Student Senate overreacts
Letter to the Editor
I would like to thank the Student Senate for taking time away from everything else to decry the obvious "racial stereotyping" that appeared in a recent Observer comic. Obviously, calling U.N. Ambassador Kofi Annan a rap star was blatantly putting this man down.
Now that I've gotten my sarcasm out of the way, let me say that that was one of the most narrow-minded statements I've seen in a very long time. No one in their right mind saw this as anything close to the "alien" joke a few years back. Why? Because it was not the same type of thing. No one should be offended by the Annan joke, and if they are, then I pity them.
For the sophomore and freshman classes who may not have a clue about what I just said, allow me to explain:
About two years ago, during Halloween, a comic ran entitled "Quick And Easy Costumes," or something like that. The first three were either funny or absurd — or both — but the last one caused quite a stir. The comic strip writer drew a picture of a Mexican fellow and labeled him an "alien," with the sub-caption "a Mexican without a green card." When I saw that, I admit, I did chuckle at the play on words. However, I also knew right then that a lot of people were going to be offended by that remark, and they should have been — to a degree. It was not exactly the most tasteful joke ever done, but it did get blown out of proportion a bit, as do most matters here. (NOTE: Most of those things, like the best way to eat, really do not matter. This did.)
I bring this up because apparently the Student Senate felt that the joke in clarifying to business students that Mr. Annan was the U.N. Secretary General and not a rap star, was a similar racial joke done in poor taste. I know this was not the case because I did not meet a single person discussing this the day that it ran, or the day after. In fact, until I read about the Student Senate's "action" against the comic, I had not even thought of that as a possibility. Comparing that to two years past, when nearly every class I went to, large or small, was buzzing with discussion about it, I believe the Student Senate overreacted.
It was not a joke on Mr. Annan's race, it was a joke about business students, who are frequently the butt of many jokes, much like Arts and Letters students, of which I am one. Mr. Annan himself, I do not believe, was made fun of in any way, shape or form. To compare the joke to calling Madeline Albright a "housewife" is very erroneous. That would have been very blatant stereotyping and in maybe worse taste than the "alien" quip. There was no racial or ethnic type of statement in the comic, nor was it in poor taste in anyone's opinion, save apparently these few.
I would also like to ask where the Student Senate was when Joe Kernan, another recent commencement speaker, needed defense? He had no cartoon about him that I remember, but there were a great many students who wrote letters whining and complaining (I know, shocking) that Mr. Kernan, then mayor of South Bend, and currently Lt. Governor of Indiana, was not a "big enough" or "important enough" or whatever other "enough" of a man to be the keynote speaker for Notre Dame's graduating class. This was a man who was a POW in war, earned several medals of honor for his service (Purple Heart, anyone?) and then, when he could have rested on pension, decided to continue his civil service work in politics, being one of the best mayors that South Bend ever had.
I am thrilled that Mr. Annan is coming here, as he is a great man, one of the greatest of his generation. I have the utmost respect for him, as I would for any man in his position. They do not just hand out U.N. positions to random people (Well, there was Ginger Spice ...). But I think Mr. Annan, to get where he is today, must have had some ability to laugh at jokes. That is not to say that some words he may have heard growing up were appropriate terms, but I am sure he has a sense of humor. Whether he would laugh at this, who knows, but I sincerely doubt he would be offended. Now, if the Senate will kindly get back to more important things, like campaign reform, instead of waiting for the chance to hand out the semi-annual "Morally Decrepit Cartoon of the Year" award, we can all be happy.
And, most importantly, we can laugh at jokes in good taste.
Bradley Mohnke
Junior
Siegfried Hall
February 19, 2000
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, February 21, 2000
