Activism on campus is not dead. While Eugene has recently gone through a relative drought of political activism, the rally on Wednesday (Nov. 20) revived my faith in democracy and freedom of speech.
On a day entitled the “Nationwide Youth and Student Day of Solidarity Against the War, Racism and Oppression,” students in Eugene and around the country united around the common cause of bringing the looming, preemptive war against Iraq to an end. People from all types of backgrounds spoke or tabled in an effort to bring awareness and solidarity to an issue that has largely been politicized and misinterpreted.
It seems ironic to me that on a day when a diversity of people are uniting against oppression, racism and war that the College Republicans should loom their ugly heads — waving commercially made signs saying “Bush/Cheney,” and a poorly made sign contending that “UO Students Support America,” this small band made their way to the back of the EMU where they proceeded to camp out. The only reason I give this group any column space at all is to undermine their attempt at stealing away the demonstration, and to illuminate the fallacies in their stance.
While I am not against their presence, I take serious offense when it is implied that I am unpatriotic, or un-American, simply because I am against the current administration’s foreign policy. By blindly holding up signs that do not depict any stance on the war at all, only that they support Bush and Cheney, implies that these conservatives will follow their leaders blindly, and with little debate. How can someone “support” America when our actions overseas have caused thousands, if not millions, of people to despise us? I am proud to be an American, but I do not follow my leaders purblind to their true agenda. The Bush administration has not made one legitimate claim as to why we should attack Iraq; in fact, all of the “rights” and “morals” he claims he wants to promote abroad he is taking away here at home (find out why Bush says he will not release names of detained Muslim suspects, or what the Homeland Security bill will actually do).
This war has been politicized for too long. If you are pro-war, then say so. Debate the issue on those grounds, not by supporting Bush simply because you are a registered Republican. This is not the time to draw a line in the sand, and across that line you cannot cross. As one sign poignantly stated at the rally, “The future is our common ground.”
Do not let your stance be determined by your political affiliation. Now is the time to show where you stand as a person of conscience, and as a person with the ability to learn, critically analyze a situation and change your mind when confronted with different ideas. Study the issue, and if you can tell me that after you have come to an unbiased pro-war conclusion, then fine. You’re still wrong, but fine.
There is not enough space to speak of all the issues surrounding this war. However, on a final note I would just like to point out the injustice that a corporate-run white male government should demand that the military, which is the largest and most successful affirmative action institution in the country for African Americans, go fight a war which is relatively against their interests. People of color, as well as Caucasians, should be outraged that our administration wants them to fight the oil war for them, and yet take away educational money in poor urban areas. I did not see any students of color in the College Republicans “demonstration,” and I am not surprised.
“Not in our name, not by our hands, not with our lives.”
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