by Joel VanDixhorn | Framing every discussion around race is not constructive.
Read any brochure, grab any pamphlet, or check the web and one will be told that Tufts is a tight-knit community in which differences are embraced. However, the environment on campus works more to accentuate dissimilarity between individuals due to students’ tendencies to view life with impaired perspectives. Commonly at Tufts, situations and conversations are framed, actions rationalized, and viewpoints written through race colored glasses. Unfortunately, this sequence is played out at universities across the country.
Recently, the Duke lacrosse scandal set the bar for presumptuous, compulsive, knee-jerk reactions and highlighted the danger of drawing right and wrong from race. In the now-infamous case, guilt was predetermined because the defendants were white, privileged athletes while the accuser was a poor, black woman. Rallies were organized and Jesse Jackson was flown in as indignant students prematurely condemned their peers. The foundation of the American judicial system, innocent until proven guilty, was eroded because people added a racial perspective to the case. Jackson used this as an opportunity to harp on the inherent racism he believes is present in every white American, saying, “And the idea of white males fantasizing about black women is…is quite old, quite…and quite ugly, and now quite illegal. And that’s why we really want the truth to be told.” One must wonder what “justice” Jackson hopes to present to the falsely accused players who were kicked out of Duke prematurely. Because of his selfish actions, three college students had a year of their lives destroyed, suffered unnecessary scrutiny, and had their reputations permanently tarnished. If there are two stigmas that are eternally binding, regardless of proof of innocence, they are “sexual offender” and “racist”. Unfortunately, Jackson utilized both of these, solidifying the damage done to the Duke lacrosse players. Sadly, he is noticeably absent from the cleanup effort, continuing his opportunist ways elsewhere.
Regrettably, for the rest of America, Jackson, along with Al Sharpton, was given another opportunity to flame racial tensions and preach about injustices. The Don Imus incident came at a convenient time for these two reverends, overshadowing the chaos they had created in Durham, North Carolina. Imus has been making a living from off-color and insensitive comments but this especially lewd excerpt provided an escape for Jackson. The story would have died if not for the incessant Sharpton, who wanted to interview Imus while demanding his dismissal by NBC at the same time. It was ironic to see Sharpton demand accountability when less than a week earlier, Jackson and Sharpton had wrongly laid siege to Duke. Jason Whitlock, a prominent African American sports writer, offered harsh criticism of these two during an interview with Tucker Carlson. Whitlock said, “You never see them go back and apologize for the messes they make. Jesse Jackson right now should be down in Duke apologizing to those lacrosse players. He owes the people down at Duke an apology for stirring that mess and dividing people and dividing this nation, they’re terrorists; they go around this nation starting fires and they need to be stopped.”
In mid-April, the Tufts Daily printed a viewpoint from a black student who gave examples of times he felt discriminated against. One such example involved another student relocating away from the author in the Eaton computer lab, after the author had sat next to her. This was attributed to racism. The catastrophic assumption that goes into this analysis is mind-boggling but helps to accentuate a fact of life at Tufts: that many people choose to make race an issue every chance they get. When most students read this viewpoint their first reaction was likely, “I do that all the time,” not because they are racist, but because many students are fastidious about their study habits. However, this is not the main point. What is more important is to realize the level of intimidation that is a product of “racializing.” As previously discussed, being labeled a racist is socially paralyzing. Now consider if a student is scared of performing a simple action such as switching seats, think how scared they might be to voice an opinion that goes against a minority and might not be politically correct.
Tufts wants to pride itself on its diversity, but it needs to work on its dialogue. By creating a racial aspect to every discussion, the community suffers and does not get a wide range of opinions. In many cases it is too easy for students to label something “racist” or “insensitive,” eliminating the responsibility of having to defend arguments in an academic fashion. In the future, students should resist reactionary techniques and perhaps those brochures will hold a little more truth.
Mr. VanDixhorn is a sophomore majoring in Political Science.
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