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Obama publicly discusses U.S. racial divide
By Tim May
Staff Writer
On March 18, Barack Obama
delivered one of the most power
ful and rewarding speeches of any
historical presidentid candidate in
recent memory. Obama put his best
foot forward by directly confront
ing the United States' racist history
that lives in the fabric of our society
today.
Sure, this may not seem like a
radical move at first glance. As col
lege students and faculty, we have
the potential privilege of discuss
ing and theorizing issues of race
to our hearts content. However, a
good portion of the rest of the coun
try doesn't have this opportunity.
Therefore, it's an important prob
lem to be discussed on a national
level.
Racism is a topic that most politi
cal candidates try to subtly ignore.
So, as one of those presidential
candidates, Obama's decision to
bite the bullet and lead a speech
devoted to issues of race should be
viewed as a profound and radical
move.
The most important argument
of Obama's spe^ dealt with the
actual constructions of race. While
many people may experience rac
ism on an individual level, the
foundation of racism is institution
alized and structural.
The thought of fighting racism
seems to be an improbable act,
which on some level, it is. The word
racism carries a bundle of histori
cal and personal implications that
can't be unwoven merely through
conversation. To negate file promi
nent force of racism in our society is
to be incredibly ignorant.
Obama did exactly the oppo
site: he discussed his experience
of being raised by a black man
and a white woman, and the ethi
cal issues of abandoning his pas
tor, who believes that the United
States can never transcend their
racist past.
Obama rejected this claim as
static and unproductive. Instead,
Obama honestly and publicly
addressed and embraced realistic
fears, confusions, and prejudices
of whites and the harsh realities of
many black communities across the
country.
By exposing these truths, Obama
call^ for our country to move
beyond our racial history to address
problems that citizens of the United
States are experiencing in the pres
ent day. Despite our country's dis
turbing racdd past, there are also
problems occurring today that
involve multiple identities.
For example, the tragedies of the
war in Iraq cross racial boundaries
with its ever-increasing death toll.
In addition, our funding of the war
has had a detrimental economic
effect on the middle and lower
classes of our society.
When dealing with these trou
bling issues, it's essential that our
society doesn't collapse under our
rable first step in uncovering these
historical and present issues, it's
important to understand that an
effort to combat racism can't end at
the podium.
As a society, we must under
stand the institutional implications
of racism that are alive in our own
public policies. Racism plays a role
in the creation of bad schools, the
high unemployment rate, our mis
erable health care system, and our
presence in Iraq.
Discussion and theorizing are
Obama honestly and publicly addressed and
embraced realistic fears, confusions, and preju
dices of whites and the harsh realities of many
black communities across the country.
feet. To help prevent this, Obama
exposed our country's racial divide
and how, if we begki to move
beyond it, we will form "a more
perfect union."
The United States will undoubt
edly be polarized by Obama's
speech, which is problematic given
the issues he discusses. Although
Obama took a brave and adini-
important, but if we want actively
change the presence of racism in our
society, there needs to be a transfor
mation of the rules that govern our
country. With his speech, Obama
began to point to some these prob
lems. Hopefully, his promises for
change will be acknowledged by
the public and cemented in public
office.
CCE-Traditional rift may be a myth
Today's
Lesson
with
t
Paula Wilder
The Adult Students used to be isolat
ed on an asphalt campus in downtown
Greensboro. That is history and now, we
who are over the magical age of 23, walk
the brick sidewalks, sit under the shade
trees, enjoy the lake, the meadow, and share
the classroom with those of you under the
age of 23.
Since I arrived at Guilford, I have heard
that Traditional Students don't like CCE
Students sharing "their" campus, but
personally. I've never gotten that vibe.
It seemed to me that this "Great Divide"
might be ari "urban legend."
1 decided to go out and talk to a lot of
Traditional Students around campus about
how they feel about CCE Students sharing
the campus.
Not one of the people I talked to had any
hate or "go home" comments and 99.9%
of what you said was all positive. I had a
couple of observations about the differenc
es between Traditional and CCE Students
that I might stipulate as negative, hence the
tenth of percent away from being a 100%
positive report.
