Spring Break
Letters to the Editor
Amy Rinkle
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Forum
Ron Paul Stickers
A bit of advice to whoever is placing the Ron Paul campaign stickers on all the trash can lids: It will be much easier to throw them away if you do not remove the backing and expose the sticky part. Just a heads up.
Grant Perham
Sophomore in English
Blackface Column
I feel it is important to preface this letter to the editor by saying I am white, and the experiences I have had on this campus reflect my perceived racial identity. Being white however does not make me immune to the pain inflicted by silent racism, sexism, and heterosexism. Renèe Roman-Nose made a connection to the recent OSU blackout and blackface after the Barometer printed a photo of a student wearing black face paint. Looking at the demographics of campus, a large majority of OSU students are white, and thus, have the privilege of ignorance when it comes to the issues that marginalized groups face. This privilege tends to make us unaware of the silent racism we, as white people, perpetuate. The average white student saw a man in black face paint. They saw a fellow student showing support for the football program by participating in an organized campaign to intimidate the other team. But step outside the experience of an average white student, put yourself in the shoes of someone who may identify as black, how that person must feel when they see the people around them making their skin darker as a means to intimidate or frighten others. I, like Renèe, have listened to the experiences of people of color on this campus, and it's impossible to ignore some of these connections. Yes, racism wasn't in the room until Renèe brought it up, but it needed to be brought up. The voices of students of color on this issue are just as important as the voices of white students. I would hope that instead of stating that this is a person of color complaining about racial injustice, we all instead participate in a dialogue and attempt to come to a greater understanding of why black face paint is not okay.
Jerred Taylor
Corvallis Resident
Some Advice
A bit of advice to whoever is placing the Ron Paul campaign stickers on all the trash can lids: It will be much easier to throw them away if you do not remove the backing and expose the sticky part. Just a heads up.
Grant Perham
Sophomore in English
Blackface Column
Privilege of Ignorance
I feel it is important to preface this letter to the editor by saying I am white, and the experiences I have had on this campus reflect my perceived racial identity. Being white however does not make me immune to the pain inflicted by silent racism, sexism, and heterosexism. Renèe Roman-Nose made a connection to the recent OSU blackout and blackface after the Barometer printed a photo of a student wearing black face paint. Looking at the demographics of campus, a large majority of OSU students are white, and thus, have the privilege of ignorance when it comes to the issues that marginalized groups face. This privilege tends to make us unaware of the silent racism we, as white people, perpetuate. The average white student saw a man in black face paint. They saw a fellow student showing support for the football program by participating in an organized campaign to intimidate the other team. But step outside the experience of an average white student, put yourself in the shoes of someone who may identify as black, how that person must feel when they see the people around them making their skin darker as a means to intimidate or frighten others. I, like Renèe, have listened to the experiences of people of color on this campus, and it's impossible to ignore some of these connections. Yes, racism wasn't in the room until Renèe brought it up, but it needed to be brought up. The voices of students of color on this issue are just as important as the voices of white students. I would hope that instead of stating that this is a person of color complaining about racial injustice, we all instead participate in a dialogue and attempt to come to a greater understanding of why black face paint is not okay.
Jerred Taylor
Corvallis Resident
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