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Volume VI, No.5
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GAYS IN THE MILITARY? -Malcolm X, Conservative? -Running with the Devil -Ideological Indoctrination and much more ...
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Editor-in-Chief. .. ... .............. Adam Bromberg Publishing Editor ................. .... Paul D. Schnier Executive Director .. ................. lohn Maggio Managing Editor. ................... .. David Holland Copy Editor ........................... Bemadelle Malone Treasurer.... .... ... .................... Alexandra Alleone
Contributors Mark Schmidt SCOll Epstei n Andrea Sharetla Josh Trapani Duane Farabc'lugh Brad Levine
Icl~()I()~i~ClI }j(jll~Clti()n ....................... .
Th~ R~ClI S~ll- OutS ........ .. ........... 5 Juliet Shields Michael Valdman Brell R. Baker Cara Donlon Mitchell Berger
AlumniBoard Brian Sullivan Katrina Schwing Ephraim Bemstein Paul Scc)lesc III Kathryn Doherty Yan Rus:aJlc)vs\oy III MaUlew Carr Joseph Rosenthal James T . Sheka Billy Seborlll Michael Thomas Malloy Advisor. .. ... .......................... .. Dr. Herb London Faculty Advisor................. Professor AIdo Bcmardo
"[ shall do nothing in malice, what I'm dealing with is too important for malicious intent. " Binghamton Review is an indepcodent journal of news, commentary, and analysis published monthly. Binghamton students receive the Review frcc of charge. Leuers to the editor arc encouraged and should be sent to: Binghamton Review SUNY Binghamton P.O. Box 6000 Binghamton, New York 13902-6000.
All submissions to the Review become the property of the Review. The Review reserves UlC righlto edit and print any submissions. AIl opinious expressed are those of the author's and do not that of the Review .
MCllc()lm X, C()ns~rvClti V~ H~m ......... 10 HijCl~kin~
()f a Paracl~ ........................ 10
Running wi th
th~ D~vil.. ............... 11
Crim~
()f Dating ............ 15
Th~
Departnlents: Fmm Right
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Ecli t()r................................ 3
Sicl~ .................................. 8
Pm & C()n: Sh()lllcl Gays b~ Clll()w~cl t() s~rv~ in th~ military.... 12
Today, conservatives are faced with somewhat of a unique position; for the first time in 12 years, we are in total opposition. I believe that this period of opposition, offers conservatism a unique opportunity. The next few years can be an opportunity for the conservative movement to come up with its own agenda. Besides pointing out what Bill Clinton and the liberals are doing wrong, conservatives must begin to come up with their own solutions and alternatives. In the words of Jack Kemp, "It is not enough for our movement to be an antithesis to what liberals want to do, we must have a thesis of what we want to do." Luckily, there are some very good signs that conservative leaders are prepared to do just that. In mid-January, four of the nation's leading conservatives, Jack Kemp, William Bennett, Vin Weber and Jeane Kirkpatrick, along with numerous others, got together and formed a new organization called Empower America The purpose of Empower America is to create a shadow government to come up with conservative solutions to the problems confronting the nation. In the words of Vin Weber, "Government instead must seek decentralized, market-oriented and incentive-based approaches which empower individuals, families and communities ... We intend to provide leadership on behalf of the principles and policies I have outlined today, and to help lay the groundwork for a new kind of governance." This organization gives conservatives a great deal to be optimistic about. It will offer a serious agenda to implement policies of economic growth, the expansion of democratic capitalism throughout the world, and offer innovative solutions to empower people to solve their problems, not empower the bureaucracy. Much of the innovative leadership in the conservative movement is coming from the state level. The old concept of states as "laboratories of democracy" is being fulfilled by a number of innovative conservative governors throughout the nation. Gov. John Engler of Michigan, Gov. Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin, and Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts have begun to show the way in reforming government. All three have had to deal with serious budget deficits, and all have managed to solve budget problems without raising taxes. They have cut the bureaucracy in the state, eliminated many unnecessary commissions, departments and positions. They have begun to privatize many government services, saving money and making these services more efficient. They have even rolled back taxes and given relief to working families and increased the incentives for economic growth. Thompson and Engler have instituted dramatic welfare reform proposals which have decreased the amount of people on the welfare rolls. These three governors are showing the way towards reforming welfare, increasing economic growth and closing budget deficits. It is time that states throughout the country look to Tommy Thompson, John Engler and Bill Weld for direction. It is time that we conservatives stop fighting amongst ourselves. We will never agree on every single issue, so we must unite around the fundamental principles that were at the core of the Reagan revolution. We must spend our time in opposition coming up with our model for reforming the country, and we must show the American people that we are ready to govern. In 1994, we must elect more governors like Engler, Thompson and Weld, especially here in New York. We must elect more conservatives to the Senate and House. In 1996, we must elect a conservative president with a vision for the nation, someone who does not believe that the nation is served best with higher taxes and a larger federal government as Bill Clinton does. An innovative conservative agenda must be our road map back to governance.
