The Daily Orange Doesn't Understand Satire

I'm sure a lot of you have heard about the "whites only" scholarship being offered at Roger Williams University. Personally, I think it's a great idea. Maybe even better than "affirmative action bake sales." Sometimes, the only way to show people the craziness of an idea is to apply the same principle to another situation.

However, some people apparently don't get the point. One of these people wrote an editorial for the Daily Orange today, which I will cover now:

Race scholarship misses its intent

The College Republicans at Robert (sic) Williams University in Rhode Island have recently created a scholarship for "whites only." The $250 prize requires applicants to "confirm whiteness" and write an essay on "why you are proud of your white heritage."

Don't you see? They're explaining why their unique cultural perspective can help contribute to campus diversity! Don't you like diversity? Everyone likes diversity, even the idiots that pronounce it "die-versity" every time they say it (my apologies to people who pronounce it like this, but it sounds dumb)!

The goal of the College Republicans was to take aim at race-based scholarships as discriminatory and unfair.

Looks to me like they did a pretty good job.

While scholarships and college admissions awarded on the basis of skin color do not in any way solve the racial tension in this country, this scholarship does not either.

I say work with what you've got, since merit-based admissions are apparently racist.

Jason Mattera, head of the Republicans at Roger Williams, makes the argument that not all whites are affluent and guaranteed college admission. This is an important point to make, but it can be done in more effective and diplomatic ways.

Like what? If they just came right out and said that, they'd be accused of denying their deep-seated racist beliefs and trying to hold back minorities.

Similar to the very scholarships Mattera is fighting against, his actions are perpetuating and exacerbating racism rather than working to solve it.

How? It's a friggin' joke! By pointing out that race-based scholarships are stupid, they're working to eliminate them. How is that contributing to racism, unless people are too dumb to understand satire?

Mattera, for example, is of Puerto Rican decent and receives a $5,000 scholarship because of this. Were he truly so against such practices, it would stand to reason that he would not accept the scholarship.

Maybe he realized they were wrong after he got the scholarship. Who knows?

But this exemplifies the complicated nature of the issue. Race-based scholarships and admissions are difficult to avoid for many people when they stand to benefit from them - despite the fact that they are premised on discriminating on the basis of one's skin color.

And that makes them okay because...?

This perhaps, in a sickly ironic way, depicts how deeply entrenched racism is in our culture and also how it has become something that the traditionally oppressed have begun to benefit from.

At least they're acknowledging the truth. I still don't see why we shouldn't resort to satire to get rid of racism though. Maybe they're hurting someone's precious feeeeeeeeelings.

The scholarship at Roger Williams is simplified and misguided.

As are all other race-based scholarships.

It's very easy to tackle racism in the realm of race-based scholarships with the tactic employed by Mattera and his associates, but it is not necessarily effective in solving anything.

Did I just read a self-contradicting statement? I think I did.

If anything, all this stunt will accomplish is adding insult to injury.

I'd be more concerned about insults and injuries being directed toward the CRs.

It seems that all the group is trying to do is antagonize a sensitive and intricate issue.

...And? It's called controversy. It gets attention. For more information on controversy and attention, see "Janet Jackson's boobie." Thank you.

Ultimately, this idea may be based on some goal of ending race-based discrimination, but it clearly falls quite short of this.

I guess it's only clear to the author. I don't understand why this scholarship is so horrible. It points out what should be an obvious fact: Awarding money based on the color of your skin is racist, no matter who it applies to. It only becomes obvious for everyone when you apply it to the group that has traditionally been identified as the privileged oppressors, and you realize that we're not living in that kind of society anymore.

I support the efforts of the RWU College Republicans. Racial preferences need to go, and they need to go NOW.

Posted by CD on February 16, 2004 01:13 PM
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