Diversity, shmiversity. That's the attitude at Ball State University. (That's the worst poem ever, but it sums up my feelings about this campus.)
Here's the problem: apathy and ignorance on the part of students at BSU. Mostly I mean us white folks, the ones who don't bother to attend multicultural meetings or events because we're either too apprehensive about being "in the minority" or because we're too lazy.
I can't count how many times I've heard people say things along the lines of what Allyn West wrote on Jan. 29. These are people I have classes with, people I live with.
These people are my friends (although when they say things like that I want to reconsider). It infuriates me to see them behaving this way. It's immature, it's selfish and it needs to stop. "I'm white/hetero, so I don't care about minorities."
Well, you should. Why? Because it's the right thing to do.
"The right thing to do." It means that regardless of whether something affects you, you do what's right in the hope that your actions may make the world a better place. It means you step outside your own life and make it a point to be part of something bigger than yourself.
What I'm trying to say here is that being in the majority does not excuse us from caring about those in the minority. Don't think that because bigotry isn't in your face anymore that it's gone. It's still here, and now it's subtle and sneaky. But if you pay attention, you'll see it. You'll see it in the Atrium, where a black man holds a door open for a white girl and she makes it a point to stop and push open the door next to it (I saw this).
As long as things like this happen, bigotry is alive and well. And until it's dead and buried, everyone, and I mean everyone, has a responsibility to fight it. I totally agree with Jacky Neal's letter in Friday's paper, where she said that "this struggle would not be as arduous as it is if those with your 'luxury' used its power to endorse equality." He's right.
Those of us in the majority have a responsibility to do what's right, because, well, we're in charge. That's a responsibility, and we aren't living up to it. And it's not just us who are responsible. Everyone, majority and minority, black, white, straight or gay, has a responsibility for our world, because until we do, the divides that exist between these groups will continue to exist and put stress on our society and our campus.
A final thought: when people ask why I'm involved with Spectrum, I tell them it's because I care about the causes involved and because I enjoy being part of something bigger than me.
I hope it makes those people feel guilty for not taking a stand about something themselves, because they should.
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