-AB
Scott J. Epstein
he politization of the under路 graduate education is a pre路 occupation these days. Those Iconc"m"d about the quality of our "n;v~r.;II;~. and colleges prOlest Ihe Iincreasing subordination of the classto political agendas. The tenured radicals in the faculties argue in tum that all truth is merely a political construction, serving the powerestablishment, and all they're doing is changing the master, not the servanl. However. to c1aim that fact is a servant of politics is simpleminded, at beSl. One can argue, with some persuasiveness, that interpretation of faclS can be influenced by politics, but that isasomewhatdifferentargument. To put fact under the control of human politics seems to me an ac t of unbridled hubris-that the Earth orbits the sun, for instance, as a mere paradigm controlled by politics seems to place
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yield truth. On a basic level, this would seem However, even if we grant, fonhe sake of argument, the idea thattheo- a reasonable model for teaching in ries are political, and we take as an Humanities-thatifthereareeompet'axiom, as well, William Blake's pre路 ing theories, that the best way to decept that "Everything possible to be cide among them is to give each ilS fair believed is an image of truth," we still shol. find a problem with the biased teaching documented in To hold these issues as decided some classand settled is, to use the language rooms. Acof the left, either naive or cording to L y nne duplicitous. Cheney, in rate observations.
her report on
the State of the Humanities , many professors are, for political reasons, teaching as dogma systems of thought which are, atbest, still under debate. A joumalist
pha-
sis on hum a n imagination than on reality. WI"i",i',ti's true that a t on e tim e Ipltilclsol~he,rs believed that U,e s un revolved around the Earth didn't in fact make it so. In fact, just because we believe thalthe Eanh revolves around sun doesn ' t make it scr-the sparelation of the Earth vis a vis the is independent of our theories or perceptions. But our model is built upon thebestevidence available, while the former Ptolemic model contradicted much of the evidence availab le even in ilS day- witness the increasing complexity of the that model in ilS lat.tennPI to explain increasingly acc u-
com men ted that the key to fair reponing isn't tivity, or lack of The trick is to acedge one's bias, sciously attempt the contrary poinlS
objecb ia s . k n ow I and confairness to of view. There is an idea underlying the concept of eyewitness testimony, which says that the faclS which all the accounlS have in common are most likely the ones that are actually true: that while each individual testimony ma y be biased and limited by point of view, a conflagration of several will
However, those on the left argue that the older systems have been exploded, as surely as the above-mentioned Ptolemic vision of the solar system. But is it that simple? The concerns at issue. narnel y anlOgonistic systems of epistemology, have been debated ineonclusively for thousands of years. The current acadamic view began with Plato, and stretches to Albenus Magnus, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, on through Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida. The opposing view originates with Aristotle, and traces through Sl. Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Ayn Rand and Mortimer Adler. To hold these issues as decided and setUed is, to use the language of the left, eithernaive or duplicitous. Is a professor an advocate, a son of coach, or a son of reporter? I think the best professor is a combination of reporter and coach. Advocacy has ilS place, certainly, but is a true advocate the one who ignores the contrary argument?!!
31'oin tbt ~ebfeb:J! ;fl!ltttings tbtfP m:bUfsbap at S pm in WW 104 Page 4
Binghamton Review
I,........ he system itself mus t be as we are willing to sell ourselves. destroyed," proclaimed Black History Month g ues t speaker Bakara to his Mandela Room Iaudience on tlle night of February 25tll. formerly Leroy Jones, is a professor a t SUNY I~ 'nn vhm"k and tlle allUlOr of several including tlle Leroy Jones Reader. prominent Black revolutionary , IB:ak'lra seemed more interested in I m'~"'h"nw;' ng the white supremacist Ic"pitaJi:s t government Umn easing the Itensions and bridging Ule differences lbellw""n Blacks and Whites. Bakara di scouraged Blacks from Iw.ork;no within the system to advance standing of the African American comnow,u!y. On more than one occ.'lSion, IB;llk,,,a expressed contempt for the I"b,acl,w,,,d Negroes" Colin Powell and IClarence Thomas. Powell and 111OI11as,
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outstanding members of the African IAm,:riclan community, me guilty of the white capitalist sys tem of le,'pl'oitltic)D to reach their positions of
esteem.
In tbe eyes of
like Bakara, such ISUICC'esS is labeled "selling out." Bakara assessed the linkage between atrocities of the slave trade aud the
U.S. economy, asserti ng Umt "without slavery, there is 110 capitalism." Correctl y reminding the audience that slaves were sold to the White Man by feUow Afri c,ms, tlle professor tllCn went all to wmn mack listeners that "as Binghamtoll Review
slavery is perpetuated." Ami then came that hard driving accusation of sellout : "Backward middle cIass Negroes ClUl sympathize wi til rncislll because they are getting paid to." It is Uus "sellout" mentality t1lat is so backward, not those Blacks who earn a degree. find a fulfilling career, support their families, and move out to the suburbs. That is every American' s liberty-B lack or White. Perpetuating the idea that members of the African American comnlwlity ought not to engage in the capitalist system, implying that Blacks are not entitled to enjoy the same economic freedom that Whites do- TH IS IS modern day cnslavemen路t. 'Illis ill-begonen concept of "scIling out" tllreatens Blacks tlllll tlleir profit from an economic or political system that was created by wlutes, and is still prcdomUnately wlute, is a betrayal of their ancestry. In tum, must Blacks reject American culture as a whole. since their ancestors were brought to thi s country against their will hWldrcds of years ago? (Sold by their o wn people, as Bakara observed.) Does not this Sellout label trivialize the efforts of all the non路 Black Americans who foug ht agains t s lave ry. seg regati o n. and di scrimUnation? The Sellou t label teUs the African Americc'Ul to discredit the very system which is striving to undo every injustice committed by its ancestors, Why, Bakara lumscIf seems to be doing very well by this inherently racist and exploitivc system. A graduate of Howard Uni versi ty , Leroy Jones must acknowledge that he was educ.ated in a system that fo sters entrepreneurship. as the predominatel y Black Howard Universit y is a private institution . And as a faculty member of tllC State Universi ty of New York, BaI",ra must handsome and some
attractive perks that this system makes possible. He is a product of the system he abbors. Why doesn' t he seek H teaching positio n in a country which is more ideologically compatible with his views? Either because there are too few left to
Bernadette Malone
It is this "sellout" mentality that is so backward, not those . Blacks who earn a degree, find a fulfilling career, support their families, and move out to the suburbs. choose from, or because the salary and stanctmd of living arc mucll bener here in tllC U,uted S~'tes. Bakara enters tlle Nelson Mandela Room of Binghamt.on Universi ty, cloaked in hypocr isy. He tells its studcnts tlmt a college degree held by a Black is merely a message to th e Whites that " We (the lUuversity) defanged him, detoxified him ... Give him a job ... He's cool." Bakara' s degree obviously left o ut thi s clause. Amari Bakara is correct in his insis tence that the African American community needs role models. That should mea n that Blacks compete on equal tenus witll tlle rest of society to become tllC best doctors. law yers. politicians. teachers . entrepreneurs, and parents. etc. It should not imply that the Black college graduate is obliged to rejcct capitalist society. move back to tllC gheno, 'Uld foed OIl tllC iI\iustiees done to hi s people that he leamed about at school. The role JUodel should be an example of achievement despite racial prejudice.
