Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Monday, October 26, 1992 > 1 Racism Understanding is key > to stopping ignorance April 29, 1992. Los Angeles is devastated by the worst riots i U.S. history. Media coverage following the riots stressed the need for rach equality and urban renewal. Candidates visited to get good phot opportunities, and made impassioned speeches about simila needs. Yet as the weeks passed, media coverage dwindled, and politics rhetoric slowed to a point that for most white people the issu seemed solved. Yet, to millions of African-Americans, the issu was far from resolved. Six months have passed since the L.A. riots, and once again th I issue of race relations has stepped forward, but this time on ou own campus. On Monday, USC had a forum on race relations. There wer nearly 1,000 people there. Of those, about 900 were Africa American, 50 or so were white and the rest were of other races. One black student said it perfectly. "How are we supposed t solve any problems when we are the only one's willing t change?" He's right. It takes at least two people to have an argc ment, ana it taxes at least two people to soive an argument. How can any one group be expected to solve a problem withoi support from the others? The answer is they can't. \ If racial tension at USC, or in the United States, is going to b eased, all groups need to be willing to change. The first steps hav already been attempted but without much success. There needs t be more white people at these forums in order for them to serv their purpose. White apathy will not solve anything. Instead, whites need t understand the richness and important contributions that have bee and will be made by the African-American community. Perhaps the time has come for all students to take a course i multiculturalism so we may better understand each other. The rac forum should serve as a wake-up call to USC. Relations will nc be fixed overnight. It is a wound that is deep in the America heart. To understand each other, we must set aside all preconceive stereotypes, fear, and apathy. Only through open, honest discus sion can our problems be solved. "THERE'S A OEffTAlN AMOUNT OF RECOIL' "ISaltco rt Editor in Chief Greg Rickabaugh Managing Editor Patrick Villeaas Copy Desk Chief Jay king News Editors Chad Bray J.T. Wagenheim Viewpoints Editor Jack Dunn Fpflti irp>c; Fditor Lpp filnntr Sports Editors Nancy Salomonsky Tim Thorsen Photo Editor Stephanie Newlin Graphic Editor Ryan Sims Cartoonist Paul Jon Asst. News Editor Melissa Tennen Asst. Features Editor Jennifer Fuller Asst. Sports Editor Rob Rodusky Asst. Photo Editor Lea Clayton Asst. Graphics Editors Kristin Buehlman Gregory Perez Asst. Copy Desk Editor Brian Garland Student Media Coordinator Jim McKellar Production Manager Laura Day Asst. Production Manager Jim Green Faculty Advisor Erik Collins Advertising Manager Renee Gibson Graduate Asst Brian McGuire Darkroom Technicians Erin Galloway Rika Hashimoto The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be no more than 250 words. Full name and professional title, or year and major if a student, must be included along with address and phone number. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit letters. The Gamecock is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during both summer sessions, with the exception of university holidays and examination periods. Opinions expressed in The Gamecock are those of the editors or author and nol those of the University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of The Gamecock. The Student Media Department is the parent organization of The Gamecock. Change of address forms, subscriptions, requests and other correspondence should be sent to The Gamecock, P.O. Box 85131, The University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. Subscription rates are $46 a year. First class postage paid at Columbia, SC. The Gamecock is a registered student organization of the University of South Carolina and is partially funded by student activity fees. %\\t 0amccock ^iewpc 1 1. roiiuciii insuii I once read an interesting story about British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He was attending a party and had a little too much to drink. While this was not an unusual thing for him to do, it did offend some other guests at the party. One woman was so upset by Churchill's behavior she decided to say n something to him about it. "You are drunk," she told him icily. il "And you madam are ugly," Churchill 0 replied. "However, I shall be sober in the morn _ if Now that showed true wit. I can picture Churchill standing there in a drunken stupor and delivering this wonderfully clever insult. He e was already doing then what today's politicians e have come to do so well. He was attacking his critics on a personal level. e But there are some very important differences between politicians of the past, such as ir Churchill, and politicians of the present. Today much more attention and planning is given to e the art of casting aspersions at one's political n enemy. The most recent examples of political mud0 slinging have been the accusations made by Ross Perot saying Republicans tryed to disrupt his daughter s wedding and alter a photograph l" of her. Perot has offered no evidence to support these accusations, but they have still dominated it I Candidate anr 0 e Since my election to the "silly pulpit" is virtually guaranteed, I have decided to 0 announce my choices for the key positions in n the Holman-Thorsen administration. Together, my cabinet and I will work for real change and put an end to the "gridlock in n Washington." By placing competent people in