Blame aimed at power structure, not individuals

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

Blame aimed at power structure, not individuals

CONNERLY: Historic bias inherent in system; fault lies in racist
institutions

By Raymond Ribaya

In last week’s issue of Viewpoint (Oct. 8, 1998) it was
interesting to read Justin Berardino’s letter to the Daily Bruin
which was poignantly titled "Don’t blame the white man." His deep
sincerity and Ward Connerly’s recent Viewpoint column on ethnic
studies has prompted this letter as a response.

As members of Concerned Asian Pacific-Islander Students for
Action (CAPSA), a UCLA-based Asian American organization, we felt
it necessary to address the growing perception that when people of
color begin to demand basic human rights, particularly rights to
education, they are automatically labeled paranoid of the "white"
conspiracy to, as he states in his scenario, "keep ‘people of
color’ out of UCLA while continuing to repress their progress in
modern society."

We do not want to attack beautifully humane individuals like
Berardino who may or may not think as Chancellor Carnesale does
that education is a privilege and not a right.

What we want to get across to the Daily Bruin readership is that
our mission is to honestly offend and attack the present political
power-structure that happens to be established along racial lines –
which has placed "whiteness," but not necessarily white
individuals, on top of this hierarchy.

We apologize to those white men who we may offend in our attack
of "whiteness," because our goal is not to make you feel bad about
something that happened a long time ago with all that
Slavery-Chinese Exclusion Act and Indian Appropriations
Act-nonsense. How could you prevent something that happened
centuries upon centuries ago?

As students of color, we understand that it takes more than a
White Supremacy meeting on Bruin Walk to end programs like
affirmative action or to call a review of ethnic studies. It takes
a power structure historically built on the "whiteness" of skin
color or the acceptance of "white" conservative ideals which allows
individuals to destroy the opportunities for peoples asking for not
only civil but human rights.

It was only at the turn of the century that this acceptance of
"whiteness" was extended to our Jewish, Irish and Italian brothers
while white women and people of color (both men and women) were
still left out of the circle of power. Therefore, for Berardino’s
sake, we hope this doesn’t sound too far-fetched or in his own
words "ridiculous."

As students, we do not attack the white individual male but the
"white" power structure that has built its strength on the slave
labor of Africans and the exploitation of third-world labor, again
creating a system of racial hierarchy that allows "whiteness" to
dominate.

In our world today, this definition of "whiteness" is blurred by
the use of token leaders like Connerly, which allows misguided
individuals to view the struggle of people of color as paranoid. We
all know that Berardino or any other individual without power could
not have prompted Connerly’s attack on people of color through
education.

Recently, Connerly has moved from an attack on affirmative
action to a review of ethnic-based studies in order to de-racialize
an understanding of a world that is historically still being
controlled along racial lines – where "whiteness" is keeping Native
Americans, Chicanas/os and Latinas/os, African American and Asian
Pacific Islanders out of the circle of power.

These issues of "whiteness" are not born out of a vacuum of
conspiracy – they have a historical legacy that is being written by
the "losers" of that history through ethnic studies.

Aside from questioning the "educational value" of ethnic
studies, Connerly has criticized such programs for making students
"more frustrated and more race-conscious." But is this necessarily
a bad thing? If we are becoming more race-conscious perhaps it is
because of the racial climate of this nation which is becoming
increasingly racist and intolerant.

One needs only to look at recent California Propositions 187,
209 and 227 to see the ongoing trend of legislation targeting
peoples of color. Given these circumstances, is it so surprising
that students are becoming more frustrated and race-conscious?
Should we hold ethnic studies accountable for educating students on
issues which are relevant to all, but are not being taught in other
classes?

As we all know, we are living in a diverse nation divided by
gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and culture, but
we are also a nation united by common struggle.

In the ’60s ethnic studies were established through the united
voice of students of different colors demanding relevant education
– one which was not being provided in their classes.

Ethnic studies gives a voice to the so-called "losers" in
history, the exploited people (who have historically tended to be
people of color).

Through ethnic studies our histories become known and validated
rather than erased by an oppressive structure. Ethnic studies
provide a relevant view of America’s society and institutions which
have historically been and continue to be racist. Yet at the same
time, ethnic studies connect the struggles of all people – crossing
racial, gender, class, cultural-ethnic and sexual lines so that
students realize that the fight for equality and justice is a
common one to be fought in solidarity.

In his Viewpoint article, Connerly asserts that he is merely
"reviewing these programs, not dismantling them."

Later in the article, however, he asks, "What will someone do
with a degree in African American studies," and goes on to question
if such a degree is "obsolete."

Yet, if ethnic studies programs indeed provide an "obsolete"
education, is it not his job to dismantle, or at least cut funding,
for such programs?

His efforts to de-racialize UC campuses only serve to narrow our
educational experience. Make no mistake, Connerly’s intents are not
so benign as they are made to sound. Connerly’s efforts are not to
"review" but to dismantle, and his history with Proposition 209 as
well as his pursuit to eliminate all race-based programs within the
UC system proves as much.

As Connerly calls on a review of ethnic-based studies and
programs it is important to realize the distinction between
Berardino’s sentiments of the white individual and our view of
"whiteness" as the racially distinct power-structure that is alive
and well today.

If Connerly is successful in his current agenda to de-racialize
the UC campuses through his review of ethnic studies, students like
Berardino will only see events like the Civil Rights Movement and
our campaign for equal education through affirmative action as an
attack on white individuality and not as a struggle to gain basic
human rights … from a structure that is based on racial
hierarchies.

Raymond Ribaya

Ribaya, who is a fourth-year English student, is writing on
behalf of Concerned Asian Pacific-Islander Students for Action
(CAPSA).

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