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Kevin Pritchett
pike Lee's much vaunted movie about Malcolm X which debuted Nov. 20 portrayed the 1960s leader as a fiery
in 1925 in Omaha, Neb., to a Baptist minister who was also a follower of Marcus Garvey, the 1920s black nationalist leader. Malcolm' s father separatist agitator whose memory will was killed, perhaps by white racists, inspire a new nationwide campaign in E.1St Lansing. Mich., where the family had moved after being haras sed by the Klu Klux Klan in But Malcolm Omaha. Malcolm and hi s six siblings lost their mother after she was really stood for committed to an insane asylum . another kind of action A good student who was elected more useful black president of his seventh grade class, Malcolm became disenchanted witll Americans - the school when a teacher suggested that "action" of taking con- he pursue carpentry instead of law. trol of one's own life, of which he wanted to study but could not because, in the tcacher's words. voting, of starting Malcolm had to be "realistic about
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X
to
a
business, or of giving up a life of welfare.
against "blue-eye devil s." Olhers see Malcolm X as a counterweight to Martin Luther King. Still others see him as merely ullworthy of being a part of the Amcrican pantheon of heroes. But Malcolm' s mos t impo rtant Icgacy and the reason for hi s new popularity is thi s: He stood for action. In the high-s takes battle of Malcolm X revi sionism, tl,e Spike Lee side wants to inteq)ret "ac路 tion" to include revoluti onary illegal - ac tion of the kind we saw in the Los Angeles riot s ( fasten yo rn seatbelts, inner cities). But Malcolm X really stood for mlOther kind of action more useful to black Americans - the "action" o f taking control of one's own life, of voting. of starting a business, or of giving up a life of welfare. A closer look at M ,~colm 's life yields evidence for tlle latter view. Malcolm' s early life was a lesson in powerlessness not much different from that learned by welfa re children to. Malcolm Little was hom
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black society had created white pe<IP":,J who subsequently went out into world and pillaged and enslaved its habitants. For Malcolm, tilis was a racist 1""'001, 1 the time in which be spoke of the ",t,-v;l" l wllite mall. But it was also a period education - in modern parlance, powerment." He studied the W<:st,:m l pllilosopbers - Nietzsche and among others - and improved llis glish and hi s knowledge of llI''IorY.1 Malcolm saw in the Nation of Islam theology that uplifted the black This was the period when Malcolm came a Muslim. changing last name "X," to stand for a long-lost r\l.""'"" 1 SlUllallle. After prison, he became Muhammad' s chief s pokesman. being a nigger." But it is important to see that, His dreams destroyed, Malcolm ule anti -white rhetoric of tllis 1]cIW{I,1 quit school. After stints in foster Malcolm' s focus was on str<"l!~th"ning l homes mid rcfonn school, he moved black self-confidence. Defending 10 Boston, then to I-Iarlem. where he leader, he even said that "all Mr. embarked on a life of crime. Wllile Muhammad is doing is trying to uplift Malcohn was in prison from 1946 to the black man' s mentality and the black 1952, some of hi s siblings bcgan Inrul' S social and economic condition in tclling him about E1ijall Muhmnmad, tltis colmtry." Malcolm criticized who had foundcd a black Muslim civil-rights I..,ders, saying integ"ation l sect in the U.S. They explained to was nOllhe rulswer, and would not him the theories of the Nation of Islam itself - ratller than Islam: Blacks were the original Muhammad' s Chicago-based cult - soon people on earth, and thousands of became tlle object of Malcolm' s years ago a mad scientist exiled from sion. He fell out with the sect
BillghamlOlI Review
go on an hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca April 1964. Then and on subsequent igrimag,es, he discovered 10r1i1(xlox Islam had little to with Elijah Muhammad's
ist teachings . Malcolm
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his autobiography UllU on plane to Mecca he saw black, brown, red, and people, blue eyes and blond -::pi:!;i;;:::r::=:::s;;;::::;;s hair, and my kim,-y red hair - all ''' together brothers! All honor_ .....J..........JI-,,-. ing the same God Allah, all in lL..,.-..l1...,.-"_ tum giving equaI honor to each _.!L_-''-__ other."
