The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 25, 1985, Page 3, Image 3
Viewpoint
Monday, November 25, 1985 m 1
, THE nA"cpnpi/ ?
Prejudici
While Amer
m
race relatio
An unpleasant incident
Philadelphia last week.
The police were forced to patr
a predominantly white neighbor
residents chanted and rallied ag;
families who were moving in.
"People yelled a lot of slur
Carol Fox, a white woman wit
band who moved into the neigl
her family. "They called us nigg
'You've got it coming."'
The two families say they will
w ucspuc me protest.
"If they don't like us, fin
"Don't talk to us; that's OK. \
house, so we're here to stay."
The incident is sobering and ill
portant point: America is not
Is anybody
I don't think anybody will be
around this joint tomorrow, and
I can't be sure that anybody will
be here to read this column
today.
Everybody I talk to is blowing
off class on Tuesday, and a lot of
nPAnlA ' *
aiv muwuig u11 rvionaay
for good measure, leading me to
believe that I may be a solo act in
this week's classes. I'll sit in
front of Gambrell Hall as the
tumbleweeds skitter past and the
winds howl though the crannies
of the English department across
the way. The campus will look as
k eerie and deserted as the setting
' of some post-apocalypse thriller
on the Superstation's late movie.
Till
i ii expect cnariton Heston to
round the corner of the BA
Building at any moment, chased
by a vampiric horde of mutated
* Debate article ~
biased for right
To the editor:
a r. *
/\ner attending the debate on
the Strategic Defense Initiative
between the College Republicans
and the Alliance for Peace and
reading Sandy Lang's coverage
of the discussion in the Nov. 20
> edition of The Gamecock, I have
come to the conclusion that Lang
and I must have witnessed two
separate forums on this crucial
topic.
In the article, Lang dictates no
less than nine paragraphs to the
KepuDiicans' viewpoint to just
three for the arguments presented
by the Alliance for Peace.
Futhermore, Lang chose to quote
College Republican Don Weaver
fully and at length many times,
I and Weaver's conservative comrade
Cam Crawford was also
quoted in full. On the flip side,
Lang opted to butcher the comments
of the chief speaker for the
Alliance for Peace, Ron Palmer,
nnrl snlicc th/?m a?
illVIII Ul AIV B ivnuiv.,
In short, Lang's article was a
travesty of journalism. Ironically,
in an age of continuous
criticism and abuse of the socalled
liberal press from the far
right, Lang's coverage was so
biased toward the neoconservative
viewpoint that it
may as well have been written by
Don Weaver himself.
As the only student newspaper
at USC, The Gamecock has a
responsibility to provide fair,
non-biased news stories and
makf certain that itc frr?r?i nona lc
1?U liVIIV pugv IO
not turned into a soapbox for any
political ideology, be it right or
left.
Andy Bechtel
Journalism freshman
Send as t
What do you think about? We'd I
? If you have an opinion you'd lik<
h^ f'nrrtlinn fnmmnnitu c ?nA ?
vv?iui? avuu a
Gamecock.
Letters must be typed, double spac>
the writer's name and telephone nur
writer can be reached for verificatio
should include whether the writer is i
member or a member of the commu
1
J)
icans criticize
ns still need w
occurred in racial prejudi<
think.
ol the streets of Although th
hood when the '60s are gone,
linst two black over. To forgei
backward. Ma
s at us," said are superior t(
h a black hus- their skin, and
hborhood with
;ers and yelled, In an age v
South Africa a
I not move out justice, it is sa<
uv.v*ui. /aiiiciic
e," Fox said. above racial pi
Ve bought this It is fine to c
prejudice in Sc
ustrates an im- the world it oc
yet as free of still work to d<
out there rc
hotel, restaurant and tourism majors,
muttering to himself, "I'm
too old for this. I'm getting
steady work on 'Dynasty.'"
Some of these absentees are
spending Thanksgiving at homes
in New Jersey, Atlanta and
Florida, and I understand their
haste to get there before they
have to make a U-turn in the
driveway and come back. But I
know a lot of pessimists who by
leaving Sunday are allowing
themselves four days to get no
further than Six Mile, Moncks
Corner and Chester. I had an old
car like that once.
I wish them well on their
journeys, as I wish everyone well
who's heading home for
Thanksgiving, whether it be
cross-country or crosstown. I
also extend best wishes to those
It. Gen. James Abrahamson, Strategic
Defense Initiative Organization
director.
Abortion is a
woman's choice
To the editor:
The sentiments for the rights of
unborn children that Mr. Barry
Johnson describes in his letter of
Nov. 15 are laudable, if taken at
face value. Unfortunately, Mr.
