Opinion
Say this once … that we’re not going to protest
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Also by Mark Baumgardner:
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- Rhetorical lessons collected in Madison (May 5, 2005)
- Schiavo case overflowing with tragedies (March 29, 2005)
- Walker's responsibility ideal foil to Doyle (February 3, 2005)
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Nobody can ever fault student activists on this campus for running out of ideas and opportunities to protest.
Proof of this came last week as several students met to organize against dress codes in place at campus-area bars. According to Kate Losey, a student who attended the protest Friday night, demonstrators focused on Johnny O’s and Brothers and talked to those waiting in line at Madison Avenue.
At Johnny O’s, a sign informs patrons: “Proper attire required after 9 p.m. No athletic wear, cut off shirts, etc.” At the entrance to Madison Avenue, a newly opened establishment also owned by Jon Okonek, a sign reads: “Proper Attire Required. No athletic wear (sweats, warm-ups, jerseys, etc.). No bandanas. No torn or badly worn clothing. Dress T-shirts only.” Brothers has a similar dress code with restrictions on headgear.
Amanda Mueller, a bartender at both Johnny O’s and Madison Avenue, commented on the prohibition of jerseys after 9 p.m. at Johnny O’s.
“During the day, there is absolutely no problem with people coming in wearing athletic wear to watch a game,” she said. “When the restaurant is closed, however, and the bar atmosphere takes over, is when the dress code is enforced.”
Mueller further explained part of the reasoning behind the jersey policy.
“I have seen many fights break out between Badger fans and rival supporters just outside on the streets,” she said. “It seems to me that those tensions could only be heightened after people have been in a bar drinking all night. Just seems like adding fuel to the fire; that’s something that we try to avoid.”
Rather than adjusting their dress or simply patronizing alternative locations, protesters have made a mountain out of a molehill, fallaciously arguing that the dress codes stem from racism.
Jon Okonek himself also spoke to me about his dress code and the incident that sparked the controversy, noting that it has “nothing to do with race.” He called his dress code “very simple” and expressed his interest an owning an establishment in the downtown area where people dress up.
Okonek explained the link between attire and behavior.
“When people get dressed up nicely, people behave accordingly,” he said. “I’ve been in business 20 years, and it does make a difference.”
While this dress code and its purpose are relatively self-explanatory, the incident that sparked the protest deserves context. Okonek noted that the controversy began when an individual with whom he had been having problems for years was asked to leave Johnny O’s. The individual was wearing what Okonek described as a “very low-cut jersey,” but his outfit was almost beside the point.
Okonek explained that this individual “had been getting in so many fights at Club Amazon and had been banned from there by the same ownership, and we did not want him [in Johnny O’s] either.” (Club Amazon was another Okonek property.)
Put simply, the individual involved was already banned due to past behavior.
Okonek estimated that he turns away whites over African-Americans by more than a 50:1 ratio, and three-fourths are because of logo shirts. Mueller confirmed the consistency in the dress code with a personal anecdote:
“I, along with two other Johnny O’s employees, decided to stop by and visit some people at Madison Avenue a few Wednesdays ago. We were wearing Badger T-shirts, and Jon kindly told us that he would appreciate it if we would go home and change, seeing that logo T-shirts of any kind are not allowed.
“So, the dress code is applied across the board — whites, blacks and employees alike. It is a nice place. People continuously comment on how much they appreciate having a dress code, and I, as an employee, appreciate it as well.”
Apparently patrons also appreciated it this past weekend. Protesters boasted of the large overall participation, despite the relatively small number picketing at any given time, and of their effect on business.
Okonek, however, had a different take, noting that he had his busiest Friday and Saturday nights ever at Madison Avenue this past weekend, even calling the incident “great advertising” for the venue he offered.
As usual, the activists participating in this protest showed their ideology to be a mile wide and inch deep — broad, sweeping claims with little or no substance underneath.
And once again, they failed in effecting change.
Mark A. Baumgardner (mbaumgardner@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in electrical engineering.
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A racist writing about racism? Yeah right, Baumgardner.
If it's really not that big if a deal, why do you people continue to write articles about it? This is obviously touching a collective nerve.
We are just amused by the retarded liberal protesters in Madison.
People need to take a serious hard look and relaize that reacism exist in their society, fraud exists in their government, stifiling exists int eh media. Consevative briks just ask you to be naive and not know what is going on.
You are all fucking idiots.
People who are so stupid enough to think that dress codes are racist. Get your head out of your ass.
Go to patron a different bar. There exists a reason why these bars dont allow certain apparal, for that apparal is associated with gangs, which is associated with violenc and fights.
So you fucking idiots, who think dress codes are a race issue, need to look outside the box and look at the big picture.
Your time is better spent playing bongo drums with the tree hugging bongo playing weed smoking hippies on state street.