Soon, Malcolm X began to , ·,III.! 0. " ,, ·j! dii " ··, 1 1!lIII,Ii,II"
«reappraise the while man." Racism was not something to cbarge all white men with; rac-
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ism was'learned and perpetrated by individuaIs, not by a race as a whole. Malcolm viewed Islam, its idea of one God, as central to solving the problem of racc. Talking about his fellow pilgrims, he said that a belief in one God "had removed the 'white' from their minds, the 'white' from their behavior, and the 'white' from their attitude." Malcolm X began lcoking at Ule proJ>. lem of black Americans as a humanrights problem instead of a civil-rights or racial problem, as a problem that required taking action instead of waiting passively for the day when, in Dr. King's words, " we shall overcome." Malcolm X said to Harlem street audiences that only when "mankind would submit to dIe One God who created all" would dlere be peace, but lamented that "so liltle action" was takcn toward this goal. "We have to approach the black man's struggle against the white man's racism as a human problem," he wrote in hi s 1%5 autobiography. Referring to hi s post-Mecca speeches to Harlcm streel audiences. he wrote: " I said ooth races, human beings, had the obligation, Ule responsibility, of helping to correct IAlnerica's hWllan problem." This difference is important, because instead of violent, might-makes-right I rllI~orie that he once espoused, Malcolm went 10 t..he root of the matter. The Istrug:gle for the freedom of blacks was moral stmggle - one that should have its enlistees blacks alld whites - to Billghamtoll Review
give the black man in America the rights of a full citizen "by any means necessary." By Ulis, Malcolm X did not mcan violence. In fac t, philosophically he was drawing closer to Dr. King, cnvisioning something akin to Dr. King' s promi sed land. "In our mutual sincerity we might ~ able to show a road to tlle salvation of America's very soul," he wrote in hi s autobiography. "Somelimes, I have dared to dream to myself that one day, history may even say that my voice ... helped to save America." It was just at thi s point Utat Malcolm X was shot down, in Febmary 1965, by glUllnen linked to the black Muslims. Malcolm popularizers like Spike Lee arc muddling Malcolm's legacy. As early as August, Mr. Lee proclaimed that black children should skip school and ins lead walch his film. Malcolm would not have approved, since he placed a high value on education for blucks. TIle mass merchandising of clothing embroidered with an "X" symbol has reduced Malcolm and hi s memory to a I11ca..Ilinglcss conullcrcial symbol,like Cabbage Patch Kids , In a way dus abuse of Malcolm X i!:l similar to the treatuICllt that America' s other mon umenta l black figure, Dr. King, has received. Origim~ly, Dr. King stood for a laudable civil-rights goal - equality before the law . But recent
tion has twisted this ideal, using his philosophies as an argument for spe-
cial treatment and quotas. TI,e novelist James Baldwin wrote in 1972: "By the time each met his death, there was practically no dif-
ference" between Malcolm X and Dr. King. Today we must look behind the popularizers' muddles to sec the real Dr. King and the real Malcolm X, because we need them both. Blacks and America as a whole
arc looking for a JX)sitive, active way to let poor and middle-class blacks become full and prosperous members of society. Malcolm X's special contribution was that he believed that blacks should control Uleir own des-
tinies: become producers. not just conswncrs, and fix their own neigh· borhoods. ''The American black man should be focusing his every effort toward building his ow/! businesses, and decent homes for himself," Malcolm wrote. Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's widow. once wrote that "Malcolm's cntire philosophy was based on morality." The nature of Ulat morality is what we should ponder today.
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Kevin Pritchett is an editorial writer for the WaU Street jOIlTllal
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It was recently reported that Chelsea Clinton didn't have her medical forms filled out for school. The school nurse told Chelsea she would call her mother to get it taken care of. Chelsea then told the nurse, "You better not call my
mom, she s very busy. You better call my father."
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"We, the Green movement, aspire to a cultural model in which the killing of a ~------------------------------------~ forest will be considered more conDuring a recent speech, Hillary Clinton told her temptible than the sale of six-year old audience that she often finds herself having conchildren to Asian brothels." versations with the ghost of Eleanor Roosevelt. During these imaginary conversations, Hillary asks Mrs. Roosevelt for her advice on certain issues. And they made fun of Nancy Reagan for talking to Astrologers?
-Carl Amery founder of th~ green party
When the Clinton's and Gore's were at Monticello before the inauguration, Al Gore pointed to some statues and asked, "Who are those guys?" The tour guide then informed. Mr. Gore that those were statues of George Washington路 and Benjamin Franklin. Looks like this guy is going to make Dan Quayle look like a Rhodes Scholar. I"~
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Binghamton Review
"To call something public is to define it as dirty, insufficient, and hazardous. The ultimate paradigm of social spending is the public restroom." PJ. O'Rourke "I do not for a minute believe that mandarin society, which crippled women by binding their feet, or Indian society, which burned widows on their husbands 'funeral pyers, or Aztec society which sacrificed virgins by the tens of thousands, are the equivalent of a culture that invented the concept of individual rights, launched the Industrial Revolution, and doubled the human life span within two centuries." - Don Feder Nationally syndicated columnist
l "The most merciful thing a large family can do to one of its infant members is to kill it." - Margaret Sanger Planned Parenthood founder "My highest priority is to protect the rights of the guilty, not to convict the guilty." -Janet Reno U.S . Attorney General
~~~~~--~~--------~ OUR COMNlMlOER'
'N- CH'~f':
CI "' .Wol '
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l Binghamton Review
"Does it matter that a bunch of high strung, anti-intellectual, chronically offended, 'dysfunctional family members' get together for a conference and say and do a lot of odd things? It does because on more and more campuses these consciousness raisers are driving out the scholars." -Christina Hoff Sommers, Philosophy professor at Clark University, after attending a recent National Women's Studies Association conference. Page 9
Juliet Shields
