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The Miami HURRICANE Founded 1929 An Associated Collegiate Press Hall of Fame Newspaper NEWSROOM: 305-284-4401 editor@themiamihurricane.com BUSINESS OFFICE: 305-284-4401 FAX: 305-284-4404
For advertising rates call 305-284-4401 or fax 305-284-4404. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Rebecca Goddard MANAGING EDITOR Anna Timmons SENIOR EDITOR Jaime Harn NEWS EDITOR Esther Animalu OPINION EDITOR Kay-Ann Henry CULTURE EDITOR Jordan Lewis SPORTS EDITOR Isabella Didio PHOTO / VISUALS EDITOR Jared Lennon ART DIRECTOR Julia Sanbe DESIGNERS Austin Lent COPY CHIEF Suzy Aghedo BUSINESS MANAGER Austin Furgatch SALES REPRESENTATIVES Maxi Bonito FACULTY ADVISER Tsitsi Wakhisi FINANCIAL ADVISER Steve Priepke SENIOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANT Demi Rafuls
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The Miami Hurricane is published weekly during the regular academic year and is edited and produced by undergraduate students at the University of Miami. The publication does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of advertisers or the university’s trustees, faculty or administration. Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of The Miami Hurricane’s Editorial Board. Commentaries, letters and cartoons represent only the views of their respective authors. The newsroom and business office of The Miami Hurricane are located in the Student Activities Center, Student Media Suite 200.
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Opinion
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
We need to stop attacking Iron Arrow
Every time I open a copy of the Miami Hurricane nowadays, it seems another member of our Canes family is attacking the Iron Arrow Honor Society. Some claim the use of native traditions and symbols in IA ceremonies is rac ist and “cultural appropriation.” I can understand the need to point out important issues, however, I can’t help but feel that these sen timents are not only ignorant but also divisive in nature. The facts present a much different picture of the situation.
Iron Arrow was founded on respect for the Miccosukee tribe of Miami, a tribe whose history is deeply intertwined with this city. The entire purpose of the society was to honor Miccosu kee culture and preserve it while honoring the greatest leaders and changemakers in our academic community. Calling the society’s traditions “exoticizing of native culture” and racist is a complete denial of concrete fact. The Mic cosukee tribe itself sanctions and participates in the dissemination of these symbols and traditions. Referring to these actions as “play acting” or fetishizing native cul ture is disingenuous, considering they aren’t misinformed parodies of native traditions. Are we to un derstand that a sovereign nation cannot decide for itself whether or not such actions are racist? Are those outside of the Miccosukee nation somehow authorities on what is and isn’t offensive? Who are we to police how sovereign nations share their culture? The truth is, we have no right to do so and acting as if we do is patron izing at best.
Nothing about Iron Arrow is an outlet for white racists to act as the “others” they apparently seek to commit genocide against. In actuality, Iron Arrow is a society that holds Miccosukee culture in such high esteem, they based the highest honor at this university after it. We as a Cane community need to step back and recognize that not everything we disagree with is racist or evil. Participat ing in and learning about other cultures is a beautiful thing, and Iron Arrow’s goal above all else is respect. We must stop this ig norant, hate seeking rhetoric immediately, as it serves no purpose but to divide our community fur ther.
Sofia Diaz is a freshman study ing finance and broadcast journalism.
