The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 25, 1991, Page 3, Image 3
Controversy
Newspaper gets unneeded image
for prejudiced against blacks
The verdict is in and The Gamecock is supposedly nothing more
than a collection of racial bigots.
A story on the front page claims we're moving into the direction
of being insensitive to certain races and they have a pretty
good point.
True, we did publish the story of the Cockwheat incident. True,
some columnists defended Cockwheat. True, Sajiv Soni called a
potential customer a "nigger."
But along with that, we did publish the story on Ralph Johnson's
honorary Alpha Phi Alpha award; we did cover the race relations
forum; and we featured a black sorority's rise from the
dead.
Can you really call us insensitive? Maybe.
We do publish letters to the editor staging a fight between the
races. But what should we do? Should we infringe upon the First
Amendment to keep a good racial balance?
The First Amendment is one of the few documents that is colorblind.
Every person has the right to write us a letter to the editor
and we try to publish all of those letters.
But people are confusing letter writers with this staff, and because
of that, we're getting a black eye nationwide.
If you really take the time to look at our coverage, it would be
insane to call us a pack of racial bigots. Besides the letters to the
editors, we have been fair to both races.
Take for example our coverage of the race relations forum
story. We purposely made that the lead story because it pertained
to a large audience. We also manipulated the pictures in a unique
way, as well.
If you don't remember, on the left side of the storv. we had an
African-American speaking to the audience while a white student
was on the right side of the story listening.
Those two pictures were powerful. They showed there could be
a common ground without disrepect for either side.
We made Johnson's honor as the Alpha Phi Alpha National
Brother of the Year our lead story on Oct. 30. Even though it was
a really skinny story, we still stretched it across the top of the
front page.
In another column, Tige Watts pleaded for people of all sorts to
apply to be staff writers. This is not an exclusive newspaper. We
have quality writers and editors, but it is because of simple
devotion.
On other campuses the racial problem is really bad. We've had
some offensive items published but they were only in our
Viewpoint section, not in advertisements like in other campus
newspapers.
The First Amendment protects political speech. We leave it to
the general masses to determine if it's good speech or not.
?
We leave to you, our readers, to determine if a person's idea is
good or not. But that's our job. We present the problem and leave
it to you to interpret it. So, can you be really that upset over us
doing our job?
; We think not.
IGAMRCOCE
News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249
Chris Silvestri
Editor in Chief
David Bowden Brant Long
Managing Editor/Viewpoint Editor Copy Desk Chief
Tige Watts Tracey Davis
News Editor Carolina Life Editor
Aaron Sheinin Teddy Lepp
Sports Editor Photography Editor
Patrick Villegas Gordon Mantler
Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor
amy Barcomb Rich Taylor
j f rj.-,. a?. c - r? j?.?
nssi. ua'wwtu Cjuuor rui&i. apuris c,tuior
Virginia Marshall Greg Rickabaugh
Asst. Copy Desk Chief Asst. Photography Editor
Wayne Williams Eric Glenn
Comics Editor W J BRITT Darkroom Technician
Staff Cartoonist
Renee A. Gibson Laura S. Day
Asst. Media Coor J Advertising. Manager Production Manager
Stacie Lewis ray Burgos
Asst. Advertising Manager Asst. Production Manager
Erik Collins Carolyn Griffin
Faculty Adviser LARA CHAPMAN Business Manager
Asst. Classified Manager
Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. letters should be, at
maximum, 250 to 300 words long. The writer must include full name, professional title if
a USC enployee or South Carolina resident, or year and major if a student. An address
and phone nutter are required with all letters sent. The Gamecock reserves the right
to edit letters for style, possible libel or in case of space limitations. The newspaper will
not withhold names under any circunstance.
Viev
THE COLLEGIATE. DOCU
Awwgn
I lAJMIlin QUI UN II
Freedom cannc
"If you were willing to trade liberty for
safety, eventually you will have neither." ?