t should be di fficult to hijack a arade," says former New York ity mayor Ed Koch, "But when lh e hij ac kin g is done with the assist.a nce of the mayor fUld the po li cc commissioner, it becomes relativel y simple ." The hijackin g Koch is talking about is the dcni:t1 of a 1X!llllit to the Ancient Order of the Hiocl1lians in tlli s years Sl. Pallick' s Day Parade. T he Ancient O rder of Hibernians was rcnned in Ireland hundreds of years ago to defend the C11holic fai th agains t Engli sh ProICSk'llll oppression. In the Unitc{l S tat es, thi s group has dedicated itself to preserving the Irish culture. Since 1836, this group ha'\ run tllC Sl. Patrick' s Day Parade. Recently. Mayor David D inkins and the Ci ty Human Rig ht s Dep."u1mcnt deni ed the group a parade Jx:nni t despite L1le fact that a law was passed in Nc\v York City st.ali ng thai any group holding a parade fo r more than ten years nced 11 0 1 apply for a penni!. 'nlc re..1Son for thc denial was that the Hibc mians would not let a group march under I..he banner of the
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Any group whose life-style contradicts Catholic faith should not march in a Catholic parade. Irish Gay and Lesbian Organi za ti on (ILGO). Sl. Patrick's Day is a holid ay celebra ting.a cultu re based strongly in Catholic ism . It is a holiday which hono rs S1. Patrick, the Patron Sai ni of the Archd iocese of New York. While millly people sec Sl. Patrick's Day as a day to celebrate Iris h cldturc and wear gree n, it is a day held in honor of a C'1tholic Saint, making it a reI' hoI'
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The Catholic fai th beli eves that ho mosexual sex is a sin. For thi s reason , th e Hibcmians, hosting a Ca tholi c parade believe tha t ILGO sho uld no t march under its own ba nner. In the past, gays hav e marched in the parade. They siInpl y didn't march specificall y under the banller of tJlcir sexual orientation. It is simpl y a fact tJJat allYgroup whose life-style contradicts Catholic faitJl shOldd nO! march in a OltllOlic parade. Anyone can march in tJle parade, but yo u ca n' t marc h adv e rti sin g so meth ing th a t i s aga inst the principles of the spirit of the parade. Eve ry year in New York City, there is an Israeli Day Parade. At thi s parade , you won' t sec a group marching under tlle banner of "Jews fo r a Palestinian State." \Vhil e there arc Jewish people who Ill ay feel tlu s way, they simpl y can' t march as an opc n contingen t in an Israeli Day Parade. Mayor Dinkins decided that parades should "represcnt a variety of political ideas." What tlle mayor docs not seem to undersumd is tllat a pm'adc is a place to celebrate racial or ethni c pride not a plilCe for expressing various political opinions. So, the parade pennit was given to a group cali cd the S l. Patri c k's Day Committ ee Inc. Why? The only reason was that they would a1low ILGO to march under their ow n bLUmer. In thi s decision, the city di splayed no thing short of religious prejudice. This is utterl y ridiculous, the city has managed to hijack a IJ.:1rade from an organiwtion that has been hosting it since 1836. The only reason that the parade was taken away from the Hibemians was because they refused to give in to the divers ity police. T hey were try ing to force the Hibcmiruls to allow an orgaIuzat'ion whose beliefs are in contradi cti o n wit h Catholi c teach.ing to march in thcir parade. ll1i~ is a slap in the face at freedom.
Fortunately, the newl y committec surrendered its pennit February 10. Two days later, Hi bemiillls re-applied for tllC pelllUl. l T he mayor announced that any num.ing the parade would have to include ILGO. According to fo nner Mayor Ed Koch (a long -time supporter of gay ri g hts) "Why did he feel it was inclUnbent upon him to deftne somebody else's parade? Tlus is the stUne mayor who regularly refers to New York as tlle ' gorgeo us mosaic.' prac ti cing Catholi cs don't qualify." If the mayor and the Human Commission are successful in d"cidlinll l who marc hes in tlu s para de and de tennining tllC political and relllg1clUs i tone of the parade , what is next? the mayor now go after tlle Co,IUlnbius I Day parade, tlle Polish da y parade, Puerto Rican Day Parade, the Day Parade, or the parade in honor Dr. Martin Luther Ki ng Jr. ? Will groups who sponsor these parades forced to tlUn their celebrations of or ethnic pride into fomms for POltlJ(:aJ I expression? It seems at the moment tlle Sl. Pallrick's Day Parade is the one being held to these st.:'Uldards. It seems that the concepts of f rec:dom I of speech and religio us expression out the window in New York According to Noonan Siegel, head tllC New York Civil Liberties Union organization strongly in support of ri ghts and no t us ua ll y cOlllsidelred ally of tlle Catholic church), "a parad" is I the pristine foon of free "V'N路h" that the city can no t withhold a peonil because it di sagrees with s po nsoring group's "message" excluding the homosexual organization. Why is it so difficult for a supposedly 'open-minded' millllike Davi d Dinkins to recogni ze that the Hibemians can not in good conscience aHow a gay Irish organi zation to march in tbe p.:'U'3.de? It is an outrage for the mayor to try force a group to act againsltheir beliefs and tlleir faith o r else lose the parade they
Continued on page 14 Billghamtoll Review
he posted adverti sements promised a most interesting even.ing. AbduJ Mohammed Malik would be glvmg a lecture dubbed, "Is the White Man a Devil? .. If So, Why?" In the pursuit of an answer to such rul intense qlk'lndary, I decided that I really ollght to attend. Plc.1singly enough , the que s tion wa s
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answcred ... but new ones need to be
pleased to discover that he did not exemplify is a right or a "lustorica1ly believe that the White Man was a
o ppressed" group to forever hold
devil ; in fact members of any group might be the devil. (Tlus argument was fair enough, yetl wonder who in actuality has had much contact with
billemess against the ancestors of lhose who oppressed their ancestors. For those who choose to continually
Mark Schmidt
look back, tile full benefit of moving tile Devil ?) l'laving disposed of tiu s forward can never be realized. cmcial question relatively early in Mr. Malik al so espoused typical hi s speech, Mr. Malik was able to rlletoric when he complained of wide-
focus his attention on a topic lhat he spread institutional racism here at Binghamton Uluversity. To reword Dickens, "Are there no quotas, no affirmative action, no racially cullural genocide, exploitation, etc. exclusive support centers?" The dis sertation on white [ found the propagation and of supremacy quickly ran into the all seemingly easy digestion too familiar ground of \Vhite people owing redemption for their treatment
addressed. was apparenti y consumed by: \'~ute The topic of racism is rare ly supremacy and its manifestations in di scussed in frank term s on thi s tbe vruious fonns Qf racism, slavery,
campus.
