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Show 6 FRIDAY, MARCH THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 23. 2001 GREEKS A I xeauired enefi t for HANE MCCAMMON Chronicle Editor in Chief ask myself every day why Brigham Young thought this was the place. The Salt Lake Valley is ugly, it smells, and it's so damn dry I have to take a bath in lotion every morning. It's also populated with some very, what shall we I interesting folk. Iff a few months, as I'm driving my say, up past Coalville and into the great wasteland known as Wyoming, I might be tempted So give a big middle finger to the state I've adopted as my home for the past five or so years. But then again, thete is something here in this stinky, smelly, dry valley that gives tee perspecul tive. It hasn't been all a wash along the Wasatch Rangeat least for me, I have the University of Utah to remember. And no, my memory holds nothing corny about the school, no i950S-er- a school pride, no fond thoughts of pals in the fraternity I never joined or of the delightsome referred to in the alma mater I never really learned. I will push my up over the mountains and remember the last thing I ever thought I'd learn in the land of milky whiteness and hypocritical honey what diversity means and how important it is. I'll remember Bigger Thomas running from the cops, from the crime he did commit but was extenuforced into because of the circumstance racism. as known ating I'll remember the nameless protagonist in Ralph Ellison's 77te Invisible Man, who confronted racism in every facet of society, even among the activists that were supposed to be fighting for his rights. . I'll remember the narrator of a particular Amiri Baraka poem I can't quite remember, the voice that wants to end the persecution with justifiable homicide. co-e- ds ul still-existe- nt And I'll remember Wilfred Samuels. I'm from South Florida, one of most ethnically diverse areas of the country, if not the world. I went to high school with Puerto Riczns, Haitians, Colombians, Jews, Asian Indians, Koreans, Arabs, Cubans, Senegalese, Russians you name the ethnic group and I can find a representative in my yearbook. Not far from my neighborhood was a part of Miami that is almost a different country, where even the stop signs are in Spanish and where the white people get stared at like the Mexicans here. I was a minority at my school, at my job and among my friends, yet I didn't even blink. It seemed natural. So you can imagine what it was like when I first started school here. Even the casual observer wouldn't have any trouble pointing out the lack of ethnic diversity on this campus. And so you can also Imagine my surprise when I learned more about diversity hers than I ever did sitting nest to my Haitian and Cuban friends at lunch at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. Some students here think we don't need a diversity requirement. After ail, they say, what can we learn in one measly class? These people are stupid. They are ignoramuses and are what U wrong with this school, this state and this country. These are the people who are unwilling to open their ears and their minds and actually acknowledge 'that racism still exists even right here in this modern-da- y Garden of Eden. These are the people who don't cringe when somebody sends a student's wife deaih threats because she is Hispanic These are the people who might not scribble homophobic remarks on a student's campaign pester but certainly don't think it's a big deal which is, in a lot of ways, much worse than the bigot with the Bic. And these are the people who are most in need of taking a diversity class at the U. n I admit it I enrolled in Literature because I had to. It was a requirement for graduation, and even though I cockily African-America- U students continued from page 5 state has thrown "nuisances" from their homes and seized the property; in fact, I have a neighbor who has fought this issue because of another neighbor making several petty complaints. I don't desire to see the greeks thrown out of their homes. To want such a thing would be stupidly insane. The greeks are a way of life for many on campus. The greeks have also done numerous things to help both the local community and the community in whole. To have the University of Utah without a Greek Row would be like not having the Latter-da- y Saints Institute of Religion for the large number of LDS students. Keep in mind that the greeks were living on Greek Row before any individual neighbor. Therefore, the greeks were a part of the neighborhood before the neighbors were. It is each individual's responsibility to find out what it is he or she is moving into before actually moving in. By moving into the neighborhood, the neighbors gave their consent to move into the area as is. It is that plain and simply understood. All you have to do is look into contractual law and research implied consent. Earlier this week I wrote a letter supporting the greeks and turned it into the Intrafraternity Council office in the A. Ray Olpin University Union, Room 270. I highly encourage and recommend that the students of the U greek and not greek do the same. Everybody knows that there is power in numbers. The university needs a Greek Row so a feeling of community can be maintained. thought nobody in Utah of ail places could experiteach me about the of little that wanted paper. I slip ence, But Professor Samuels changed that for me. He kicked my ass. Hardest son of a gun I've ever took a class from. I cursed his name every night' when I had to read another lengthy assignment, and I told my wife how glad I'd be when the African-America- n class was over. That was still the ignorant me talking, though. That was the stupid me talking, the guy who didn't give a damn about hate notes as long as they didn't affect me or those close to me. I won't go into a ton of details about the" class or my learning experience because a) you don't care, b) it's hard to explain how you learn something, and c) It's personal. Let's just say my entire perspective was changed by a short, professor who wouldn't let me learn through osmosis. But I will tell you that I do care now when somebody I don't even know gets a note telling, her she and her kids will die if she doesn't Salvador. move, all because she is from It pisses me off when a guy gets campaign posters defaced just because he is a homosexual.'' ' And it makes me seethe when morons at this school and other universities around the country like Penn State say we don't need a diversi. ty requirement From the hateful actions that have occurred over the past few months at this campus, there should be ample evidence for the. need of more . diversity education, not less. So next time you find yourself complaining Litabout, waking up for that erature or Chicanao Experience class or even having to take it at ail do yourself a favor and shut up because you really sound stupid. You'd be surprised how much you can belly-fuil-cf-fi- re , African-Americ- an learn even in such a homogenous setting and how much potential the diversity requirement has. I know I was. welcomes Shane at: feedback smccammonclironicle.utah.edu or send a let-- -, ter to the editor to: letrers(Slchronicle.utah.edu. CONNOR HENDRICKS, Freshman, Business Management Don't like your current job? Well, write for the Chrony! IT'. 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