Johnson's severe and rabid sex
am inwciio anyone irom listening
to his tirade, let alone accepting
his message.
Mr. Johnson implies that all
unwanted pregnancies arise out
of a woman's free choice, which
is "finalized," in a particularly
puerile and obnoxious image,
"when her belt buckle hits the
floor." If Mr. Johnson had any
great experience with women,
i letter
like to know. All letters are p
; to share with for space and clai
letter to The unless by special
returned.
ed, and include
nber where the Neither the
n. Letters also necessarily expre
\ student, staff Send your lei
nity. Drawer A, Russc
South Africa,
ork at home
:e as Americans would like to
e turbulence and upheaval of the
the fight for racial equality is not
t that would be the same as a step
ny people still seem to think they
> others because of the color of
I that just isn't so.
vhen Americans are looking at
i J ' * " * " '
nu conueming it tor its racial ini
that such incidents continue to
a apparently has not yet risen
ejudice herself.
:ondemn and work against racial
)uth Africa, or wherever else in
curs, but let's not forget there is
} at home.
iading this, <
landlocked souls who will spend
their holiday here on campus,
and I'd remind them that the
Norman Rockwell version isn't
the only way to celebrate
Thanksgiving. USC can be a
family, too.
My mother has already begun
cooking for Thursday's dinner,
filling the house with scrumptious
odors wafting from tantalizing
dishes that no one's
allowed fr> <?r?t vpt R?
? ? ~
day, every available flat surface
in Duncan Plantation will be
groaning with forbidden victuals,
making my mouth water so much
that I'll have to carry around a
little cup to save the rugs from
saliva.
And when lunchtime Wednesday
rolls around, and my father
and I discreetly inquire about
their unfortunate place in ouF
" society,' and their relationship?
with men, he would perhaps
understand more about the ac
live, even aggressive, role that
men sometimes take in the above
"movement."
Mr. Johnson has obviously
never heard of rape, incest or any
of the many other ways that men,
throughout history and at present,
have forced and persuaded
women into sex. In such situations,
birth control, even if
available, is often irrelevant.
He also does not understand
that hprailCP nf cimrvlo ~r
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biology, men have a much easier
time escaping the consequences
of this act than do women. Were
Mr. Johnson forced to face 20
years of sole responsibility for an
unwanted child, he might be less
ignorant in his opinions, if not
more charitable in his language.
What Mr. Johnson's letter proves,
more than anything else, is
that abortion remains a women's
issue. Unless men are willing to
take equal responsibility for the
pregnancies that we often, in one
way or another, force or persuade
upon women, we especially
have no right to call ourselves
"moral" and characterize all
feminists or liberal women as
"promiscuous," or to picture
abortion ? a horror, I am sure,
for anyone who has ever been
forced to face it ? as a casual
choice resulting from a casual
act.
Insulting women will not pre
vent abortion. Unless we men accept
responsibility for our own
acts, we have no right to lecture
women on how they should deal
with the consequences of these
acts.
Fortunately for Mr. Johnson,
his ^pinions indicate that he is
never likely to face this responsibility,
this terrible choice, in his
irinted, and are subject to editing
rity. Names will not be withheld,
exception. Letters will not be
letters nor the guest editorials
ss the views of The Gamecock.
Iter to: Editor, The Gamecock,
;11 House, Columbia, S.C. 29225.
sr have you
what we're going to cat today,
not tomorrow, my mother will
glance abstractedly about the kitchen
and say, "Oh, my," and my
father, with stoic resignation
before the implacable wheels of
eternal Fate, will root through
the clutter atop the clothes dryer
looking for Hardee's discount
coupons.
My sister and I usually spend
the day after Thanksgiving in
Columbia, where our Christmas
shopping for other people keeps
getting sidetracked by basic
Rrecd. as we hint broadlv at
other about all the neat stuff we
want ourselves.
My favorite part of Thanksgiving
comes Thursday, when the
whole family sits around the dining
room table ? over the
cratered ruins of the turkey, ham,
personal life. The rest of us,
however, must continue to struggle
with its possibility, our consciences
and our responsibilities.
When men participate fully in
tnis responsibility, we may then
have and debate opinions about
abortion. Until then, it remains a
woman's issue, and a woman's
decision.
David W. Babson
Anthropology
graduate
Ahnrtinn Isttsr
? - IW??WI
chauvinistic
To the editor:
I am writing in response to
Barry Johnson's Nov. 15 letter to
the editor demanding the end of
access to legal abortions for all
women. Mr. Johnson's letter is
marked by inaccuracies and
chauvinistic and insensitive comments
that reflect an attitude that
is out of touch with the reality of
the issue.