Admini strators. faculty
members, ruld students all hide behind tile protective veil of the latest P.e. buzzwords. The expected result of all thi s ethnic, racial , and gender
sensitivity is to make groups (not so of Blacks throughout history . Mr. mueh the individual s) " feci good" about themselves as a collective. TIle
Malik trumpeted Ole commonl y held belief that the white man of today
Balki.Ulizatioll of groups into specific needs to pay for the sins of his enclaves of consciousness is the result ancestors. Following that type of of this leftist gerrymandering. With logic. shouldn't the Ancient people viewing each other in tenus of EgyptirulS (Whom I'm snrc Mr. Malik a lowest common denominator, be it would ascertain arc Black) be in need race, gender, or heritage, the of "redemption" for their lin fortunate e nd res ult is a self- enslavement of the Jews? segregated, fragmented crunp"s . After spending close to a half hOllr
When we view the vast differences among Americans, it is easily inferred that our strength is derived from our diversity.
Unfortunately, the past can't be changed . Working COllectively comments like tilese by tile audience towards a better future would be so troubling that I sought an
warning his audience tJ13t he spoke the "truth" Md "woulcbl't err" in the nature optimal , but popular thought in the appointment with the Affirmative of hi s address, Mr. Malik anived at tile American uni versit y stress e s Action office in the Adnuni stration cmx of lhe "Devil" suggestion. l was What tlu s has come to Building. After di scllSsing issues of race on campus and accepting two pamphlets and a film designed to increase my awareness. the least I can say is that the administration is extremel y conscious and considerate of the University's "students of color". Mr. Malik claims timt there
exi sts on this campus another element of institutionalized racism and white supremacy in the fonn of a "small milik'U)' group of wlutes" training to do hann to Black people. He didn' t
expound on this idea, bur it appears as
if it may be a
COlltillued 011 Page 14 Binghamtoll Review
Page J J
Alexandra Aucone
Should Gays be allowed recently saw a politiec:ll cartoon related to thi s issue which I fo und particul arly amusing. despite the serious nature of this topic. [n the Cc.1rtoon, a Somali woman is pictured with her two starving children, t11cir checks are [ SlUlkcll in, and their bodies are em:mcipated. A U.S. Marine approaches, calTyillg a bag of grain to relieve their hunger. The Somali woman looks at tl,e soldier and says "Wait! Are you gay?!" President Clinton has given priority to the pressing issue of ending the btUl on gays in the military. It has been argued that if tlle ball were lifted, the obstacles homosexuals would face and tlle havoc their pre, encc would ""use are simply not worth the ri sk. Frantic questions arise: Where would we put tlJCm? What about tlleir lifes tyle? Will they be able to endure tile harassment tl,at will surely follow? Will tl,e effectiveness of our anned forces be at risk if we allow homosexuals to serve? In other words, it would be a lot easier for all those involved if the ban were not lifted . The fact is, sometimes doing the right tlung is not so easy. Integrating blacks into tlle military and society at large was not easy, bnt it was tlle rightlltirig to do. Wlule there are differences between allowing blacks into tile nUlil2ry and allowing gays in, there arc some similarities as well. lllose who want to keep the 1>..'111 say gays will be dismptive to morale. Tilis is the same argument tllat was made by those who wanted to prevent blacks from entering the military. Like integrating blacks. there Illay be some problems at first, but ending the beU1 is just and it is time that we do it. Another problem is that homosext.,ls a1re.1dy exist in tllC nulitary. They are tl,ere everyday, serving tlle Uni ted States to tl,e best of tlleir ability wlule sacrificing personal integrity. They are ready to fight for tlle smn e country that WOldd dislni ss them summarily if it knew the lrUtll. They must live a lie. According to Andrew Sullivan, tl,e openly gay and conservative editor of tlle New Republic , .... .Iifting tlle ban is essentially a conservative mcasure. It is not a radical attempt to rcmake society but a pmgmntic effort to react to a change that is already taking place: the presencc of openly gay people in the military." It is ironic that some of my fellow conservati ves who embrace patriotic actions and military service arc shunning those who perfonn them simply because they arc homosexuals. Opting to serve ones country in the armed forces is, to conservatives as well as otllers, a patriotic and noble act worthy of the lughest respect. Why do we cbange our tunc when that act is performed by a homosexnal? If someone has the ability to lcad a military lifestyle, why does it mailer if that person is gay? It has always been a principle of conservatism to judge each person as an individual mId allow tllCm to be the best they cml be at mlyllting that they wmll. We cml apply tlus conservative principle to the military, where anyone who cml do the job should be given the chmlcc. Perhaps part of tlle problem lies in the misconceptions or stereotypes surrounding homosexuals in tllis country. For exmnple, lets say an individual has 10 or 15 years of exemplary service tUlder Ius belt. He is a dedicated offioer. He has proven, time after time, his ability to serve in tlle anued forces. However, this individual, while serving our COtUltry hns kept his life a secret. He hns lied to his fellow oflicers, mld has even tried to lie to himself. Om we really say that it is fair to declare years of service and commiuuent to the COlUltry null and void simply because tllis person is gny? Is he renll y a different person simply because he is gay? Indi viduals like Joseph Steffml , Magaretile Carnmenuyer and many others, who are gay, have had exccption.1..I military Cc:'1feers. As a rule, we fear what we do not understand. We fear that homosex1M1..Is are wildly deviant and promiscuous in their sexual practices, and in tlleir lifes tyle as well . Although my knowledge of military life is qlute linUted, J find it hard to believe that those gays who serve in tlle military are the same people who are busting into SI. Patrick's catlledral chanting "'Ve're bere, we're queer and we're in your face." They are disciplined and patriotic individuals like mos t other soldiers. I would also argue that sex mld sexuality should not be play such n large role ill tlle military. It should not be n question of gay or strai ght - it should be about ability mld commiunent. Homosexuals are not asking for separa te barracks, or preferential treatment from the lnilitary. They are simply aski ng to be acknowledged as, first mld foremost, soldiers willing and able to serve tlus COWltry to tl,e bes t of tlleir ability. It is not a question of whether or not to let them in, because tllCY are already there. They are asking for tllC opportmuty to serve tlleir cowllry as best they can. Freedom from discrinunation and tl,e opportlUlity to do your best sound pretty conservative to me.
