Opinion

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Letter: Idea of 'white privilege' prevalent in society

A different perspective on discrimination

 Yesterday, this page featured an opinion column by veteran contributor Steven Nemcek. Steven very carefully dissected what he saw as failures in how the concept of white privilege is defined and taught to students. I purposefully avoid reiterating his points in this rebuttal as Steven is much better at explaining his position than I am.  

Claims of white privilege a damaging farce

In the late 19th and early 20th century, de jure racial segregation was a cultural phenomenon prevalent in the United States. Known as “Jim Crow segregation,” Southern states sought to divide black and white communities in the public square utilizing “separate but equal” facilities. In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled state-sponsored school segregation was unconstitutional; what is separate is inherently not equal. Later, the remaining state-enforced segregation laws were generally overturned by the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. While the case can be made that the Civil Rights Act may have overreached in terms of the rights of private property owners, no one today seriously argues that public (taxpayer-sponsored) programs should be allowed to segregate based on irrelevant characteristics such as skin color, gender, religious creed or sexual orientation. Or, so I thought.

MTV's "Catfish" damaging and exploitative to participants

Philosopher Karl Marx urged his supporters to understand that someone is always benefitting from every bad situation. This ideal is applicable to the Manti Te’o hoax. Te’o, the college football star, allegedly deceived the nation by making up a girlfriend who succumbed to leukemia in order to bolster his image. As it turned out, Te’o was just supremely naïve and did not intentionally deceive the public. The entire situation became a waste of time for everyone involved, but as Marx taught, there were a few who benefitted.  As a result of Te’o’s scandal, MTV’s controversial show, “Catfish,” which deals with many of the same themes found in Te’o’s case, has become increasingly popular among young viewers. In addition, like the Te’o scandal, “Catfish” proved to be a waste of time for the public, as it is unethical and amoral.

Segregated Milwaukee disadvantageous

With the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker last summer, Wisconsin’s political divisions have captivated the nation recently.  But other divisions in Wisconsin merit far more attention. According to an analysis of the 2010 United States Census Bureau data by William H. Frey, a demographer and sociologist at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Milwaukee—the state’s largest city—is the most racially segregated major metropolitan area in the United States.

Growing social media influence damaging our generation

I’m making some serious changes and they are going to begin with the bookmarks bar on my computer. Facebook, the most distracting, useless, yet seemingly addictive bookmark on my bookmarks bar needs to go.

Hip-hop needs better representatives

A few weeks ago, a friend showed me an article regarding the Frequency’s ban on hip-hop shows, and I was flabbergasted at the level of disrespect hip-hop was being shown by the city and The Frequency. But looking more into that specific case has made me realize who hip-hop fans allow the genre’s representatives to be affects how the public views hip-hop. These representatives are especially important after events like the shooting at The Frequency which prompted the bar’s hip-hop ban.

A Dilemma in Speculum: An allegory of modern policy

Speculum, a minute, secluded village encircled by dense forest, has a security problem. Though the village itself is relatively safe, danger lurks beyond its timber borders. Every time a member of the community ventures into the woods, they return a monstrous version of their former selves. In some cases the transformation takes years; others reappear by nightfall. Regardless, their intention (do they still have intentions?) is the same: to wreak havoc on the community and prey upon the weak. They froth at the mouth like rabid dogs, covered in cuts and bruises beneath the tattered remnants of their former clothes. Some say they no longer feel pain, running at full speed despite missing limbs and inconceivable wounds. Such ghoulish imagery dominates the frightening tales told to Speculum’s children and occupies the minds of their apprehensive parents.

Permit-required protesting problematic

For years, Madison has been a hotbed of political activity on both sides of the aisle. With Wisconsin state politics often being controversial, and often leading to mass protests within the city  of Madison, Gov. Scott Walker has passed an ordinance requiring any group of four or more to obtain a permit for protest within the Capitol building that comes with a 72-hour waiting period before that protest takes place.

Twitter feeds becoming more offensive and devisive

It’s a rare occasion that I support spamming a tag on Twitter. It gets annoying when looking for something specific (ie: Hillary Clinton’s confirmation of her candidacy in 2016) and all you see are people clogging up the tag with useless conversation and their opinions, which most of the time nobody actually cares about. However, there are certain occasions when trolling a tag is completely appropriate. As a good example, let’s discuss my personal favorite Twitter hashtag ever: #INeedMasculismBecause.

Threat of terrorism an exaggeration

Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, professed that “if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.” Our elected representatives, Democrat and Republican alike, have spent the past dozen years verifying the potency of this observation in relation to the supposed existential threat posed by terrorists around the globe. One can, on a daily basis, pick up a newspaper or turn on the television to find solemn intonations from congressmen on the menace of so-called “Islamic terrorism,” and the consequent increases in government power needed to stem this threatening tide. While such assertions dominate our public discourse, rarely do you hear any evidence to substantiate such claims. Once a belief becomes orthodoxy among our two major political parties, the usual need to provide evidentiary support goes out the window.

