Student Division Addressed at SGA Debate

THE RIGHT ANGLE: Student division addressed at SGA debate - Opinions

As I sat in the Cone Ballroom last week during SGA's Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, my column practically wrote itself. The usual generic questions were asked of the candidates: "What are your main campus issues?", "What kind of experience do you have?", "What do you want to change about SGA?" Then the candidates yielded to questions from the audience. Senator Larry Watson stood and asked how each candidate viewed campus race relations, and how they could be improved.

By the reaction of some of the candidates, you would have thought Kanye West had just personally asked them why they hated black people. Jonae Wartel responded that what UNCG needed was for students and organizations to increase their knowledge of different cultures. She pointed out that an African-American student might be more likely to only join the Neo-Black Society, while there are other organizations that could be helpful in helping expand his or her view of different cultures. All in all, a perfect answer.

Stefan McMorris-Santoro spoke next, and after giving the usual generic answer of "working together," he overshadowed his entire statement by informing the audience that his girlfriend was African-American. I suppose that was to make sure everyone knew that he personally was not a racist. The spotlight then shifted to candidate Kemp Allen, who nervously pointed out that he had no problem working with all groups on campus, and then, addressing Senator Watson (who happens to be African-American), responded, "Your name's Larry, right?"

Now, I'm not sure if Kemp's goal was to show that he knows the name of some African-American students, but that's certainly how it was taken by the audience, who erupted in laughter. The laughter eventually died down and Kemp finished answering the question.

I hope everyone there realized that Kemp only had good intentions, and that he actually did a good job under all the pressure. The truth is, race is a very tricky issue, and talking about it is even trickier when you've never personally had the same experiences as someone else. This is why, when confronted with an issue about race, many white people tend to get defensive and start listing all their friends who are different races, or in Stefan's case, announce that they're dating someone of a different race.

When the question was directed to the VP hopefuls, candidate Matt Hill Comer pointed out that students seem to segregate themselves when it comes to their different backgrounds. He stated that when you see students in the EUC or the Caf, they tend to be sitting in different groups: African-American students, white students, Latino students, Asian students, and so on. And while I know that this is not always the case, it occurs often enough.

Jonae has the right idea. Why aren't students as individuals attempting to gain more knowledge about different cultures? I think it's a common misconception among white students that they don't "belong" in any African-American Studies courses. Why not? There have always been at least a few men in all the Women's Studies classes I've taken, yet only a few weeks ago, a teacher from the AFS Department lamented to me that there was not one single white person in her class.

For that same matter, the greater part of student organizations tend to have a very low minority membership, unless they are catering to a specific minority group (Neo-Black Society, Asian Student Association, etc). Why not have more diversity within the groups? I believe it's important to learn about and embrace our cultures, but we're not going to have true diversity until we educate ourselves about each others' cultures.

Matt Comer also made a point to tell the audience that as a Southern white male, he did not have the experiences minorities have had in their lifetimes, but that he is prepared to help race relations the only way he can: by sitting down with different students on campus and listening to their issues. That's what we all need to be doing: sharing our unique experiences with other people, and be willing to learn about theirs in return.

I've been actively following these elections, and I think it all comes down to experience and leadership ability. While there is no doubt that all three Presidential candidates and all three Vice-Presidential candidates are qualified, there's no doubt in my mind that Jonae Wartel is the right choice. She has the qualities of a born-leader and the confidence to really get things done. I also think Matt Hill Comer would be a great choice for Vice-President, as he is probably one of the most active students on campus and has a great deal of leadership experience within SGA. But don't take it from me. Go to sga.uncg.edu/candidates to learn about the candidates, and don't forget to vote by 11:59pm, February 28!