e these high profile positions, I hop that they >t win use uieir power 10 enu /vinenca s seconu n Great Depression. Here are some of my choices for Secretary ri of" a Education: Dan Quayle. He is perfect for it. He has agreed to take the position so long as he gets for that little spelling problem he has. He is proof-positive that a mind really is a terrible thing to waste. Agriculture: Mr. Greenjeans from Captain Kangaroo. Why do they call him Greenjeans? Didn't he wear blue overalls? Housing and Urban Development: Mr. Fred Rogers. Our cities are decaying: socially, economically and morally. Mr. Rogers' neighbors were always glad to see him, and he always had lots of money to buy those cool sweaters and penny-loaTers. So, Fred, won't you be my neighbor? Energy: Homer Simpson. I have decided to give Homer a nice desk job to protect us from the China Syndrome since he nearly caused a nuclear meltdown in Springfield. Defense: Texas Governor Ann Richards. If Female impersonat To the editor: This letter is simply a "thank you" to the student body here at USC. On October 20, over 200 students came to "Mistresses of Illusion" to show their support for PALSS here in South . Carolina. 1 Although we got started a little late, the audience showed wonderful enthusiasm and really seemed to enjoy themselves. Even though you all could not be backstage ! Billiot ignores white I To the editor: face up to I ' Keith Billiot wrote an interesting ally assaulti letter to the editor in The Gamecock's Oct. 26 edition. It is no secret that racism exists today. Odds are you will see it when To the edit blacks attempt a peaceful demon- Mr. Billi stration against a particular injus- why preju tice, and large groups of whites do because of every violent thing in hate's name founded vi to disrupt and intimidate. yourself. During the weekends in my resi- Odds ar dence hall, odds are white guys today you r will see who can hold the most mannered, liquor and expel the most vomit all whether bla over the bathrooms without an entire ra l respecting the other residents' as "ignorai ; desire for a clean bathroom and ious" is totf lore nairl fn ntair "D ?1 uwiiaia paiu IVJ siay uicic. IVJLI. on Mr. Billiot, you mention vio- There is sei lence in your letter, but I must whites and remind you of the sorry cops in the but the on L.A. incident and those in blue will chang who continually get acquitted or you get of 1 insulting sentences when they kill stop name-( ! or batter a black or minority per- As for th ' son. may have < i Those kids at the fair and many they probab blacks do not have any reason to same oppc ' respect you or your presence sim- that you h ply because you have never shown male or e\ respect. middle-cla: Mr. Billiot, you characterize does not ju: , black Americans in a negative people, but manner because that is the only understand] way you wish to see us when some frustrated v of us react to the situations brought they have i about by your ignorance, violence bly the onl) and obnoxiousness. react. The reality is you have to take a good look at your own evils and < lints ts diminish can ngti UHaaEBIHCi ,JS^ COLUMNIST I jIML newspaper headlines for several days. The presidential and vice presidential debates were also perfect examples of political insults. Sen. A1 Gore opened the vice presidential debate by saying to Vice President Dan Quayle, "Dan, if you don't compare yourself to Harry Truman, I won't compare you to Jack Kennedy." This comment was in reference to another attack made on Quayle by Sen. Lloyd Bentsen in a similar debate in 1988. Bentsen mocked a comparison of Quayle to the former president saying "You sir are no Jack Kennedy." Truman was mentioned because the Bush campaign has attempted to compare Bush to Truman. By insulting Quayle in his opening remarks, Gore set a tone for the debate which could only be described as ugly. The ensuing 90 minutes were filled with pokes and jabs between the candidates. *Most were scripted and brutal. The main thing these attacks accomplished was to obscure the issues. iounces key cat we could arai our country with weapons as deadly as Mrs. Richards' tongue, we could lick anyone in the world! Justice: Hillary Clinton. Since Mrs. Clinton has proven her "chilling" demeanor to the press, I feel her talents would be wasted by "staying at home and baking cookies." With an intelligent woman as attorney general, maybe our corporations will be found guilty for murdering our economy. Now that would be justice. Health and Human Services: Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Since I will do my best to control our rapid population growth, I think his "suicide machine" just might come in handy. For the more powerful federal positions... Press Secretary: Rush Limbaugh. I can guarantee I will make a mistake that will turn the people against me. That is why I will let Rush deal with the press. Since the press hates Rush more than me, I should start getting more favorable press. That's the way things ought to be! Food and Drug Administration: Anita Hill. She will ensure you will never find one of those nasty hairs floating in your Coke again. ! Turin r or thanks CPU and with us, we all knew we were a hit. We could feel the support and drew from that to better our performances. Everyone, especially Rose Michaels, kept saying, "I'm having a blast!" As a female impersonator, it is wonderful to see CPU take a chance with such a controversial subject. I would like to see more diverse programming here at USC. People are more openminded these days, and the more they know, the more they understand. behavior I FHifnr hi them instead of continu- To the editor: ing us. The arguments