The diary of an African immiIDENTITY
BY KIKI ADEROJU Contributing Columnist
Plenty of African immigrant children or first-generation Americans know the internal struggle that comes with finding a comfort able middle ground of where they fit in. These are usually children who didn’t fit in with the white kids but would find themselves not fitting in with the black kids either. They felt like Africans in America more so than they felt like African Americans. Many times, their culture, their traditions manifested in completely different ways than for African Americans. As someone whose family emigrated from an African coun try to the United Kingdom, there are surely differences between my experiences and those of my Afri can friends who grew up here in the states, but nevertheless, I still relate to them. They have stories of feeling like they didn’t belong no matter how hard they tried to fit in. They have stories of be ing laughed at when their parents came to pick them up from school and spoke to them in the native tongues. They have stories of their own parents telling them not to talk about being African because of the stereotypes that would inevi tably follow them around. These are stories I know all too well. Those times were harsh but they built character. With our generation gradually beginning to embrace our African heritage, these sentiments are beginning to spread in an effort to prevent our narratives from being forgotten. There seems to have been a sudden rise in the celebration of African culture. Black, white or otherwise, people are listening to us. People are interested in our cultures, our traditions, our sto ries. They’ve watched “Black Panther” at least three times. Six out of the last seven winners of the “Best World Album” Grammy Award have been African, and Zozibini Tunzi just won the title of Miss Universe 2019, representing South Africa. The times of hiding our Africanness at all costs are over. The history of African immi grants to America is in some ways woven into the broader umbrella of black history. The experiences of the “African American” may not mirror those of the GhanaianAmerican, the Ethiopian-Ameri can or the Angolan-American. Regardless, when the white man sees us in the streets, they see a black man. They see a black woman. They see a black child. The sepa rations between us cease to exist. It will always be important to celebrate our individual cultures. Creating divisions between our selves will yield no progress. African immigrants and their children are finally feeling like they belong without feeling like they are sacrificing a part of themselves. As Kwame Nkrumah said, “I am not African because I was born in Africa but be cause Africa was born in me.”
EDITORIAL
We want U to vote
If you have been hanging out by the library or Sha lala Center in the last few weeks, then you know our student government elec tions are coming up. From Feb.17 to Feb. 20, elections for executive and sena tor positions will be taking place and the editorial board is here to remind you that it’s imperative for stu dents to participate in this process.
Living and going to school in Miami might make the culture of our campus much more laid back than oth ers, but that doesn’t mean we should give in to this image all the time. With a school of our caliber, the upkeep and maintenance of its activities is a process and takes involvement from everyone, including donors and students. Voting in student body elections is not only important, but it’s our right. Whether or not you’re paying for tuition through financial aid, loans or through family, UM costs a lot. The least we can do while paying so much is to try everything that this school has to offer, and that includes voting for our
school’s executive officers and senators.
The more we pour into stu dent government, the more they pour back into us. The people we elect to the executive team have the ability to advocate for us to higher administration about the issues that we care about. Stu dents constantly have concerns about financial aid, the mainte nance of our dorms or needing more resources for a particular major. These are the topics the candidates are campaigning on, and students should be paying attention to them while voting this week.
For this round of elections, we have three students running for student body president. Abigail Adeleke and Randy Fitzgerald, who are the speaker and speaker pro tempore of Senate, are run ning on opposing campaigns. We also have two students running separate independent campaigns with Andrés Escandón running for president and Asher Walker for Vice President.
The campaigns of both Adeleke and Fitzgerald are running on platforms that encourage inclu sivity and diversity. Along with her running mates Jason Perez, prospective vice president, and Amanda Rodriguez, prospective treasurer, Adeleke’s campaign “All In” is focused on creating spaces for student government to interact with students and to foster intellectual and ethnic di versity. Fitzgerald and his team, prospective vice president Shirley Gelman and prospective treasur er Louis Shaw, aim to take student government to the next level and support students from all backgrounds with their campaign “Level Up”. Not to be forgotten, the independent candidates have platforms that are dedicated to improving student concerns. President candidate Andrés Es - candón is looking to increase student involvement in student government and improve freedom of speech on campus, while vice president candidate Asher Walk er wants to ease student anxiety by making class scheduling and the advising system better. Seats for the Senate election are open as well with the most competitive seat being the representative of the transfer student population. Read up on all the candidates’ platforms, have a talk with them, as they will no doubt be around campus, and vote either electron ically or in person. Voting only lasts a few days, but those who we elect will be in charge of serv ing us for the next year, so we urge you to choose wisely.