Among other things, Mr.
Johnson's ill-conceived argument
manaees to dismiss th*? fart that
there are indeed two people involved
when a woman becomes
pregnant. He writes that "she
chooses whether or not to engage
in sexual activity," whether or
not to "take preventive
measures," and "When she acts
irresponsibly she must accept the
consequences." These actions
and decisions involve a woman
and a man, and thus both
ultimately face the same consequences
when pregnancy results.
Ru C'J\/tnrt UUor final
A AVI llliai UCtldlUll
was made at the moment her belt
buckle hit the floor," Mr.
Johnson betrays not only his
The
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. !BE
gone home
cranberry sauce, buttered
biscuits, rice. oihW oraw ctrino
- . ? o "'"Uft
beans, field peas, tomatoes,
chocolate pound cake ? to drink
a few more gallons of iced tea
and talk on through the afternoon
before adjourning for
Scrabble, the back yard or the
sofa, glad that we're all present
blatantly chauvinistic viewpoint,
but an unrealistic appraisal of the '
situation as wrll One
place the burden and the blame
on the woman and dismiss the
man as an innocent bystander in
an unwanted pregnancy, just as
one cannot credit the woman
alone when pregnancy is a
planned-for and happy occasion.
Still, the fact remains that it is
the woman who becomes pregnant
and thus would have more
at stake if abortion were no
longer legal. It is a credit to this
country that women do have the
constitutional right to abortion,
whirh Vl/QC orontfl/i ?? 1 OT3 U...
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nine male justices on the Supreme
Court and not by the "feminists"
Mr. Johnson is so fond of referring
to as the power behind the
decision.
While some unplanned
pregnancies are the result of
neglect, many couples simply do
not have the information,
resources or access available to
practice responsible birth control.
Even so, no birth control
method except sterilization is 100
percent effective. People are not
perfect and should not be judged
as such. Whether it be human error
or product failure, accident*
happen.
Mr. Johnson belittles the term
"pro-choice," but choice is the
very heart of this issue. When to
have a child is one of the most
important choices a couple will
ever make. It is an extremely personal
and private decision. Giving
birth and raising a child requires
an enormous amount of
time, money, sacrifice and love.
If the issue of choice were
eliminated, then we are saying
anyone who can become pregnant
is ready to parent, and this is
ilict nrvt trna
J ??Vfc 11 UV
Is Mr. Johnson, who is so
ready to deny a woman the right
Edhor-hi-cblcf
Ann Farmer
Editor
Tracy Mixson
Copy De*k Chkf
Andy Duncan
> rablMl Copy Desk CUcf
Linda Taylor
Ntwi/BsilKH Editor
Marlsa Porto
AMfotaat News Editors
Juliet Nader
Carl Dawson
SpotHgfct Editor
Roni Bea Kayne
Assistant Spotlight Editor
Ed Cham bliss
OHTtOUS ? views
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already?
Andy
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and accounted for and
reasonably satisfied with each
other and life in general.
Happy holiday, and keep in
mind that after our return next
week, only three Gamecocks are
left in the semester.
Talk about thanksgiving.
" ?""J
to decide when and if she shpuld
become a mother, also ready to
assume the care and responsibility
for every unplanned or unwanted
child born to these
women?
I feel I must address Mr.
Johnson's tactless remark of
"clinics being staffed with well
trained technicians and
sophisticated instruments that
would make Josef Mengele drool
with delight." To equate a trained
physician performing a legal
medical procedure with a Nazi
scientist's brutal experiments and
murders is so insensitive it is
beneath contempt. Mr. Johnson,
I suggest that if you plan to write
future letters, you put more
thought into the effect such a
callous statement might have on
your readers.
We are all entitled to our personal
opinions, and abortion
seems to be an issue on which
many people have strong feelings
Anp U/at/ W* A- LI !i
vi>? f>u; \JI IIIV uuivi . I1UWCVCI , 11
is not our place to use personal
opinions as the criteria for denying
another person their rights,
especially when we really have no
idea of the hardship or pain that
may result.
It is likely that abortion will remain
in the limelight, with the
media attention and grandstanding
that accompanies any controversial
issue. Thus, unfortunately,
what should be in
essence a very private matter of
personal choice will continue to
be manipulated as a matter of
public concern. Those who vain*
the right of choicc will remain
committed to ensuring access to
safe, legal abortion for women.
Sharyn Finkel
Health Education
graduate
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