Most of the comments that I received
went something like this, "CCE Students? I
think they are great." "WhaTs the big deal?
I don't really think about it." "I don't care
who comes to school here."
Here are some of the more specific com
ments from Traditional Students (and even
one Early College student that I thought
was a Traditional Student):
"1 am a Business Major and so I take
a lot of night classes with CCE Students.
When you share the classroom with CCE
Students, you get real world experience,
not just teaching from the professor. They
give us good advice from their own experi
ences." Janell Henry, junior.
"They are a student and I don't see them
as any different. They don't cut up in class
because they are there because they want to
be there. They bring something positive to
the campus." Megan Chery, Early College
junior.
"They add more experience to the learn
ing. 1 was a Psychology Major and saw
that the CCE Students bring a view that we
don't have because they have experienced
the real world. CCE Students are more
practical and more focused." Jada Drew
'07.
"I am an English Major and I have
found that the CCE Students have a harder
time keeping it in the theoretical realm.
They want to apply everything to every
day life rather than keeping it in theory.
"Annastasia Smith, senior.
"I think CCE Students are great. I had
a class with one lady who is 40 and old
enough to be my mom and it was pretty
fun. They work just as hard as we do and
I think it is pretty amazing that they have
come back. I respect them and they deserve
to be here as much as me, and hopefully I'll
be on the stage with them in four years."
Reggie Pettiford, first-year.
"I have a lot of classes with them and
a couple of them have even had to bring
their kids into class. They didn't disrupt the
class. I have even made friends with some
of the CCE Students and I like the older
perspective. Just because the label exists for
financial reasons, the category isn't neces
sary. Both groups tend to generalize about
each other, but there is diversity within
each." Katherine Rossini, senior.
"I know a single mom who wasn't 23
yet and wanted to qualify for the CCE
Student rate, because she was supporting
herself and her baby, but because she was
a Traditional Freshman she didn't qualify.
I think the classification should be based
on circumstance rather than age." Bailey
Arnold, junior.
I know there are some underlying nega
tive opinions out there, but I guess those
people made sure they avoided me or
maybe their negative vibes kept me from
stopping and asking them any questions. I
couldn't include all the names of the men
and women who stopped and gave me their
opinion, but thanks for chatting. It was fun
listening to you share your experiences.
If you have an opinion you'd like to
share, e-mail them to guilfordian@guilford.
edu.
Staff Editorial
Voting is a right
and a duty;
register and vote!
April 11 is the last day to reg
ister to vote in North Carolina if
you want to participate in the May
6th primary. Every four years, we
have the honor of participating in
the selection of the highest execu
tive, the most powerful person in
the United States, and by some
measures, the world.
Voting is always important, it's
your chance to make your voice
heard. The vote is a right, not a
privilege, and now more than ever
it's a duty.
The last eight years have seen
our nation ruled by incompetence
at best, and bloody-minded antip
athy at worst. In between, we have
seen our economy implode and
our soldiers bloodied and scat
tered throughout the Middle East.
We have seen everything from
gross exaggeration to bald-faced
lies. Our politics have become
clotted with blood and misplaced
religious fervor. In short, we have
seen the consequence of an apa
thetic electorate- the crazy and the
brutal end up voting, while the
reasonable go to work.
This year is our chance to step
up and admit that we care. We may
be ashamed of what our country
has done, but it's still our country,
and we have to take care of it.
April 11 is the chance for all of
us. North Carolinian and out-of-
state alike, to participate. With the
Democratic nomination still in the
air. North Carolina's primary is
more crucial than usual, and if our
generation comes and votes in pri
maries we will send a strong mes
sage that we are involved, that we
care about the future, that we who
are of age to die in a war would
like to pick the old people who can
send us there.
Half of us have never voted
before. Few have been of age long
enough to vote in even one other
presidential election. None of the
traditional students were able to
vote in 2000, when all of this
began. It's an honor, as I've said,
to be a part of this election, of
this democracy, and to waste your
chance is an insult.
This year, we face an open field.
Vote in the primary. Democrat or
Republican. Become involved.
Become active. History may
remember this election and judge
our generation for the choice we
make. '