Benjamin Franklin
When America's most noted sage uttered this
precept of caution, what is now the United
States was in the midst of revolt against the ominous
presence of the British military. Americans
have traditionally forsaken constitutional
liberties for the goal of defeating a common
enemy. For instance, during WWI, Congress ^ni
uncontestedly passed the Espionage and Sedi- strucl
tion Acts, which prohibited criticism of U.S. bread
war policies under threat of imprisonment. 1116
i f 4.1 i??. ? *. :i_. 4i T r n /inrl
more inan zoo yeais later, mmiarny, uie u.o.
is the world's only "superpower." There are no depari
safety threats in the mold of Hitler, Mussolini In
or Hirohito. Americans today see fellow Ameri- dent 1
cans as their greatest safety threat. liam 1
So-called subversive forces are roaming Court
within our very own borders. These enemies in- court
elude pagans, homosexuals, museum curators, P^us F
erotic dancers, rap groups, fornicators and in Chi
general "liberals." cord <
If you were to ask a regular person on the offici
street if they thought it was virtuous or moral to schoo
be tolerant and broad-minded, they would prob- Right:
ably say "yes." If you then asked them if they 1973,
were a "liberal" or supported "liberals," they consti
would probably say "no." Wade
Liberal by Webster's definition means, "3. libera
not literal or strict, 4. tolerant; broad-minded, 5. knell 1
favoring reform or progress." Despite this
seemingly reasonable definition, George Bush Exa
attributed shame to this term in his 1988 election
bid. Strangely enough, most Americans en8a8(
agreed. South
LETTE1
Senator's bill southeast.
In the light of t
serious issue comes quite evide
senate does not v
?r? .t ,. luated in a poll. Th
In regar/lo Greg Rickabaugfs ? of lhe.H.c
editorial on Nov. 22, 1991, theV ^ txteTpdlc
solution proposed by Ms. Baxter in f- * . . . ^ ,
. a. , nnancial issues sh
student senate was not a joke nor a Hpn. _ ,
r f J , . dent senate places t
form of revenge. The resolution T . ,Frp?nlnf
was, however, to make a point that *
if student senate is going to take a f s'a , onSuc in (
poll then it should be a poll with ?f l,he 0
issues concerning students fna'c' a ser
The student senate overwhelm- f.erned wllh em.olK
.... . the wants ann n
ingly voted to mciuae a question
concerning the resurrection of constUuents.
Homecoming queen but decided to not
waste valuable ballot space on
issues concerning academic and fi- x TO
nancial issues. The Homecoming Stl
queen is a once-a-year sexist event
that only 901 students decided to ll
vote in on the last year it was held o II
and an event that the Homecoming To the editor:
Commission has admitted will not Diogenes wen
return even if all students voted streets with a lante
"yes" in the poll. an honest man.
Homecoming queen has become I have found hii
an emotional issue on campus and Columbia, S.C. Thi
the senators have decided to use ter shopping in W
this as a vehicle to further their po- was searching thr
litical ambitions while ignoring for my car keys. (
real issues at the university such as the purse on top oi
grade forgiveness, the accuracy of Inadvertently, I drc
The Gamecock reporting or the realizing my wallet
vpoint Gallt
1MENTARY FILM A3S(
\\ III
D (Wl)
? in military service. To be governor of
Carolina one must profess a belief in a
RS TO THE EDT
tuition in the car's hood.
When I reached hon
he above it be- band asked, "Did you
nt why student wallet?" He told me a
^ant to be eva- called saying he had
e overwhelming wallet on the highway.
>mecoming poll only $12 in the wallet,
ming defeat of tained more than 10 (
>n academic and ? one a telephone c
rm/c ?;hprp ctn_ with nnr cprrpt rnHp
TT %J TTAftVAV/ OkU "?v?? V?V?i UWl VV VV/V?V.
heir priorities. We called the young
ion for what it who was from Goose (
:heek" criticism and a student at USC.
f the USC stu- to meet us and return
late more con- He did. His name u
)nal issues than Fabian,
eeds of their How can we ever th
his parents for raising
Gary Carter young man? So muc
arketing senior press is written about
olina. I would like to
lrlpnt l^e p?ssibi,ily lb's
J-VlClIX pening in New York,
onesty Our state may have
but this young man has
t through the CAT: Character Achiev
m searching for whlch ln ,these days
inspiration!
