Hate in a wool coat

Last week, around the campus and the world, people celebrated the life, the work and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Many people took time to pause and reflect the accomplishments and thesuccesses, but that still doesn't mean we don't have a long way to go on civil rights issues. In fact, I encourage people everywhere, and especially the students within the Bloomington collegiate community, to realize one very important fact: Regardless of race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, etc. -- we're all very cold.\nThat's right. It's January in Indiana, and we're all insanely cold. Just last week, according to The Weather Channel, the midwestern U.S. experienced persistent "dangerously cold air (with) some areas lucky to warm up above zero degrees." The oracle of weather continued, saying, "If there's any good news, high pressure will dominate … allowing for sunny skies," which wasn't really good news at all -- just a sign the snow will be glowing like it's radioactive and you'll need sunglasses.\nYet the point remains the same. Why bother with intolerance and prejudice when we all share this undeniable truth: We're all human, and we all got really cold.\nFor example, the University of Michigan (another university, which I hear is very cold as well) is currently in the midst of controversy over its affirmative action program, which gives minority applicants "points" to help diversify the university. In an ideal world, of course, we wouldn't need affirmative action, and everything would be fair from the start. Also in an ideal world we'd have peace on Earth and a temperate weather system in January, with no need for The Weather Channel. But in all seriousness, the leader of the free world isn't helping. George W. Bush took the bold steps of criticizing the Michigan system -- on Dr. King's birthday, nonetheless -- as "divisive, unfair and impossible to square with the Constitution." Then turned right around just a few days later and spoke at a black church to commemorate the holiday, saying there is "still more to do" to attain Dr. King's dream of equality. And although he was rejected for an appellate judgeship, Bush re-nominated Charles Pickering for the post. Pickering, a district judge from Mississippi and friend of ousted Republican leader Trent Lott, was criticized for his civil rights record, including efforts to reduce a sentence of a man convicted in a cross-burning case.\nThe president had also nominated Jerry Thacker to serve on the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV/AIDS. Thacker, a Pennsylvanian marketing consultant and former Bob Jones University\nemployee, was known for referring to the disease as the "gay plague," and homosexuality in general as a "deathstyle," instead of a lifestyle. Thacker has since withdrawn his name amid the controversy.\nThere isn't room for this hate in a world where we all share a common bond. It's important to know that beneath all those winter clothes, hats and coats is a person not necessarily exactly like you, but a fellow brother or sister, trying to stay warm, just like you. When we begin to understand the strong things we share, the puny differences don't seem so disrupting or so divisive.\nIt's only then that we can realize that we are like crayons, all different but all stuck together in the same box. And if pieces of wax can get along, surely so can we. We know there's no reason to discriminate.\nWell, except maybe against the warm people in cars.