Comments on: The bastardization of civil rights http://www.angrybrownbutch.com/2005/11/11/the-bastardization-of-civil-rights/ politics, media, culture and life from a queer boricua in brooklyn Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:48:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Jack http://www.angrybrownbutch.com/2005/11/11/the-bastardization-of-civil-rights/#comment-18 Jack Mon, 14 Nov 2005 01:35:58 +0000 http://www.angrybrownbutch.com/2005/11/11/15#comment-18 Your "simple question" misses the point entirely. Do you know why the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act were passed, or why they were even needed to begin with? They weren't passed simply to reassert the equality of all people; rather, both pieces of legislation were direct responses to the rampant racist discrimination in this country. The 14th amendment overturned Dred Scott vs. Sanford, which ruled that Black people could not be US citizens, and was also a response to the Black Codes passed in the South in order to limit the rights of Black people as much as possible after slavery was formally abolished. The Civil Rights Act was specifically designed to end discrimination against Black (and other non-white) people in education, employment and voting. It is abhorrent to me that these pieces of legislation are now being perverted (and not in the good sense of the word) in order to <em>dismantle</em> other efforts, like affirmative action, to make right the many years of wrong done to people of color in this country. Simply passing the 14th amendment and the Civil Rights Act couldn't undo the damage done by these centuries of racism; other, proactive measures (like Affirmative Action) are necessary in order to bridge the gap caused by historical racism, and in order to overcome the racism that is very much alive and well today. So, no, I don't think that the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act have a <em>damned</em> thing to do with protecting the rights of white men - white men, as a group, have <em>always</em> been, and continue to be, the ruling class in this country. I certainly don't think they need any more protection than what they're already granted by white privilege. And if you can't understand the difference between the exclusion of white males from programs designed to help people of color, women, and other oppressed groups, and the exclusion of someone like me by white men, then you need to educate yourself about how power and privilege work in this society. Here's a <a href="http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/emc598ge/Unpacking.html" rel="nofollow">very basic introduction</a>, if you'd like to start. And my point about the 8% is that it's not as if the college campus is being overrun by people of color all of a sudden (which, of course, would be a wonderful, wonderful thing.) It just seems somewhat ridiculous that opponents of these programs at SIU would object so much when there's clearly not some antiracist revolution going on because of them. Your “simple question” misses the point entirely. Do you know why the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act were passed, or why they were even needed to begin with? They weren’t passed simply to reassert the equality of all people; rather, both pieces of legislation were direct responses to the rampant racist discrimination in this country. The 14th amendment overturned Dred Scott vs. Sanford, which ruled that Black people could not be US citizens, and was also a response to the Black Codes passed in the South in order to limit the rights of Black people as much as possible after slavery was formally abolished. The Civil Rights Act was specifically designed to end discrimination against Black (and other non-white) people in education, employment and voting.

It is abhorrent to me that these pieces of legislation are now being perverted (and not in the good sense of the word) in order to dismantle other efforts, like affirmative action, to make right the many years of wrong done to people of color in this country. Simply passing the 14th amendment and the Civil Rights Act couldn’t undo the damage done by these centuries of racism; other, proactive measures (like Affirmative Action) are necessary in order to bridge the gap caused by historical racism, and in order to overcome the racism that is very much alive and well today.

So, no, I don’t think that the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act have a damned thing to do with protecting the rights of white men - white men, as a group, have always been, and continue to be, the ruling class in this country. I certainly don’t think they need any more protection than what they’re already granted by white privilege.

And if you can’t understand the difference between the exclusion of white males from programs designed to help people of color, women, and other oppressed groups, and the exclusion of someone like me by white men, then you need to educate yourself about how power and privilege work in this society. Here’s a very basic introduction, if you’d like to start.

And my point about the 8% is that it’s not as if the college campus is being overrun by people of color all of a sudden (which, of course, would be a wonderful, wonderful thing.) It just seems somewhat ridiculous that opponents of these programs at SIU would object so much when there’s clearly not some antiracist revolution going on because of them.

]]> By: Rhymes With Right http://www.angrybrownbutch.com/2005/11/11/the-bastardization-of-civil-rights/#comment-17 Rhymes With Right Mon, 14 Nov 2005 00:36:22 +0000 http://www.angrybrownbutch.com/2005/11/11/15#comment-17 I guess it really comes down to a very simple question -- do you believe that whites and males are covered by the Fourteenth Amendment and the 1964 Civil Rights Act? If you want to answer the question in the negative, that is fine -- but in that case, please do not be terribly offended when those same groups stand up and decide to exclude you. After all, you have given them the tool to do so with your argument. Oh, and do you know WHY only 8% of SIU students are minorities? It has something to do with the fact that SIU is located in a rural part of the state, far from most of the major centers of minority populations in the state. It has to do with the fact that minority students from Chicago would prefer to be a couple of hours from home by car in DeKalb or Normal or Champaign instead of six hours away in Carbondale. But then again, what do I know -- I'm simply part of the second generation of my family to have attended the school (the third generation is there now), and the son and nephew of retired faculty members. I guess it really comes down to a very simple question — do you believe that whites and males are covered by the Fourteenth Amendment and the 1964 Civil Rights Act?

If you want to answer the question in the negative, that is fine — but in that case, please do not be terribly offended when those same groups stand up and decide to exclude you. After all, you have given them the tool to do so with your argument.

Oh, and do you know WHY only 8% of SIU students are minorities? It has something to do with the fact that SIU is located in a rural part of the state, far from most of the major centers of minority populations in the state. It has to do with the fact that minority students from Chicago would prefer to be a couple of hours from home by car in DeKalb or Normal or Champaign instead of six hours away in Carbondale.

But then again, what do I know — I’m simply part of the second generation of my family to have attended the school (the third generation is there now), and the son and nephew of retired faculty members.

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