Berry's talk opens eyes

Four months after Sept. 11, Dr. Mary Frances Berry feels "these are the times that try men's souls."\nThirty-four years after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., she says, America is still asking important questions in the ongoing struggle for civil rights.\nBerry, the controversial chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, was the keynote speaker for the campus-wide celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day yesterday in Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union.\n"Dr. Berry has devoted her career to helping our nation and our world recognize Dr. King's belief that whatever affects one of us directly, affects all of us indirectly," President Myles Brand said in his introduction. \nFor Berry, following MLK's legacy of constant action and change has been a goal throughout her career. Yet the controversies surrounding her personal life, including her firing and, later, reinstatement by Ronald Reagan, as well as the ongoing Florida voting investigation, were not at the forefront of her speech. \nRather, Berry discussed the conditions under the Bush administration. "Unregulated" capitalism, economic downfall and interpersonal networking characterize the government, Berry said, leaving leaders unable to find a solution.\nThe rest of Berry's address focused on the actions of the months following the terrorist attacks and the country's response to its new challenges. \nBerry named racial profiling of Arab-Americans, the use of military tribunals, and torture-like inquiries as civil rights infractions, deeming them unacceptable. Berry likened these measures to the American detainment camps for Japanese prisoners during World War II.\n"Martin Luther King did not believe in segregating one's moral and democratic concerns," Berry said.\nHer controversial views often oppose popular attitudes, but this is what draws support from many who respect her. \n"Mary Frances Berry represents the need to struggle and fight for equality to make things the way they should be," junior Brandy La Shaun Davis, publicity chair for the Black Student Union, said.\nEnumerating recent U.S. struggles allowed Dr. Berry to propose solutions. To ensure political democracy is not an illusion, America needs more multi-cultural education, Berry said. \nShe also reminded the audience of the need for vigilance in the fight for civil rights. \n"Disparities are exacerbated when we have a crisis," Berry said. "We must fulfill the promise of America by embracing all people." \nThe speech closed with a challenge to the audience. Doing just one thing in the cause for justice, Berry said, will create change. She believes it is these changes that promote the cause for which Martin Luther King, Jr. died.\nSome students said they found their eyes opened by the content of Berry's address. \n"I never realized how uninformed we are. We take the media as fact and never know more than we are told," sophomore Kimberli Owens said. "The media does not give us the whole story"