Oppression Olympics

The Bloomington Faculty Council passed a resolution a few days ago “regretting” that Gen. Peter Pace had been appointed the Poling Chair, a prestigious leaders-in-residence program offered by the Kelley School of Business.

The rather belated move was just the latest in a series of permutations that attempted to address the conflict in welcoming Pace to a campus that values tolerance. Pace’s appointment, after all, was criticized when it was revealed that he had made homophobic statements in a 2007 Chicago Tribune interview.

The dialogue that has emerged from this episode has been valuable, even as both camps have been left unsatisfied with each other’s claims. That being said, there was one argument endorsed by detractors of Pace that I found rather distressing, which had to do with race.

Several commenters, including those quoted within the pages of the Indiana Daily Student, argued that if Pace was a racist, he wouldn’t have been appointed to the Poling Chair. Because, as you know, the gays have it so much worse than the blacks!

There are two problems here with the “what if Pace was a racist” argument, the more obvious one being that it proposes some form of an oppression hierarchy. According to such a claim, the discrimination faced by gays is far more acceptable than that faced by ethnic or racial minorities.

The other issue here is that such an argument assumes that racism has officially ended and that only a fool would admit to harboring racist sentiments. False on both counts.

While I refuse to engage in oppression Olympics myself, it should be evident that the legacy of racism remains etched in our institutions. To assume that we are somehow less tolerant of racism is to dismiss vocalized incidents, as was evidenced by the controversy over the Ora L. Wildermuth Intramural Center.

Despite the fact that former trustee Wildermuth espoused hateful opinions about blacks, his name continues to adorn a building here. In an even more insulting move, the IU board of trustees recently approved renaming the Center the “William L. Garrett-Ora L. Wildermuth Intramural Center.”

William Garrett was the first black basketball player at IU and thanks to the trustees, eight of whom are white, his name will forever be associated with that of a racist, most notably without his consent.

I bring up a discussion of the trustees’ erroneous decision not to drudge up feelings of resentment but to demonstrate that racism is still very much accepted, and in some instances, even excused. So, you can imagine my frustration when some gay rights activists conveniently choose to ignore such discrimination and focus on their predicament alone.

Sadly, when our supposed allies endorse the racism vs. homophobia debate, they are denying the intersection of oppression and silencing the voices of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals who identify as people of color.

Certainly, there are plenty of good reasons to oppose Pace’s appointment, but a competing sense of victimization isn’t one of them.