OPINION & EDITORIAL
Takei correct on equality
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by Letters to the Editor
Monday, April 24, 2006
Thank you for publishing the article about Star Trek actor George Takei advocating for equality. We are at a rare moment in time in which race, class, gender and sexuality are in the political spotlight, and we need to follow Takei's example and take advantage of our media resources. In his speech, Takei reminds us of how the crucial step in the elimination of oppression is to understand how it functions. In relating his experience as a Japanese-American to his experience as a gay American, he shows how oppression works as a system, and the whole machine needs to be broken down at all levels in order for equality to become a reality. It seems that if you are not a white, Christian, middle-class, straight man, you are socially and politically limited and viewed exclusively as your race, sexuality, gender and class. A straight white man is just a man, but a gay Japanese-American is “that gay Japanese-American.” It is in this way that oppressed people’s identities become stigmatized and their oppression becomes justified.
In order to destroy oppression, we need to attack it from all angles at once. How can Japanese-Americans gain equality without addressing issues of gender and sexuality? How can gays and lesbians get equal rights without addressing issues of gender and race? You can't. They are inextricably intertwined and cannot be dealt with separately. Because the vast majority of Americans experience some sort of oppression, it becomes imperative that we all work together for justice. If we want to be free, we have to first free ourselves from within. We must recognize that it is through our differences that we are unified and equality is all or nothing. We have to stand up for freedom for all and spread the word through any means possible. Being the majority, we have to take better advantage of independent media, art, poetry and music to support and recognize our diversity. Although the fight for equality in America has been a long and slow struggle, it is these small victories of education and activism that in the end will lead us to freedom.
Laurel Franklin lmfranklin@wisc.edu Women's studies undergrad University of Wisconsin
Anonymous (April 24, 2006 @ 10:16am):
What? We are unified in are differences? Wake up and smell the cat food before asking for seconds. We are unified by are similarities. The sports, hobbies or outside interests are what bring people together. If you hate basketball and golf it is very unlikely that we will become freinds unless we work in the same place. Even if we work in the same place if you spend all your time blabbering about how Bush is Hitler then we are not going to be heading to Chili's on Friday afternoons.
I have freinds who love golf who are Korean, Japanese, Black, Jewish, Women and some who are Irish, German, English (you know the folks you want to lump in as white and un-hyphenated.) I have freinds who love basketball who are Jewish, Black, Japanese, Women and again some who are your catch all phrase. What we have in common is a love for a sport. That sport engenders commraderie even when one guy grew up with a putting green in his backyard and the other with a poorly watered public course ten blocks away.
It is are similarities as Americans and a love and understanding of our Constitution that keeps us together. Focusing on what makes us different only drives us apart. As for real racism go live in Europe, Japan or any country in Africa. We are not talking about the rich who say all the right things. Be a dark skinned person riding a train late at night in the outskirt of Berlin. Racism takes on a whole new meaning.
As for whatever George Takei has decided to call himself for most of us he is Lt. Sulu of the Starship Enterprise. In the world of Star Trek everbody is from Earth and the only ethnic traits carried on board was Scotty's love of Scottish Whiskey.
Anonymous (April 24, 2006 @ 12:40pm):
Now I'm certainly not a part of the grammar police, but when you use "are" for "our" MULTIPLE times it becomes clear that this isn't a mere typo.
Anonymous (April 25, 2006 @ 11:07pm):
No that would be me just being lazy. I also interchange their and there as my fingers like to type there and are more than there and our. So what. I don't have an editor and I prefer to get the thought out and not worry about the grammer, spelling and punctuation as I am not being paid to keep your brain from hurting. Some who are not very original and lack the ability to construct logical arguements like to focus on things like spelling as it appears to make them feel superior. They rarely tackle the thought instead veering into another arena that they hope is higher ground. NOT.
I also tend to forget s' at the end of words and freqeuntly leave out words as my fingers can not keep up. But then again my thoughts take about 2 minutes to spew forth warts and all. Have you ever seen 8 Mile?
