We Are Color Conscious
I often find myself, having just finished a Color Conscious column by Attica Scott, sitting down with pen and paper to fire off an angry letter. I find myself now doing the writing part but with none of the vitriol that usually occurs. This time I will actually send the letter, this one concerning the column in the April 17 issue of Metro Pulse.
Ms. Scott's column discusses her quandary of whether or not to continue writing her column. She asks both whether it is worth pissing off white people as well as whether or not her column is still a necessary thing in this day and age. I must answer that the answer to both questions is a resounding yes! However, I think some other things must be said regarding the issues she presents.
I don't think that a monthly column is going to erase racism. Prejudice and racism have existed as long as there have been humans and will exist until we have made ourselves extinct. Does this make it less worthy a goal to try to end them? Should we work any less to better ourselves and educate our brothers and sisters of all hues?
I sometimes feel that Ms. Scott is stirring up prejudice. I often find that she seems as guilty of the prejudice as whites are. Sometimes her words make me very angry. But time often changes my initial view of what she says. Rereading her columns usually forces me to see things differently regardless of whether I agree. I would like to see a column from Attica Scott that discusses black prejudicial attitudes toward white people. I would be very disappointed if she were to suggest that they don't exist. I have heard the opinion before that blacks are incapable of racism, the suggestion being that to be racist you must be able to wield some power over people of the race you hate. However, this is untrue.
While most blacks are not in a position to deny most whites anything, that doesn't preclude the ability to be as racist as are many whites. Sometimes Ms. Scott seems to suggest that all whites are equally racist in their views. I am sure that she doesn't mean it this way, which is why I reread the columns most of the time. Sometimes I find that I still get the same feeling upon rereading. A personal opinion that I feel must be brought up in any discussion of racism and prejudice is offensiveness. The constitution doesn't mention a right to be free from being offended.
Will Attica Scott change anyone's views or attitudes? Will her column make the world a better place? Maybe not. Will her columns make a bunch of jackasses jump online to open their ignorant mouths? Yes they will, and that may be the true power of Color Conscious. Very often the ignorance that answers her columns will show us the truth of what she says. Maybe sometimes we don't want to be forced to admit the truth. And maybe she is a little ignorant and prejudiced on occasion, but that in no way undermines what she has to say.
Attica Scott sometimes angers me, and sometimes I must shake my head in disbelief at what I think she is saying. Sometimes I find her wrong or maybe just misguided. Regardless of that, I must applaud her courage. I thank her for making me think and to re-examine what I believe. I thank her for being there to make me feel insulted and to make me see where I am wrong. I hope that she continues to write her column and hope that she does change the way some of us, black and white, think about and treat each other. I hope that there is always an answer to her columns. Most of all, I hope that she is able to teach us all, so that fewer of those who write Metro Pulse about her are speaking out of ignorance. Keep up the good work.
Samuel Hull
Knoxville
Unequal Protection
I could be dismissed from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. I've never caused a disturbance, been arrested, or otherwise been convicted of a crime. I've never failed a class or been caught cheating on my assignments. I've paid my tuition and fees on time every semester, so I couldn't be dismissed for owing money to the university. I am, however, a lesbian, and according to the current nondiscrimination clause at UT, I am not protected from dismissal, harassment, or any other form of discrimination.
It outrages me to think that I came to Knoxville six years ago solely to attend this university. I've thrown my time, energy, and resources into an institution that fails to merely protect me from inequity and bias. Adding sexual orientation is not a matter of agreeing with the homosexual lifestyle. It's not about anyone or any institution "condoning" homosexuality. It's simply a matter of granting basic human rights to a group that has long been discriminated against, physically assaulted, and persecuted. In fact, the FBI crime statistics for 2000 reveal that 16.1% of all hate crimes are based on the victims' sexual orientation, constituting the third largest category reported and a 1,000% increase since 1998.
