Flag image symbolizes diversity

Tuesday, May 12, 1998

Flag image symbolizes diversity

ELECTIONS: American patriotism, rallying of Sanity doesn’t
deserve Praxis’ heated racist accusations

By Martin Chippas

When I gathered with the rest of the Sanity ’98 candidates and
some of our supporters on the steps of Kerckhoff Thursday night to
hear the results of the USAC elections, I expected it to be a
relatively short affair of hearing the results, a little cheering
and then making some statements to the UCLA media on the outcome.
Instead, it became a scene of angry shouting and arguing – and near
violence between supporters of the two slates.

Figuring that the Praxis people would all be dressed alike and
chanting in unison – as, in fact, they were – Sanity ’98 brought
along a couple of American flags to make our own statement. I have
always thought of the American flag as unifying symbol and one that
should not be considered confrontational; after all, we are
presently in America and a flag indicating that fact flies over the
center of this campus every day. Though the various candidates and
Sanity ’98 supporters come from different political, ethnic and
religious backgrounds, we, like everyone at UCLA, enjoy the
benefits and freedoms of living in this country, and, to me, the
flag is a symbol of that fact.

To my complete surprise, as soon as we held up the flags, some
of the members of the Praxis crowd began shouting at us to "take
down that Nazi flag." They then shouted, "Hey hey, ho ho Sanity
’98, that racist slate has got to go."

I don’t know why individuals in Praxis associate the official
symbol of this country with Nazi Germany. To me, it’s the symbol of
the country that my grandparents and great-grandparents fled to in
order to find freedom and a better life and, in some cases, to
actually escape the Nazi invasion. It’s also the flag that some of
my relatives and so many other Americans of all races fought for
and died under while ridding the world of Nazi tyranny. These
individuals’ statements offended me and the many other Sanity ’98
supporters. We responded to them positively, at times, by singing
"America the Beautiful" and by doing an eight clap to try to bring
back a sense of unity. But it kept getting worse; over the course
of the following hours, Praxis supporters kept referring to us as
racists and "pathetic whites." I can only assume that this is an
example of the kind of dialogue that Praxis was campaigning about
wanting to have with students.

I’m not going to say this didn’t make me and many others in
Sanity ’98 respond in anger, because it did. Nor will I say we all
acted completely rationally or maturely in the heat of the moment.
We yelled back to Praxis that the Nazis were obsessed with race,
just like them. When they chanted "students first," we yelled back
that we are students too and that they have never represented us.
At one point, I even yelled a quote from Ayn Rand. There was
shouting and swearing on both sides, and at the pinnacle of it all,
there was almost violence before some cooler heads on both sides
prevailed and everyone sat down to wait for the results.

I will not say that the comments I heard from some in Praxis are
the opinions of everyone involved in that group. I believe in
judging people as individuals, and I hope that everyone elected
from Praxis will work to include everyone on this campus in student
government, even though their past record would not indicate it. I
was saddened to see that many of the people who will continue to
control all but one seat in USAC next year are so quick to judge on
the basis of race.

They didn’t know us personally, and throughout the campaign, our
slate focused on campus and student issues, not racial ones. But
these individuals saw white skin, and to them that means we are
racist and apparently pathetic. It makes me wonder how committed
they really are to diversity.

It also helps me understand the complete apathy students had
toward voting this year. Praxis was elected by a mandate of all of
about 8 percent of the total student body – most of the rest of the
other 4 percent or so who voted, voted for Sanity. The other 88
percent of the student body voted with their feet by not going to
the polls.

The only Sanity candidate not to lose (he ran unopposed) pledged
to represent the vast majority of students on this campus. I hope
that the individuals elected from Praxis will try to do the same.
If they don’t, I fear even more scenes of ugly divisiveness and
general apathy on the part of most students next year.