Harambeé opens our eyes to racism
Most events on LSU’s campus are geared toward the majority.
This is a predominantly white university, so when I say majority I mean white students. This campus is known for diversity; the students, faculty and staff work hard to uphold that reputation. There are so many races, denominations, religions, organizations and groups on this campus that there is no way for every program to appeal to everyone. Harambee’ is a program that has been in existence for several years to promote unity and also to allow Black Student Organizations exhibit their talents in order to show LSU students how they can get involved in the black community at LSU. Programs like Harambee’ do not cause racism, rather they open people’s eyes to see that it is still a problem in America. From the summer until September 16, the committee worked deligently to put together a spectacular program. In planning a program you know that sometimes things fall through at the last minute causing turmoil, but the committee has no control over those things. It takes a lot of work and dedication to plan a program, especially at a university as large as this one.
Even choosing a speaker took much consideration. This year’s speaker was an accomplished writer and artist known for his spoken word.
The committee chose him because he is well-accomplished and also known for having something of substance, yes substance, to say.
We in America have a (first) amendment that gives us freedom of speech. Let me break it down for you if you don’t understand what that means. It means that we can say what we want, when we want, how we want and to whom we want to say it to.
There are few exceptions to this rule, but Bryonn Bain did not violate them in any way. We as citizens in America also have to stand behind what we say and sometimes suffer the consequences.
If Mr. Bain wanted to disagree with the war on Iraq, then he had the right to do so. I really don’t think that he cares how many people disagree with what he has to say because he is already established in his own right (to free speech).
Congress not only approved a bill to finance the war in Iraq, but also to rebuild it. Meanwhile, millions of American, especially children are left out in the cold, on the streets with no food, water or shelter. For some reason the U.S. government has no money for them, but they have money to finance a war.
Personally, I do agree with Mr. Bain, this war is a distraction from the real issues that Bush has not touched in America.
Where do you think all the money came from? It came from budgets for little things like education, healthcare for the elderly, starving children, etc.
But enough about enough about your lack of political awareness, let’s get back to Harambee’.
As for the Greeks that participated in the show, only two out of four groups decided to bash each other and both of these groups were cut short. If you would have paid closer attention you would have noticed that for the first sorority the sound was cut off.
When it was realized that this strategy did not work, the second group that proceeded to do the same thing had the sound and light cut off. This was done in order to spare them further humiliation.
Harambee’ is a coming together and when they did not exhibit such unity the committee decided to pull the plug.
It was these two groups that decided to remain on stage. Which means it was not the commitee’s fault. So the next time you want to bash someone’s event, know exactly what is going on first.
Shayla M. Ferguson
junior
sociology/AAAS
Argument littered with propaganda
I am writing this letter in response to Eric Gremillion’s column “Israel Must Defend Itself Against Arafat.”
He frames his argument as though Israel were an honest broker of peace. Now I’m no expert, but he didn’t say a thing about what a great guy Ariel Sharon is – his invasion and occupation of Beirut, Lebanon in the early ’80s or his swagger up to the Temple Mount on Sept. 28, 2000 specifically to end the peace process. Sharon succeeded and, in my eyes, is directly responsible for the most recent round of violence, which began on that day in September 2000.
There is far too much history here to provide a cogent perspective in a few words, but Mr. Gremillion made only one citation in his entire piece. He cited Forbes magazine, a primarily financial magazine, to bolster his argument – do you think a financial magazine is the most relevant source for this debate? He did not even mention the UN Security Council vote on Tuesday of this week, well within his deadline.
I am sorry to say, but I think Mr. Gremillion has managed to regurgitate all of the bad things he, as an American, has heard about Yassir Arafat. His rant was weighed down by propaganda and I felt he spent no time actually reflecting on what he was writing about. It sounded to me as though he wrote his column the night before it was due – maybe that flies with homework, but I feel he has a responsibility to his readers that he did not meet.
Peter Ragusa
senior
zoology / political science