Graduation Racism

I like this one better.

I find "identity-based graduation" bitterly ironic. Barely 40 years after the bloody civil rights struggle in the US, these UCLA grads roll back those advances in the name of comfort.

These deluded people are doing more harm to civil rights than the Klan or skinheads ever could. To put this in an image, they''ve grabbed away the pistol from the oppressor and instead put the barrel in their own mouths and pulled the trigger.

The grads said the same thing: "I''m not comfortable with people who aren''t like me." These people have a serious problem: No one''s ever told them the world doesn''t revolve around their comfort.

Living in a melting pot community means being around people who aren''t like you, it means you get to grow up and realize what unites is our humanity, the characteristics common to all of us which make us human, and not any external physical attributes or psychologies.

I understand wanting to hang out only with people I''m comfortable with, but if my "comfort zone" extends no further than to people who look like me, act like me, believe the way I do--how the hell is that different from the racial isolation a Klansman believes in? (Actually, I find the Klansman more honest about it. He at least admits his racism.)

What would happen if some white students wanted a segregated graduation? Would it be allowed? (I bet not. The Political Correctness harpies would fly in, screaming and crapping.)

I was apart of the UCLA African Grad Ceremony and acted as the Ceremony Chair for the comencement which was covered in this story. Yes, it was a good piece, however, if you are going to cover something that could be so "problematic" you may want to cover all sides of what is really going on during commencement. Now, although there are "race based" ceremonies, there are more than enough ceremonies where we are brought together as a diverse community. Throughout the weekend we attend, in addition to race based ceremonies, those dealing with MAJOR, SCHOOL, DEPARTMENT and a UNIVERSITY WIDE cermony. Most, if not all "ethnic" students attend more than 2 the entire weekend. That''s not to mention all the events and banquets and ceremonies that are academic and fraternity based as well. NOw if we are going to pick on one aspect of commencement, why not all of them? Furthermore, most ceremonies are way too large for you or your family to feel as if there really is any kind of pomp and circumstance seeing as though there are usually thousands of graduates every year! Race based or even department ceremonies are the only time for a more intimate setting for students to leave their last mark on their college career or to actually be seen by their folks while in ceremony, seeing as though they are all race-based (smaller numbers) and planned and ran by their peers, the students who are in them. The truth of the matter is that UCLA even charges us crazy amounts of money just to hold these ceremonies. So, who is really responsible? Which brings me to this...in a perfect world, race would not be an issue, but in this one it is. And until we are able to apply to any unviersity without checking a box, these acts of so-called "graduation racism" can''t be scruntinized and looked down upon. And you could never understand the importance of having such specialized ceremonies unless you attended the university (UCLA), unless you marched with us on the adminstration for admissions (supported by all races) or unless if you were the first person in your "ethnic" family to be admitted to a 4 year university such as UCLA and actually graduate. What the former regents said was all nice and dandy but there is ideal and there is reality! Race is reality, however, because the race based orgs. and planning committees do not believe in furthering racism, we open our ceremonies for any and everyone who "identifies" with the culture (I noticed that you didn''t have footage of the korean or white jewish graduate in our ceremony). So please, do your homework before you skew the true meaning of such things...BTW we are not the only university to do this. You can find it at more than a few universities and colleges in California.