan. 29),
incorrectly gave the impression that Andy Jones attended the
Undergraduate Students Association Council meeting of Jan. 15 when
in fact, the information in the article was obtained secondhand
from people who attended the meeting. Likewise, external vice
president Evan Okamura did not speak at the meeting. Correction
posted 4/11/02