Some opponents to expanding the nondiscrimination clause argue that civil rights protections should not be granted to homosexuals because we choose to be this way. I beg to differ on the grounds that discrimination based on religion and veteran status is prohibited in practically all places of employment. Both worshiping how you please and joining the military involve much more choice than someone's sexual orientation. Besides, I can tell you with certainty that being a lesbian is not my choice. If I had a choice, I would never choose to be the girl at whom everyone stares when she enters the room, or the girl who listens to the laughter as she passes by. The fact of the matter is that I am a lesbian, and regardless of whom I choose to spend my life with, my basic human rights should be protected.
Expanding the nondiscrimination clause is not a new issue at UT. In 1999, the administration failed to pass a resolution to add sexual orientation, although the motion had passed by large margins in the Student Government Association and the Graduate Student Association. The main argument against expanding the clause was that Tennessee state law did not include sexual orientation in its anti-bias policies, and therefore UT, as a state university, could not include it either. Yet, over 300 institutions of higher learning across the U.S. have done just that, including East Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University, and Austin Peay State University.
I urge all the citizens of Knoxville to challenge the university to add sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination clause. I find the lack of an inclusive anti-bias policy frustrating and frightening as a student representative of UT, and as a Knoxvillian I find it infuriating. UT is a nationwide representative of the values and beliefs of the people of Knoxville. I call upon each of you to encourage the university to represent the community and the people who sustain it in a more inclusive, accurate, and responsible way.
Nikki Cook
Knoxville
Business in Education
I agree with Joe Sullivan's notion that "branding" a university is a bit odd sounding at first blush. On the other hand, UT is a business. It has operating expenses, it makes money, it loses money. It buys and sells goods and services. Maybe treating it more like a corporation and less like the 30-year-old with good intentions but still living in mom's basement isn't such a bad thing.
Do we privatize UT? Well, no. Clearly there is a need for land grant institutions with state subsidies to make higher education more widely available. On the other hand, it is rarely the private schools that are bleeding like a propeller mechanic with poor depth perception.
I'm a corporatist and have worked for companies both large and small, public and private. Working in academia has shown me things that would make Ross Perot roll down his metaphorical shirtsleeves and stand in utter silence. For example, in the private sector working a second job (maybe even having one's own business) is frowned upon. At a university, it is discussed openly and even extolled by the administration, "Professor Smith has his own widget firm when he is not teaching widgetry."
I would have lost my job if my email signature line at Corp. X had directed recipients to my side business' website—not so UT. In either case, I personally have no problem with second incomes. The problem arises (and this is what corporate strictures recognize) when devotion to the outside job eclipses the primary one, or worse strays into the dreaded "conflict of interest" realm. Naturally, there is a need to do research; of course, there is a demand to publish. It is the good professor who knows that those 60 eyeballs staring back at him or her are what matter most.
A person who truly earns the title "educator" uses those outside pursuits to enhance the classroom experience rather than using the classroom as a patron to finance forays into the real world.
At a seminar I once attended, a tenured professor (don't get me started on the idea of running a corporation on the tenure model) voiced that traditional business models can't work in academia because there is no board of directors who demand accountability. I argue that there is a board of thousands of directors, all of whom expect the best possible return on their four-year investment. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think if the students find it is no longer worth showing up, those of us employed by the university stop getting paychecks. Definitely sounds like accountability to me.
Students are both the product and the currency of the university. Products in the sense that you seek to send out into the world the best one you can make. Currency in that it is their positive experiences and achievements that "buy" another supply of the raw materials. I don't think that anyone need worry about President Shumaker turning UT into the GE of public education, but sometimes a leader has to lead and not seek to constantly build consensus. That's what great CEOs know, and maybe Dr. Shumaker does too. Then again, maybe I am just a cog in the wrong machine.
J. Cary Wiedman
UT College of Architecture & Design
Ownership Changes at Metro Pulse
Brian Conley is acquiring Metro Pulse from Joe Sullivan, its publisher and principal owner for the past 10 years.
Conley will become Metro Pulse's publisher, and Sullivan will assume the post of editor-in-chief. Sullivan will also continue to write a regular column. As reflected in our masthead, everyone else on the staff stays put.
In addition to taking ownership of Metro Pulse, Conley will remain president of Cardinal Management Group, a property management firm, and of Cardinal Construction, a residential and commercial construction company. He is also a partner with Kinsey Probasco Associates in the Market Square Redevelopment Project.
| 