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Binghamton Re view
to serve in the Military?
David Holland
he recent uproar over President Clinton's move to integrate gays into the anncd forces has created an envicomncnl in which reason and conunon sense have become c10uded by emotional sentiment. The fact of the matter is that this is not a civil rights issue. This is not a moral issue. Tlus is not a partisan issue. It an issue of national security. By ignoring this fact Clinton has mistakenly placed political correctness above tIle security of litis nation. Taken as a straightforward case of discrimination, few could come out in favor of sustaining the ban. The issue is deeper however, and when allthe facts are available it becomcs strikingly clear tImt revers ing the ban will have dangerous and long lasting repercussions. rnlOSC who would have the public believe that discrimination and 'homophobia' arc the 'rear reasons for the Pentagon's current policy, oftell attempt a comparison with discrimination against minorities in the anned forces up until the 1940's. They point out that since minorities were successfully integrated, it follows that ~,erc will be no problems Wi~, integrating gays. Under closer examination, this compari son is re1vealed as illogical. Being a minority says nothing about an individual' s behavior and lifestyle. Being a homosexual docs. Colin Powell, Olainnan of the Joint Chiefs of Starf, and himself an African-American, points out that homosexuality is a behavioral issue and as sllch it is much more complicated that racial integration. The reasons for keeping the ban, at least for ~le present, arc far more convincing than the argwnents for lifting it. Perhaps the most compelling reason is that society has not yet sorted out its problems in accepting homosexualit y. A perfect example of tltis is the annual uproar over gay participation in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade. The question of the military aside, gay rights are currently one of the most controversial topics in the country. Many of ~,e mililary brass, whalever ~leir personal feelings on homosexuality, believe that society must first work out tile problcm before pushing it on the military. For obvious reasons, using the military as an agent of social change is a dangerous prospeCI. Officers preparing 10 light a war ShOldd not be expected to wres~e Wi~l a problem that society as a whole can't work out. This is nollo say that gays are any less c.1pable of serving in ~,e military ~lan Uleir 'straight' counterparts. Many have proven ~,eir abili ly ,md loyally for many years in the services before publicly ' coming out' . Tbe problem is not a question of ability. Any argtunent based on ~u s is clemly flawed as is the idea that gays me more likely to fall victim to foreign espionage agents. The many unannounced gays currently serving have proven these argwnents fal se. Problems do mise howevcr in the areas of morale, discipline and 'tUlit cohesion'. The very nahlrC of ~,e mililary memlS ~lal ~lere is lil~e or no privacy. Individuality is discouraged while the cohesion of the group is paramount. There is no place for open hOlUosexuality under these condi tions. One L,UlCC Corporal was quoted as saying "in civilian life you can choose whether or not to associate witll gays but in the military somebody else controls who you associate with." Society segregates the sexes for a reason: 10 provide privacy. In Ihe mililary ~,e forced intimacy adds to the cobesion ,md trust of the unit. It may be unpleasrult but it is a fact that a great part of the military is colUJX>sed of young men who are far from tolerant. Even if tllcir conccptions of gays are completely baseless, no executive order or any amowlt of sensitivity training is going 10 change the way ~ley feel. If a=pti ng open homosexuals into Uleir ranks is forced upon them, morale will plununet and ~,e tight lout units will come apart al ~le seams. Allowing gays to openly serve would be ~le same as throwing a wrench into a delicate machine. It is one thing for the president to sign illl executive order from behind the sheltered White House wa1ls, but convincing ~le military rank and file 10 accepl the fact ~lat they bave to shower with and sleep next to servicemen who are openly gay may prove 10 be an im poSSible task. The ramilicatiOllS for military discipline could prove to be dcvask1ting. The military should not be a testing grOlUld for social experiments. Finally, in illlswer to the attacks that whatevcr the reason, tile ban is still discrimination: yes, it may be outright discrintination. However. the military is not. has never claimed to be, and shouldn't be, an equal opporllUuty employer. Each of the armed services has strict physical and mental requirements. The reasons for these requirements arc to avoid jusl sucb disrupting influences as the fallout over allowing gays 10 seIVe will surely cause. Clearl y what is necessary for national security is not always politically correct.
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Binghamtoll Re view
Page 13
Parade-Continued from page 10
Devil- Continued from page 11 conspiracy of JFK proportions. T he final abstract conccming "world-wide" while supremacy revealed some of Mr. Malik's deeper convictions. "We arc exhorted to leam about other people and to ' love ourselves'. If this happens. childre n will no longer be dissatisfied with their looks. and the 'white WOIlHUl with the blonde hair [who] is the queen' lVillno longer rule. It 1V0uid be rev olutionary to be free of such despotic royalty. Then lVe could really love ourselves." Haven'tlVe heard tlu s all before? Once agai n the campus is pelted lVitll a call for even more multicultural aspi rati ons. The truth is, a multicultural community has been achieved. The problem exists in the integration of diverse students on
campus and encouraging e.:1ch group to put aside history and group chauvini sm for a mo ment. T he foreign-born students who came to tlus allegedly racist institution need to come to terms with what man y native students must aclrnowledgethat we are all Americans before we are whites. blacks. La tino . Asian. etc. America has a heterogeneous cultural hi story; few would argue that the con tribu ti ons of all people need not be included in our national
history. It is a history tllat we can all take pride in, witllOut tal lying up tl,e pigment proportions of significant contribu tors. \Vhen one is an American, he inherits the glory of the achi evcments of Thomas Jefferson and WEB. DuBois alike. As Mr. Mali k said, "Bei ng Black in Africa means no thing. " I-Ie was referri ng to the fact tha t different tri bal and ethni c groups on the continent breed grea t animosity towards each otl,er. In many Afriean COlUltries, the inhabitants can't even peacefully coexist. The fact that America, the world's greate st political and social experiment, remains cohesive. despite incessant efforts towards fragmen tation. is a testament to the vi talit y of o ne genuine American culture. When we view tlle vast differences mnong Americans, it is easily inferred that our strengtll is derived from our diversit y. For this streng th to withhold, Americans need to curb th eir trcnd toward hyphena ted Americanism I:Uld look to the future instead of the past. Onl y tllen will our full strengtll be realized.