m, right here in ^rs' ^
e other night af- . #
est Columbia, I Alltiqiiei
ough my purse
Carelessly, I put llicf nffpil
: the car's hood. UIICII
>ve off, not even To the editor:
was still on the I wanted to clarify tl
>t be harme
Jeffrey Turbitt
der a "conservative" or "narrow" political
ure, America has perpetuated some keen
lies in civil liberties. Examples range from
HfTQl IpvpI \l\Q thA Qnnrpmp Pmirt tA ototo
v*v*UA AVT VI v 1U U1V UU|/1VIUV/ WUH IW OUllV/
local authorities to the USC police
tment.
line with his hostility to liberality, Presi*eagan
appointed ultra-conservatives WilEtehnquist
as Chief Justice of the Supreme
in 1986. Under Reagan and Bush, the
has been stacked with five conservatives
tehnquist.
ief Justice Rehnquist's suspect voting reon
the high court includes: 1. support of
al prayers in schools, 2. opposition to
1 desegregation, 3. opposition to the Equal
s Amendment for women, 4. dissent in
when the court ruled that women had a
tutional right to an abortion in Roe vs.
Under "Supreme Intolerance," civil
irians nationwide are sounding the death
of individual liberty.
mples are voluminous. The United States
1 Forces does not allow homosexuals to
ry
DCIATIQN. PRESE.N'1'ST"
THEHELU t~"
iW?J AREVOU
k |iW^sment\ ^
^ I OF INNOCENT!,
k-_ ISTUDENTS W
T .. liMlNDING THEIR I
; m lOWN BUSINESS*!
^-s K If?Tv F-\ V /V*M I fl
aiiiv mm, ui 1UU5111 unviv^i uii/ \^uiuui&iai& na^,
such a fine the flag is now associated with
h negative slavery. Yes, the flag is a historical
South Car- symbol, it is symbolic of South
ask what is Carolina's secession from the Unevent
hap- ion. Should we be proud of this?
Chicago or Hardly.
a low SAT, The Confederate flag is part of
a very high our pas^ not our present Take it
ement Test down from atop the Capitol and
is truly an pUt jt aside, as a reminder of our
past mistakes. For just as we do
.dele Radin not fly another representative of
our past, the British flag, we do
loO" not need to fly the Confederate
**?5 flag, the ultimately offensive symbol
of our ill-fated membership in
V C the Confederate States of America.
Cassandra Sturkie
iat not all Biology freshman
from campus. The chairman of the safety committee,
Richard Conant, in a letter to The
Gamecock justified it by saying, "Last year
there was an attempted rape and an assault in
the campus area by a homeless person." By that
same rationale, if someone with blonde hair
from Idaho had done the same thing, Idaho
blondes would be barred from "the campus
area."
It is clear, in an effort to be safe, we have
trampled on personal freedom. Perhaps a more
tolerant ideology is called for ... perhaps even
some of that dreaded liberalism.
roR
white students "maintain that (the
te, my hus- Confederate flag) is representative
i lose your of the history and tradition of the
young man South," as stated in Friday's edifound
my tion. On the contrary, I feel that
There was most white students would agree
but it con- that the Confederate flag is an of;redit
cards fensive symbol, to blacks and
ailing card whites alike.
; man back, While it may be argued that the
Dreek, S.C., Civil War was not fought solely
He offered over slavery, the consensus rethe
wallet, mains that the Civil War is rep^as
Darryn resentative of such a cause. It follows
that because South Carolina
r\r\b- him r\r fnnrrVif nnHor tka Ha/*
S IMlAK rilU/1
d for safety
"supreme being." To be a Boy Scout, one must
believe in God and promote heterosexuality.
In South Carolina, it is illegal to engage in
so-called "deviant" sexual behavior such as oral
and anal sex. Statute 16-15-60 of S.C. state
code also makes fornication a criminal offense.
Apparently, the thought of what goes cm in private
bedrooms between consenting adults "offends
people."
Alcohol, as we all know, is illegal for purchase
on Sunday in South Carolina. (Myrtle
Beach via referendum recently abolished this
law). Apparently, state legislators have consulted
God and found that he is offended that
liquor is sold on his day. The Almighty has exempted
Myrtle Beach (and North Myrtle Beach)
though; the lure of tourism apparently overrides
God's wishes.
Here at USC, a freshman was handcuffed for
carrying a toy cap-gun to a theater class. He
was handcuffed after police learned it was a
toy.
At USC. homeless oeoDle have been barred