Spring Break
The Daily OrangeResponse to yesterday's letter
By
Posted: 10/21/05, 3:25 AM EST Section: Opinion
In response to Tim Waterhouse's comment, I would like to address the following issues.
There is a reason why groups are formed for specific audiences and, put simply ... who else is going to do it? Students like you? I think not.
There's a reason why there are scholarships for specific races. Have you seen the education and infrastructure in low-income areas which are surprisingly of, oh my God, colored people? Do you know the kinds of populations that reside in places where Teach for America takes place at? Have you ever heard of Co-intel Pro? (Hint: it was illegal search, seizure and murder by the FBI.) Immigrants are coming because of U.S. intervention, such as the failed Washington Consensus and constant CIA "peace initiatives."
Hasn't anyone watched VH1 hip-hop and seen how messed up the South Bronx was and still is? There is a reason that there is no white club, but why aren't there an Irish, Italian, Polish or American clubs? Our groups were formed because there was a lack of intention by the administration to provide it for us. The Black Panthers, the Younglords and Brown Berets were formed because there was a lack of attention by the government to people like me who come from areas considered hazard zones.
Before you complain, and this goes for all those people who have secret side conversations about these types of issues, I challenge you to show up to our events. We comprise 15 percent of the population, but we are the majority at our events. We live in a capitalist country and people are more concerned about money than the principle of treating people like people.
If you don't believe anything I said, is a black person better in Cuba or in the island of the democratic Dominican Republic?
Andy Gutierrez
Senior political science and international relations major
There is a reason why groups are formed for specific audiences and, put simply ... who else is going to do it? Students like you? I think not.
There's a reason why there are scholarships for specific races. Have you seen the education and infrastructure in low-income areas which are surprisingly of, oh my God, colored people? Do you know the kinds of populations that reside in places where Teach for America takes place at? Have you ever heard of Co-intel Pro? (Hint: it was illegal search, seizure and murder by the FBI.) Immigrants are coming because of U.S. intervention, such as the failed Washington Consensus and constant CIA "peace initiatives."
Hasn't anyone watched VH1 hip-hop and seen how messed up the South Bronx was and still is? There is a reason that there is no white club, but why aren't there an Irish, Italian, Polish or American clubs? Our groups were formed because there was a lack of intention by the administration to provide it for us. The Black Panthers, the Younglords and Brown Berets were formed because there was a lack of attention by the government to people like me who come from areas considered hazard zones.
Before you complain, and this goes for all those people who have secret side conversations about these types of issues, I challenge you to show up to our events. We comprise 15 percent of the population, but we are the majority at our events. We live in a capitalist country and people are more concerned about money than the principle of treating people like people.
If you don't believe anything I said, is a black person better in Cuba or in the island of the democratic Dominican Republic?
Andy Gutierrez
Senior political science and international relations major