I
have been sponsoring for 157 years. Because of tbe controversy. there are no groups, except tl,e Hibernians, lI)'ing to sponsor the parade right now. Because of the actions of the mayor there Ulay not be a SL Patrick's Day Parade. The traditional celebmtion of the patron saint will not take place. This SL Patrick's Day, there m ay not be any bagpipes, cL."lllCers. and o ther celebrants. The city in which everyonc is Irish for a day will be mounung thc absence of festivities o n Fiftll A venue. This debate is no t about a moral judgment of homosexuals and their rights. There is no g uaranteed right to march as a contingent in a parade. TIlls is about the right of an o rganization to run a parade the way it sces fit, and to stay true to their beliefs. Nobody is being prevented from being involved in tlu s parade. lllere is only the prevention of people from marching under the b3IUler of an organization whose beliefs a re contrary to tlle teaching of the Cmholic church. St. Patrick's Day is a religious holiday and the parade is a celebra ti o n of that religious holiday. The acti o ns of the mayor and his administration amount to nothing less than the hijacking of a parade from a group that has sponsored it for so many years. TillS is an o utrage for Irish Catholics and al l o tl,er people.
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CLINTON'S CAMPAIGN PROMISES -Middle Class Tax Cut -Raise taxes only on in"~S earmng over $200,000 \l -"Cabin 路 America" -End Ban .tian Refugees nd of Democrat"
'<J <G\ke
Page 14
Binghamton Review
Cara
I
think I am a victim of sex ual
and I should just take over the world. Granted, a request for sex in return for Look how easy it would be, we' d all a job or a grade is wrong; but when a ber of the opposite sex who get together and accuse every male co-worker comm ents on your new suit smiled at me without having been leader of sexual harassment. Before ,for crying out loud, don't run amok given explicit permission to do so in long, women would have complete with lawsuits and the shrill shriek of writing. Come to think of it, I also got control. a low test grade from a male professor. Maybe Well,that's more than enough for me. that's too I think it's time Ijoin in on the femin ist extr e me; witchhunt to get those evil men. after all Men are evil. I never realized sexual hahow horrible they were until I arrived ra ssment is at Binghamton. There's even this bad. It great pamphlet that warns against s hould be sexual harassment which is full of eliminated and inordcrlocto so, women sex ual harassment. examples of the evil things that men have LO band togeth er and SLOp men The movement towards a sexual sayanddo. Itseems,orsothehandbill from doing this to LI S. Every woman, harassment free environment is conwould like it to seem, that men are the then, should not wash, gain 50 pounds, tinuing to rise to absurd levels. In only ones who arc insensitive enoug h shave their heads and wear a suit of sexual harassment sensitivity workto us-the poor oppressed women. armor. Really , if they made th em- shops for the New York City Council, Throughout history, men have sel ves very ugly, no man would dare the councilmen were told that any been complimenting women. Even compliment women, let alone look at compliment of a woman is a form of little Eddie Haskell often told Mrs. them. It' s the onl y thin g we can do sexual harassment. Other regulations Cleaver whata lovely blouse she wore. considering that men are so insensi- are beginning to creep up that say It'sagood thing the feministlynchmob tive that they'll never change. So, it's looking at someone for more than 5 never found him,that sexually harass- up to us. seconds is a form of sexual harassIn all sincerity, sexual harass- ment. We are approaching a time ing little cretin. And that goes for the rest of you offenders who got away, ment is a very serious issue. Sex ual where you can ' t lalk to or look at because we could hara ss ment is an ybody of the opposite sex in your have ruined your wron g, but what workplace. Maybe we should start to lives. The reputation is e ve n m orc consider gender segregated offices to of every man lies in wron g arc lho se avoid an y problems. our hot little hands ... who c ry wolf. It is not only absurd, but it is one tiny peep of The women who inexcusable to accuse someone of a "sexual harassment" scr eam sex ual reputation shattering act when all he and you can say hara ss ment at did was to ask you to lunch. The ring goodbye to your caevery little thing of war mongering feminists has got to arc cau sing th e be stopped ... before they take over the reers, families and livelihoods. Look at issue to bec om e world. Equal ri ghts arc important; triviali zed. A le- inane antics of paranoid violent the case of Clarence Thomas, his chances gitimate case of femmes are just stupid. They cannot of getting on the Suharassment will all be taken seriously. The next thing preme Court were algo ig nored or you know it will be trial-worthy when doubted because a gentleman holds a door open for a most destroyed and hisreputation was seof the radical lady. No wonder why chivalry is verely harmed. All of this because one feminists who want unwanted invita- dead- the combative feminists have person, with no evidence, claimed he tions to the movies to be considered a killed it. Maybe someday, the tirade harassed her ten years ago. Don't harassing act. There used to be a time against men will end ... but only if the think we can't do it , either, because when people apprec iated compli- incessant whining of the twisted ring we have power. In fact, we possess so ments , now everyo ne is scarching for of mad femal es stops.!! much power that my fellow cronies the " hidden meanin g" behind th em.
Donlon
harassment. There is a mcm
Binghamton Review
Page 15
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