As many readers of The Spectrum have noticed, there have been recent measures taken to humiliate the Black Student Union (BSU), the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Alliance (LGBTA), and those who sympathize with the causes of these groups.
Every person in America has witnessed instances of racism. If you are willing to examine examples of institutionalized racism, look no further than to the impoverished communities scattered across our country, or to the faces of the people being held in prison cells, or to the racial statistics addressing obesity, hypertension, sickle cell anemia, and diabetes, and ask the question, "Why has so little progress been made in the name of suffering people?"
Homophobia is just as prevalent. There is senseless violence, a well conserved tradition of narrow-mindedness, and over 1000 official rights which heterosexual couples benefit from and homosexual couples do not.
To say that the BSU is an inherently racist organization, or the LGBTA puts sexuality before humanness, is to consciously dismiss the fact that those who are in power have historically set race and sexuality as two of the most relevant factors in the definition of identity and qualification for human rights - and continue to do so. Accepting that "ignorance will always be in the forefront of our lives" is not an acceptable resolution for anyone other than those who hold favorable positions in the existing hierarchal systems of malice based on race and sexuality. Our groups acknowledge these unfair distinctions, and we gather with the purpose of developing a set of societal circumstances where these distinctions are eliminated.
The inheritance of a body which is not marginalized in our society does not entitle anyone to attack those who have to fight for the rights that others were simply born with. These attacks are developed without any sense of tolerance, understanding, warrant, or provocation, and they stand only to establish and reinforce sentiments of hatred rooted in anxieties around the existence of minority assemblies. But what is there to be so afraid of? It is this lack of information and irrational fear that creates prejudice, discrimination, and, yes, the mindset which makes a hate crime possible.
A hate crime is a crime motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against race, religion, disability, sexuality/orientation, or ethnicity/national origin.
Using a derogatory term against another individual is not considered a hate crime, and no member of the BSU or LGBTA would ever assert that it is. For anyone to make a mockery of the painful histories that led to hate crime legislation is unacceptable in an education setting where diversity is emphasized an attractant for potential students.
The University at Buffalo prides itself in being a safe place for all people to study, and the students who deserve to be here are the ones who strive to establish such a community for themselves and their peers.
Degradation cannot hide behind supposed dreams of a unified and uniform society.
The BSU and the LGBTA welcome everyone and encourage allies to take part in their discussions and action for advancement and revolution.
UB LGBTA Black Student Union The College Democrats
ubslgbta@gmail.com Darnell Cummings, President Nicholas Orrange, President
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
