H -°, L 22° | Tomorrow: 
H 23°, L 4°I’m not much of an angry black man. I’m more of an optimistic, slightly skeptical black man. So maybe that’s why I’m having a hard time understanding why someone would call
I refer, of course, to the headline over the column of my colleague, Kyle Szarzynski (in the Herald’s Sept. 11 edition). I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt — we columnists don’t get to choose our own headlines, and thus the headline was not of Kyle’s doing. But wow, really?
Kyle and crew, you need to cut UW-Madison’s ethnic population some slack. The state itself is hardly a melting pot as far as race goes, so how exactly can you expect its flagship university to be? And as far as the much maligned campus climate of racial subjugation and/or white supremacy, I have only one word: Huh?
Reading some of this stuff makes me wonder where in the world I have been attending college for the past four years.
“This article makes me hate white people even more,” penned anonymous online commenter “An Angry Black Man” in response to last week’s Herald editorial lambasting Senior Class President Oliver Delgado for his refusal to resign after stealing a number of Van Galder tickets. My hope is that the commenter is actually some schmuck trying to stir up trouble, wrapped in the security blanket of Internet anonymity — especially considering his use of the n-word. But it’s not uncommon to see this sort of sentiment echoed on campus. Certainly, it was echoed in Szarzynski’s column.
“Opposition to diversity efforts… is rampant, while a select few are simply unable to get over the fact that the (nonwhite) senior class president stole a few overpriced bus tickets…” quips Szarzynzki. While the average student probably doesn’t care about the numerous elected student positions on campus, much less what the senior class president does, those of us who do know and do care like to think that those students elected to such resume-padding positions are upright, outstanding, non Van-Galder ticket-stealing citizens.
The righteous outrage over Delgado’s refusal to step down after his theft has little to do with his race. His name could be Patrick O’Brian, Phillip Schumacher or Vikas Van Ryn — and have all of the ethnic implications that come with such names — and the result would be the same. Outrage. Calls for his resignation. Yawns.
And another thing — can we move past this? To think that a young man will have to answer to this Google-friendly non-fiasco in some future job interview pains me. Mr. Delgado screwed up, and he apologized. He has no intention of resigning. What should UW-Madison students do about this? Study.
Meanwhile, I’m all for the guy who has never made a mistake to take over his post.
In the four years I’ve been here, I have never had a professor, member of the university’s administration, teaching assistant, police officer or gas station attendant treat or approach me any differently than my fairer-skinned fellow students. I’ve had a few northern
So, to the prospective UW-Madison student who happened to be Googling information about UW-Madison’s diversity campus climate, you have little to fear. If you are, however, unable to make friends with people who don’t have the same hair style, skin color or skill in Hacky Sack as you do, you may want to skip college altogether.
There are still challenges that relate to racial prejudice in this state, county and city. Look no further than who populates
Gerald Cox ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in economics.
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Patrick O’Brian was in fact an Englishman [born and bred Richard Russ in the ‘Home Counties’ near London of German descent] who pretended to be an Irishman and was very upset when the truth came out. As they say: ‘do not judge a book by its cover’.
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Fight the power, Gerald! As another strong Black man here in Madison, I too relish every opportunity I get to not be called a n**r (because as long as you don’t do that, you’re not racist!), to explain that I’m not here on an athletic scholarship or because of affirmative action, and to really, truly enjoy the unsolicited but ever-present task of having my actions speak for an entire people instead of myself as an individual. Madison’s awesome like that!
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This got a teaser over the Arts stories with actual reporting?
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Kyle is desparate to re-invent his progressive credentials, after his reputation crashed and burned in the wake of his infamous terrorist “right-to-kill” manifesto. http://badgerherald.com/oped/2007/09/25/iraqiinsurgentshav.php
It’s no secret that white-guilt mongering at UW is a haven for pasty-faced, America-hating progressives hoping for some kind of moral redemption— at society’s expense (naturally). http://www.uwm.edu/~gjay/Whiteness/
Kyle has (evidently) drank the “Whiteness Studies” Kool-Aid with some gusto. Should readers expect more comic self-loathing bloviations in the future from Kyle? Wait and see.
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Well said! People do need to learn to move on, what Oliver did was bad but its over. Study! That is why we are in school.
But the door for the racists anonymous people has been open…. post your comments.
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Well spoken.
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“I�ve had a few northern Wisconsin students fall on their faces in racial ignorance, but little in the way of hostility.”