Know what racism is. You people who oppose the dress code have no idea and are so ignorant due to the culture of political correctness that has cursed our society.
What is race? How is a dress code racist? Who is getting held down? how is the man fucking you blacks over?
The bottom line is, stop being so fucking liberal and look at the god damn bigger picture.
http://www.nbc4i.com/news/3983795/detail.html
5 dead in o-h-i-o
Heavy metal club shooting.
"If it's really not that big if a deal, why do you people continue to write articles about it?"
The dress codes are not the big deal, nor are the protests anymore. It's just that there is still much ignorance and intolerance among liberals that we feel a little education is necessary. Liberals have much to learn about the world around them, for it is truly a diverse place.
Um, is it me, or was Mark Baumgardner disgraced and kicked off of SSFC for hating on groups that serve students of color in a particularly "malicious" way?
I'm tired of this attitude in Madison like we're the most progressive city around. Madison has a race problem, and it has a race problem because it won't admit that it has one. Madison is a bunch of liberals who couldn't give a fuck about minorities because they're too busy whining about the war and Bush, and the conservatives don't give a fuck about minorities either because they're too busy insulting liberals and trying to stay as far away from the minority community as possible. If you stepped out of your "everything is going to take care of itself because this is Madison" world for 2 seconds, you would see that the bigger issue here is Madison is a racist little city, and a racist little campus.
The first step is admitting you have a problem, and while the UW administration has admitted they have a problem (yet done nothing for more than a decade after), the members of the white madison community refuse to admit that they have a race problem right in front of them. That's why so many people get pissed about these issues, they're too busy denying they exist than take them on. This city is ridiculous and needs help.
The only race problem in Madison comes from the people who call everything racist.
^^^My point exactly. It just gets passed off like this.
Maybe it's just me, but the most obvious racists seem to be the ones most likely to openly call someone else a racist.
Can the people claiming Madison is rife with racism cite ONE example of institutional racism without sounding like a conspiracy theory dork?
Mark was hardly disgraced for being kicked off by the Kangaroo Court. Now if the Supreme COurt of the United States had stepped up and said "Mark you were wrong to bring up the fact that the National Constitution of MEChA calls for 'one race' and death to whitie in the southwest. And that an organization that fell under the umbrella of MEChA might not be welcoming and open to all student on campus with that affiliation." Than that might have disgraced Mark. But I hardly think the Supreme Court would come to that conclusion.
The few comments before the last one bring up and excellent point though. Everyone who even slightly leans to the right is immediatly labeled a racist. Skipping over the irony that some may label that sort of knee jerk reaction bigotry in and of itself, the immediate label of racist harms the fight against racism in Madison itself. Now granted Mr. Baumgardner falls a little more, well a lot more, right of center than most that does not mean he is necessarily racist. You may think his opinions are misguided, mistaken, or downright stupid because you have the opportunity to read then every week. In the end, though, you do not know Mark Baumgardner as a person and thus have no right to label him a racist. You ruin the use of the term by labeling everyone that. It has come to the point where a person labeled a racist in Madison can shrug it off as nothing more than the run in the mill accusation of the left. That is sad indeed. This should be a term we all take seriously but simply do not in this city anymore. So to the first poster, unless you have a specific instance of Mr. Baumgardner being a racist do us all a favor and keep quiet until you have something a little more cogent an constructive to the discussion.
This last guy sure is racist.
I'm not getting laid enough because too many women aren't hooking up anymore (see other articles in today's BH). Let's protest that!
Let us see how ridiculous this column really is...
SAY THIS ONCE - THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO WHINE
by the Anti-Mark Baumgardner
Nobody can ever fault right-wingers on this campus for running out of ideas and opportunities to whine about liberals.
Proof of this came last week as Badger Herald columnist Mark Baumgardner wrote a column whining about a protest against dress codes in place at campus-area bars. According to Kate Losey, a student who read the Herald, the column complained about demonstrators alleging racist dress codes at local bars.
As usual, Baumgardner showed his ideology to be a mile wide and inch deep -- broad, sweeping claims with little or no substance underneath.
And once again, he failed in effecting change.
Whoever the poster was who said "This last guy sure is racist." Hilarious. Too bad he's probably racist too.
I once saw a thie neighbor of mine shoo away a black labrador retriever that was trying to poop in her front yard. Would she shoo away the poor dog if it were white?
Yes, my brothers and sisters, there is racism in this community. We must work hard to stamp out racism and all its manifestations!
Isn't it racist to claim that African Americans wear sweatsuits, jerseys and bandanas? I look around the city and see lots of African Americans wearing polo shirts or dress shirts...and I walk around the city seeing white people wear bandanas.
just because someone doesn't agree with your viewpoints, does't mean you need to label them as "bigots, homophobes, racists, and all the most backward elements of society." Just because you think you're right, doesn't make it so. Why do you think the controversies exist in the first place?