Sections

Racism?

Uh, yes, actually.

I have been called a lot of names in my lifetime. Most were trivial insults of the "geek"-"loser"-"dork" variety. This week, protesters have added "racist" to the mix, claiming that The Michigan Daily systematically discriminates against minorities.

Well. Having been in charge of this system, I am more than a little insulted by the accusation. But not surprised. There is a certain contingent of people on this campus that likes to protest, and a certain contingent that likes to find fault with anything and everything in the Daily. When those two forces collide, accusations fly across the Diag.

When I saw that the president-elect of the College Republicans was protesting alongside members of Alianza, I realized that we have truly managed to piss everybody off.

Or have we?

The situation's preposterousness brings its legitimacy into question. Is it possible for the Daily to hold "liberal viewpoints," as the aforementioned College GOP man claimed, and also to "censor people of color," as another protester argued?

I wonder how many political issues these people agree on. I also wonder if it matters. Calling the Daily a bastion of liberal viewpoints is one thing. Throwing around accusations of racism is quite another story -- one that threatens to belittle more serious racial problems.

If you accuse a newspaper of institutional racism because of a quote or a cartoon, perceptive people who read that same newspaper are going to raise their eyebrows. And they may raise them again if you accuse a police officer of beating you because of the color of your skin -- even if that charge is warranted.

Everyone has the right to protest, but not everyone is right to protest.

It says something that some people are more concerned with a Daily cartoonist's opposition to affirmative action than the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party's opposition to that same social initiative. And holding that view doesn't make either man a racist. If we are going to define racism as being opposed to affirmative action, then are we going to define drug addicts as people who believe marijuana should be legalized?

Besides, some would note that The Michigan Daily has on numerous occasions come out in support of affirmative action. Should the Daily insist that its columnists and cartoonists all share the same political views as its editorial board?

I'm not going to waste your time talking about the steps that have been taken to increase the number of minorities at the Daily. Critics will argue that these steps were not enough -- and they may be right. But there is a huge difference between being racist and not doing as much as you can to increase the number of minorities in your workplace.

Members of Alianza opposed the Daily's use of an anonymous quote in which a member of their group was alleged to have stolen 8,700 Dailys last week. Fair enough. But now that the accuser has come forward and the accused has been named, will those same protesters try to find out if the thief is in fact a member of their group?

Racism is an immense problem in our society, but it is not as dangerous a threat to our freedom as the restriction of speech. Without free public discourse, social progress is impossible, and racism (not to mention sexism and classism and homophobia) cannot be challenged. Without free public discourse, we would have no integration, or voting rights laws, or minimum wage. These social improvements, once the beliefs of a vocal minority, are now accepted as an important and necessary components of life in the United States. Come to think of it, without free public discourse, there would be no United States.

The freedom to air unpopular views has been more valuable to this country than any social program or political stance, if only for the simple fact that social programs and political stances would never exist without the freedom to air unpopular views.

This freedom was temporarily taken away when the Dailys were stolen last week. It is also taken away when protesters try to scare people silent.

-- Michael Rosenberg's opinions are his own. He hopes you agree with him, but feel free not to. He can be reached at mcr@umich.edu. Both positive and negative comments are welcome.