Taking things too far, or how to be a Michigan activist

What is it with the people on this campus? Not everyone, mind you. Not everyone has gone crazy, but there certainly is a large and vocal group of people here who seem to want to draw attention to their cause. Nothing wrong with that, don't get me wrong, I admire anyone who is willing to stand up for what they believe in. But it seems to me like a lot of people are jumping onto any issue they can and ruining whatever purpose they had by employing senselessly radical techniques.

Manish Raiji Nothing Catchy

Look at some of the big issues that have shaken up the University recently.

Michigamua. Was I the only "person of color" (I abhor that term) who was embarrassed to be in any way associated with the Students of Color Coalition, if for no other reason than the fact that the SCC's name suggests that it's an umbrella that represents all of us? It's not so much that they didn't have a point, albeit one that I didn't personally agree with. It's that they took it too far. Besides the taking over of Michigamua's space, which was ridiculous in and of itself, there was one thing that struck me as odd during the whole situation. When the two groups finally sat down to negotiate, the talks were broken up when the SCC went off on an emotional tangent about Michigamua's name, in a blatant attempt at restricting freedom of speech.

Third world labor. This is one that I definitely agree with. Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality has basic ideologies that I agree with, but some of their methods seem a little extreme. Call me middle of the road if you'd like, but I don't see Kohl's making any dramatic changes to their production methods based on ten protesters - six of whom were first-year students and sophomores - getting arrested. It's not that I don't agree with them, it's that their actions seem awfully insignificant. Equal opportunity is something worth standing up for, but will ten arrests in a local store make any difference on the lives of poverty-stricken laborers in Nicaragua? Some may believe so, but I remain skeptical.

Abortion. A tricky topic at best, a violent one at worst. If I were forced to pick a side of the fence on the Diag to have been standing on, I would have been on the inside. Ideologically, I'm anti-abortion, but realistically, I'm pro-choice. This may seem like a conflict of interest at first, but I firmly believe that the issue of abortion is a moral one and one that necessarily involves a personal judgment call on when life begins. I happen to believe that life begins at conception, but I don't feel that my opinions, or anyone else's, ought to dictate a person's own beliefs on such a controversial decision. So yes, if I was forced to pick a side, I would have been inside, but I would do so with resentment, because the comparison to genocide is entirely off base and insulting. Not to say that those on the outside were being angels about the situation either. "Sexist, racist, anti-gay; right-wing bigots, go away!" were the chants heard around the Diag, which is silly because issues of homosexuality and race were never brought up. I may be anti-abortion, but a "right-wing bigot" I am certainly not.

Affirmative action. As anyone who knows me is aware, I am strongly opposed to affirmative action as it is practiced today. It's ludicrous to extend extra help to people who had the "misfortune" of being born a minority. That extra help would be much more useful if extended to those who have had the very real misfortune of being born poor. But, with no consideration for logic, there is a push to defend the University and its hypocritical admissions policies.

My point? I'm sure that, if you have made it this far without developing a deep loathing for me and everything I stand for, you're wondering what my point is. My point is this: Radicalism isn't an answer. The "righteous anger" of radicals often overshadows, and occasionally defeats entirely, whatever purpose there was behind the protests. It's not that radicals don't have a point. It's simply that radicals often fail to see the other side of an issue, and in being so blind, they make their own ideals seem silly and irrelevant. My only advice is this: Look before you leap, know what you stand for before you stand for it and try and at least see the other side before attacking it. Stand up for your beliefs, but don't do so to such an extreme that you lose the integrity of your views. Prudence isn't a virtue reserved solely for the ineffectual and the meek.

- Manish Raiji can be reached

via e-mail at mraiji@umich.edu.