Great column overall, Gerald, but was it really necessary to point out that the students were from northern Wisconsin? Racial ignorance can be found just easily and with as much abundance in this part of the state as in the Great North, so why reinforce stereotypes?
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LOVE gerald cox. HATE kyle szarzynski.
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good point, but Cox :
“His name could be Patrick O�Brian, Phillip Schumacher or Vikas Van Ryn � and have all of the ethnic implications that come with such names”
These guys are still white…
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“Look no further than who populates Wisconsin�s prisons. The numbers are appalling and embarrassing but � and this may be hard to admit � they may also be revealing.”
It would be revealing to know the race of the victims of the criminals in prison. I’ve heard that most black criminals committed their crimes against black victims. Is this true?
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While I understand YOUR p.o.v, you can’t undermine the notion that OTHER students of color have had a completely different experience…like me
I’ve encountered blatant racism in the dorms via vandalism and alcohol-induced name calling.
I agree, NOT all Madisonians are racists. But some UW students are and we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to that. I’m not crying a river but you shouldn’t imply that racial issues DONT exist on campus…they do.
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Thanks for the article, Gerald. I couldn’t agree more. The discussion on the other article was almost as disturbing as the article itself. Minorities committing more crimes? That’s a blatant lie than any legal studies major can refute. They’re convicted at higher rates and given longer sentences, especially in the realm of drug convictions, but they don’t commit more crimes. We still have progress to make, but Kyle’s article leads one to believe that the omnipresent specter of extreme racism seeps into every crevice of Madison’s society.
BTW: “Vikas Van Ryn” made me laugh.
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Thank you, Gerald, for putting it the way it really is. Madison is truly a tolerant open-minded city. It’s time for liberals to finally embrace the tolerant atmosphere they have helped create. Now let’s eat.
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So all agreed, Kyle sucks? BH editors take heed!
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Kyle’s not going anywhere, he generates way to many comments and interest, even if the majority of them are negative.
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Kyle wasn’t talking about outward racism, but rather the ridiculous amount of unconscious privilege the white population of madison represents. Just look at the treatment of allied drive if you want proof.
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To September 15, 2008 @ 3:37pm:
I think you read what youw anted to read. Gerald didnot say that Madison is racism free, he even admits to having some people “fall on thier faces.” I too am a minority on campus and must say that though the population is skewed, I have been welcomed and treated good. Like any other city Madison has it’s “bad apples” that will try to belittle someone or a group of people they are itimidated by. But, as to the point that Gerald was making, the majority of the euro-american population are not racist, and the sam can be said the African-American or Hispanic-American and so on. There is no one race/ethnicity that does not have people who spew out disgust from the threads of their pants, but there are a bunch of people within every race that are tolerant and accepting of diversity. I myself, being a mixed minority student, have close friends that are not of the same race/ethnicty.
Please let’s try to find the good and forget about the bad. The racist are just like kids, when you ignore thier outlandish behaviors they will move on.
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While you’re at it, Gerald, why don’t you touch on the well-known fact that blacks themselves are the biggest racists in Madison? Nah, that would be admitting too much truth.
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While I agree that Madison may not be the home of your stereotypical “racist”, the city and the university would be perfect subjects for a study on how institutionalized forms of racism survive and continue to thrive in the 21st century. Wisconsin might not seem like a “melting pot as far as race goes,” but Madison is a unique case. African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and American Indians make up almost half of the K-12 population in Madison’s public schools. From my experiences talking with students around campus, I can tell you that most people are completely shocked to find out how ethnically diverse Madison is. And why are they shocked? Because the university does not reflect the racially diverse population of Madison at all. It’s too soon to make any judgments about the University because it will only be in 10 years time that we can see if these numbers translate to the UW classroom. Until then, I agree that as a minority student, things are okay for us here at the university, but my question is, what happens if you’re one of those students that never makes it to the university?
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LOVE kyle… he paints a picture that’s often hard to look at, but it’s called truth. while gerald makes a good point that madisons not all bad and all racist, it doesn’t take away from the fact that, as kyle points out, racism still exists (as does sexism and classism). the only way to overcome the isms isn’t to ignore it, but to recognize it, identify it for what it is and then take actions to overcome. shoving things under the rug doesn’t make them go away, but allows them to hide, remain and grow in a very ugly and very subtle fashion. thanks for lifting up the rug kyle… gerald, thanks for your perspective, but try not to bash others in the process, especially those simply working for justice and equality.