Timothy V. Walters Rickabaugh are unsuppo Music sophomore and silly at worst (Oct. The Gamecock). His < or: George Bush and atta< ot, if you are wondering Clinton are the incoh< dice still exists, it is blings of an uninformed ignorant, crass, dumb- must ^ack p] ews of people such as nos(algia Qn [he sjmp e if you go anywhere >988 ?lwale' are going to find ill- turned Willie Hortoi "foul-mouthed jerks" Republican presidential ick or white. But to state int0 a national ice can be characterized Rickabaugh is all about tit, violent and obnox- ing and insignificant illy ludicrous! attacks, rather appropr liot, you are correct. supporting Bush and Dai ious discontent between By the editor's own blacks in this country, the only debate Bush cai ly way this discontent "winning" was saying n e is wnen people nice was not subject to the f their high horse and 3^ disgust of the Ami calling and criticizing. ?je ie black youths that you Jus, when , thought , encountered at the fair, . ,lv have not received the be more ternfied of 11 ny nave nui icccincu uic "pvpciHpnt Onavlp " I >rtunities or education ^resident guay e, ave as a young white mmule tem&T 'en myself as a young presidential debate. Qua; ss black woman. This daring to confront A1 stify being rude to other one-on-one basis conce it can give you a better vant issues, relied on th ing of why youths are Republican cliche of 1 vith a system in which character accusations a 10 voice. This is proba- Clinton. Quayle accused ' way they know how to being unable to come dc side, yet when simply ? Tiffany Smith supported the right of a criminal Justice junior choose whether to hav< 3 ipaign issues Viewers were far too busy watching the feud between Quayle and Gore to truly have an opportunity to hear about the real issues of the race. Many realized they had been cheated out of a meaningful debate. Soon after, at a presidential debate, an audience member asked the candidates to stop bickering and concentrate on the issues Americans care about. Of course they said they wuuiu uu ?u, anu picuinauiy uicy iicvci uiu. The fighting has continued to eclipse the issues. Or perhaps hide is a better word. The candidates have allowed the issues to be hidden behind their mudslinging. Maybe this is intentional. Perhaps they do not want the substance of their policies to come under closer scrutiny. This is where Churchill and today's politicians part company. Leaders of the past did not let personal attacks rule their campaigns to the extent they have in recent years. Past leaders were not angels, but leaders such as Churchill were not as eager to duck the issues in favor of insults. It is time for politicians to change. More attention needs to be given to the issues which are important to the voters. Today our leaders have allowed themselves to become drunk on insults and innuendo. Let us hope they shall be sober in the morning. >inet positions MJB Director of NASA: Jerry Brown. Since it is pretty clear that Gov. Moonbeam is living on another planet, I will help reunite him with his Bellow space travelers. pf Drug czar: Marion Berry. As head of a govJl ernment program to attack the supply-side of I the drug problem, Berry could single-handedly (or nostrilly) stop the Medellin cartel. First Lady: Behind every good man is a truly magnificent woman. My choice for first lady has 1 J * fr U 1 4 T 1 J * J 1 4 4.1 4 4_ oeen uniicuii, dui 1 nave ueciueu 10 grani uiai 10 the "azure-eyed" muse who helped keep the campaign torches burning. The Cabinet, that elusive country club of power where only few members join and even fewer accomplish anything, Filled with unqualified cronies who helped get their candidate elected, has become yet another useless bureau. Instead of using their powers to accomplish anything good, they act like court jesters preening over the president and stroking his ego. They try to find projects that will make the president look good, so his re-election will, be easier. We need to make sure the person elected will not give us an unqualified Cabinet. On Nov. 4, write the White House, and tell whoever wins the election that we are not going to take it anymore. We need a government that cares more about the people and less about winning re-election. students of USC If you enjoyed the show, and you want to see all of us back here, let CPU know. All the performers ? Danielle, Amanda, Rose, Pauline, mite, Mepname ana t ? all agreed to do it once again if the students wanted to see another show. Thank you once again for your support. Crystal Obsession USC student atant Republican tion, Quayle was unable to say of Greg "yes" or "no." rted at best Indeed, change for change's sake 20 issue of is not enough, but change for defense of America's sake is. We cannot ck on Bill endure four more years of Bush srent ram- and Quayle and trickle-down ecoeditor who nomics. The decision to elect leasure and Clinton and Gore will be the most le days of important choice we make for our r and Bush education, our health, our environi and the ment, our economy and our nation, campaign Such a positive change would be disgrace, very prudent now at this juncture, mudsling- Bradley Bannon personal English major iate in his j j i v,/uayic. admission, ^ , Tie close 10 Editor s Note ? mdsiinging The Gamecock has disinterest j irican peo- received numerous letters in the past [could not f d Th lie idea of J aw his 90- Viewpoints section in the vice wjjj run an extendyle, seldom , ttT Gore on a ed Letters to the rning rele- Editor" in Friday's ie tired old \ unfounded edition. We will gainst Bill attempt to print as Clinton of . ,wn on one many letters as isked if he possible. woman to ; an abor