1
Feb. 9, 2007
FORUM
www.guilfordian.com
Page 9
Greensboro. N.C.
Reflections on journalism following the Bryan incident
Bryan Cahall I Staff Writer
Poe writes, "There are some
secrets which do not permit
themselves to be told ... Now
and then, alas, the conscience
of man takes up a burden so
heavy in horror that it can be
thrown down only into the
grave. And thus the essence of
all crime is undivulged."
Shortly after midnight on
Jan. 20, something happened.
I know this. I also know that
this community is reeling from
an "incident." It is an "inci
dent" because no word better
prevents me from committing
libel; I know no more stable
ground.
I am a journalist. As such,
I hold sacred a certain intu
ition about the future and the
past. The past is certain; it is at
least knowable if not known. It
is what I report. The future is
unstable, unknowable, to be re
ported. This is how it was sup
posed to go.
I feel, instead, that I have
been asleep, that this intuition
was always a dream. On Jan.
20, I woke up to a phone call
describing a maelstrom the
night before, of baseball bats
and comas, melee combat of
mythic proportions, a clash of
cultures.
The project of "Truth" is to
proceed backwards through all
this. It is a search for origins,
and witnesses, "what hap
pened" and wherefore. But our
world falls too fast for muck-
rakers. I blinked, and Truth had
shattered, its parts crystallized,
refracting the past violently
and in all directions.
"We have known freedom's
price," said President Bush as
he closed his address on Jan.
23. "We have shown freedom's
power. And in this great con
flict, my fellow Americans, we
will see freedom's victory." A
certainty of what is yet to come,
and then the local FOX station
turned our attention to Guil
ford. Their pivotal source was
a student who claimed to have
seen the incident.
"It was crazy," he said to
FOX, and nothing more. At
least it was a fact.
The ravishing onslaught
of corporate media attention
helped to ensure that any seam
less portrait of Truth would
dissolve. In its place has arisen
a mosaic of forceful and agen
da-laden "truths." And we are
all responsible for this - those
of us who have shouted, who
have whispered, who have said
nothing at all.
Institutional administrators,
athletes, white anti-racists, and
anti-racists of color (and of
course those hybrid anti-rac
ists who are also administra
tors), now police the boundar
ies of their tiles, their truths on
this mosaic - in open forums,
closed meetings, public state
ments, leaked letters and un
authorized fliers. The future
is guaranteed and the past is
made to serve it.
Activists, Guilford's cher
ished Mercenaries to the Good,
cry out again for "change" (but
for how long); and they know
what change means because
they know what happened.
The administration, of
course, has declared Guilford's
"allegiance to the truth." They
have promised, "The integrity
of (the judicial process) will re
sult in justice." And they know
that this will happen because
their truth is neatly compiled
Dan Katzman/Guilfordian
A REPORTER INTERVIEWS JUNIOR Jeremy Bante about the community response
BEFORE AN OPEN FORUM ON JaN. 24.
in a stack of witness statements
and medical 'reports, none of
which mentions the War on
Terror.
What will the historian of
the future write about the inci
dent on our campus? Will the
"altercation in Bryan Hall" be
a footnote, the xenophobic by
product of an endless criminal
war? Or will it be a shining ex
ample of the triumph of "ratio
nal, inclusive discourse" and
"due process"? It depends on
what he wants to prove, I sup
pose.
Politics everywhere. Every
where politics. And I am a jour
nalist. I report. I am a journal
ist, a historian of the present if
you will. As such, I am compro
mised, because, unlike so many
others it seems, I don't know
what will happen tomorrow.
Music spreads ^the Gay’
Nasi Easton I Senior Writer
THE reality of GRAFITTI
In all ihe Internet's endless wisdom and plethora
of helpful knowledge, a few Web sites really stand
out Goc^e, for example, helps even the least tech-
sawy person to surf the World Wide Web with a
single ^ck. YouTube allows the humblest among us
to become a virtual video star in mere instants. And,
meet importantly, LoveGodsWay.oig enlightens any
one and everyone about the danger of listening to
bands that spread "the Gay."
Yes, "the Gay." Before stumbling upon this Web
site, I had no idea that homc^exuality was a virus,
something akin to the flu tiiat, if caught early enough,
can be properly treated and cured. Nor was I aware
that this virus doesn't even require person-to-person
contact to spread — it's so contagious, apparently that
even listening to suggestions of it is enough to con
taminate the nmve heterosexual.
Now, thanks to this Web site, I can finally consider
myself well informed. No longer am I in the dark
about the truth behind the lyrics of the "really gay"
Elton John or "dark gay" Marilyn Mansoa Never
more will I be lulled to sleep by Frank Sinatra's ro
mantic melodies or Su^an Stevens' haunting songs
about 'Tsalms" — oh no! I'm not letting my sexual-
it/s guard down for an instant.
I'm so impressed by this utterly unbiased, obvi
ously objective list, in fact that I fed the need to follow
suit and enhghten the world with an equally reason
able list of my own; Bands who spread the Red.
Through my years of careful listening and perus
ing of many music libraries, I have created a list of art
ists that through dther fiieir lyrics or actions, dearly
show they are commies. WatA out for these bands,
parents, as you never know when your little one may
give up his or her J.K Rowling in favor of Karl Marx
and go Red. As with "the Gay," the Commie may be
stopped if caught early enough, but once it's too late
... there's no turning back.
Bands to watch out for
— Gnarls Barkley. That music video for "Crazy"
may have looked like just a bunch of strange inkblots
to the unaware, but some of us saw it for what it truly
was — subliminal messages urging listeners towards
Marxist ways. A dever tactic on Gnarls' behalf, but I
saw throu^ their ambiguity to the dear. Red mes
sage underneath.
— The Dixie Chicks. Ihis should be obvious. They
have expressed their distaste for the Bush administra
tion — need I say more? Anti-Bush, pro-Commie...
they're practically synonymous.
— Anti-Flag. As if their name isn't enough, they
have an entire song based around equality. Equd
portions for all? Equal chances for everyone? Etees
any of this sound familiar to you? Well, ii you know
anything about anything, it should sound exactly like
what it means: "we love communism."
— Red Hot Chili Peppers. Yet another band with
a SOTig about equality — and it even says the word
"ted" twice! Come on, people, do I have to spell this
out for you?
— Dave Matthews Band. Yes, even this seem
ingly sweet gentle man has communist ties. "And all
the little ants are marching, red and black antennrrs
waving"? Don't be fooled by his soft exterior. Dave
Matthews is a true Red through and through
Now, before you get all up in arms over your fa
vorite band being induded in this list think it througli
logically. And while you're giving yourself a thorough
headache attempting that at least entertain the notion
that perhaps my list isn't as far-fetched as it seems. It's
cert^y not any more far-fetched than the idea that
certain bands encourage homosexuality— or. I'm
sorry, "the Gay" — through their lyrics and music.
LnveGodsWay.org is right In this age of rampant
piracy and audio-based viruses, it's crucial to keep
watch over what music you and your loved ones
listen to. After all, you never know— that song you
previously considered innexent may actually be de
signed to push you into the ranks of the latest group
of victims in our fair land.