Abandon the drug war and the anti-gun rhetoric to keep America safe

To avoid using statistics like a drunken man uses lamp posts—support rather than illumination—we should take a different look at the philosophy of gun ownership in America. It doesn’t take a statistics professor to see that the prohibition of drugs in this country has played a major, if not the largest, role in the prevalence of gun violence here in the United States.

Malala Yousafzai, at 15 years old, is a modern-day hero

I often think that I am a 1-percenter, perhaps not in the fiscal sense, but in the notion that I am probably more blessed than 99 percent of people in the world.  Without going into great detail, I have just about everything I could possibly want in this world: a loving family, a wonderful and supportive group of friends, an incredible academic institution, sound financial backing and so on and so forth.  

Religion and science's intersect explained

One day, while at work, I made a joke referencing evolution. My coworker laughed at it, but then turned solemn and said, “But seriously, you don’t actually believe in evolution, right?” The question took me aback and sparked a half-hour-long discussion  about science and its place, or lack thereof, in religion. The problem my coworker had was he belonged to a Christian denomination that practices biblical literalism. This is the idea that the Holy Bible used by Christians was word-for-word inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is therefore infallibly correct (note that there are other versions of this idea and not all Christians who consider themselves biblical literalists will agree with the definition my coworker was using). Because of this, he was obligated to believe Earth was indeed created in six days by God and on the seventh day God rested and all was as it ever would be. Genesis says so and Genesis is infallible. Many of us have probably had a similar discussion and I think it is important to take a moment to look at the issue. There isn’t sufficient space in one opinion column to cover every detail and aspect of this issue, so you can expect me to cover different parts of it in the coming weeks. Today we will look at a basic overview of the problem.

State cuts to UW System hurt low-income students

The University of Wisconsin System recently released data confirming what students attending the state’s public universities already knew: The Great Recession and subsequent cuts to the UW System hurt students, and hit low-income students the hardest.  In an era when Wisconsin should broaden both financial aid to students and funding to state universities to help students stay in school, the legislature has narrowed both—and not without consequences.

Popularity of FIFA video game making soccer relevant in U.S.

FIFA, the popular soccer video game, is changing the way college students view the real sport.

Increase in minimum wage necessary

In the State of the Union address last week, President Barack Obama proposed increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour. This is a good idea that would raise the standard of living for millions of Americans and help minimize loan debt taken on by college students.

Mental health money a helpful red herring

Gov. Scott Walker recently announced plans to propose a $29 million increase to mental health services in the state. Of the $29 million, $10.2 million would go toward expanding community-based care programs for individuals with severe mental illnesses and $12.5 million would fund two new treatment units at Mendota Health Institute. While Walker said the proposal is not solely intended for public safety purposes, discussions surrounding mental health began in response to recent mass shootings nationwide.

Incentive-based funding for schools leaves some behind

Most people reading this are familiar with the American education system. Having the privilege of being woken up early every morning, brainwashed by radical liberal educators and arbitrarily judged on our intelligence is an experience shared by almost every child in this country. Education, I believe, is one of our most important political issues, as it paves the way for progress in the future. Because of this, I have much interest in Gov. Scott Walker and his education efforts. Recently, Walker announced his plans for a new set of reforms. In the spirit of transparency, I feel it necessary to note my mother is a teacher and I participated in the anti-Walker protests here in Madison two years ago, so admittedly I am biased against Gov. Walker. Despite this, I sat down and tried to take an objective look at his proposals. Upon shallow examination, I rather liked some of it. It encourages reading and seems that it would improve teacher training. Quickly, however, I found something to object to. Walker’s reforms propose a system that rewards schools based on test scores. This isn’t a new idea. It’s already quite present in education funding. While I agree that it is important to reward achievement, I believe it is much more important to give aid to schools that need it rather than those that “earn” it.

Senator Ron Johnson stuck in campaign mode to the detriment of state

Man, I feel terrible. I had this whole thing planned out where I was going to formally introduce myself and my thoughts to everyone out there. But Ron Johnson just had to ruin it. The senior senator from our home state put on quite the speech over the weekend. Here’s an excerpt from this glorious display of oration: “Let me describe what we’re up against as conservatives, as patriots, as people who like freedom, as people who like this country... We are up against a strategy that is taking place by liberals, progressives, Democrats, whatever they call themselves nowadays, Socialists, Marxists... .” Now not only is this comparison offensive to Marxists, it also has absolutely no place in politics. It’s incredibly divisive and casts much doubt on whether he is fit to do what it takes to become an at least decent senator for our state. But this speech just underlines the larger problem with Ron Johnson, the fact that he might just be one of the worst senators in the history of Wisconsin politics.