Author: Katherine Labreque

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Racial Discussion and Action

In the present day and especially in Christian circles we often find it uncomfortable to talk about issues and topics involving race. As our culture becomes more politically correct we choose to revert to language such as “but I don’t see color.”

KatharineLabrecqueSegregation and discrimination — whether against the African American population or against people of other ethnic and cultural backgrounds — appear to be systemic and deeply ingrained in our culture. As a result, we tend to label one racial group as the antagonist, insinuating that racial tension is somehow one-sided and narrowly defined.

Integration has been historically stagnant.The US is not alone in its pursuit of integration; humans tend to define themselves relative to other groups of people. For example, a patrician as compared to being a plebeian, or even a Christian as compared to being a Buddhist. So how do we overcome those definitions?

We generally believe that racism is partial or biased and that it favors one particular group, but we all put each other into unhealthy categories. As a white American, I am automatically grouped into the “white” category. I find myself lumped into a massive group of white, privileged people; I lose my individual identity. Living adjacent to a city populated by a large number of Latin American and Hispanic families, I often hear comments or phrases that explicitly define me by my skin color.

K.Lereque-quoteEven here, in Houghton, New York, I see how my skin separates me from others. In church one Sunday, the pastor encouraged us to “share a word of greeting with one another” before the sermon started. I watched as a girl came running across the aisle and past me to greet my housemates, saying, “Good morning my fellow black girls!” I know that wasn’t meant to hurt me, but it did.

Racism is not just one group against another; there is a degree of mutual resentment between various ethnic and racial groups. Take, for example, the discussion about the Ferguson incident that Dean Jordan hosted last December. A few comments that pertained specifically to “white Americans” caught my attention. One individual expressing her anguish commented, “You will never understand what it feels like.” This comment alludes to the perception that issues of racism, discrimination, and prejudice are a one-sided battle, one group against the other. To some extent that is true, but sometimes this perception does more harm than good. It lies in assumptions made about the other group.

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News

National // Riots in Ferguson Cause Unrest

On what many thought was an ordinary August day, within a suburb outside of St. Louis, in Ferguson MO, a not so ordinary incident occurred. Michael Brown an unarmed African American 18 year-old was shot and killed by a white police officer, Brian Wilson. The event initiated violent riots and protests throughout the country, which have continued and only heightened after the grand jury made their final decision. The account of the event has varied. However reliable sources state Brown fled from a Market and Liquor store where he and one other person stole cigarillos, a type of cigar.

A block away, Officer Wilson met him on the street. Wilson then proceeded to stop the men, calling them from his S.U.V.  A quarrel erupted between the two, where some witnesses say Brown attempted to grab the officer’s gun. Two shots were fired, missing and/or grazing the teenager. The officer supposedly proceeded to chase the suspect. Brown then turned and began to run towards the officer who fired several more shots. A majority of the evidence collected appears to support this testimony, investigators say.
The grand jury, made up of 9 whites and 3 blacks, was responsible for determining whether or not there was a probable cause to indict Officer Wilson with crime. A New York Times article reported the recently published transcripts, forensic and photographic evidence by the county prosecutor, which is traditionally kept clandestinely away from the public.

The Ferguson case is arguably unique and intricate in more than one way. First, typical court cases are usually presented to a jury within one day whereas the grand jury in the Ferguson case met over a span of 25 days within a 3 month period. Secondly, the grand jury received testimonies of the incident from over 60 witnesses. A jury will usually see only two to three witnesses per case. Thirdly, a jury doesn’t usually hear from the defendant themselves, however Officer Wilson’s testified for 4 hours. Fourthly, a prosecutor generally offers a range of specific charges, which a grand jury may base their indictment on. In the Ferguson case, Robert P. McCulloch, the county prosecutor, did not recommend any charges against Wilson. Lastly, under Missouri Law, all evidence and related material is kept secret within the courtroom, and may be submitted at a later trial. Not so here, McCulloch released all documents following the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Wilson.

However, the case doesn’t end here. Two investigations are underway. A civil rights inquiry was opened up by the F.B.I., involving the shootings that took place on August 11. The other civil rights investigation was opened by the Justice Department, who has begun to examine whether the policy in Ferguson have a historical background of discrimination and exploitation of force. The death of Michael Brown sparked numerous protests and riots for weeks. Buildings were set on fire and raids on business were reported. Police were forced to respond with tear gas and rubber bullets. Governor Jay Nixon deployed the state’s National Guard to curb the violent responses prior and post the jury’s decision.

KatharineLabrecqueRecently President Obama responded to the uprisings following the grand jury’s decision, suggesting this case represents “the broader challenges we still face as a nation,” involving discrimination. Furthermore, the President responded to accusations of racism in Ferguson as a result of the “legacy of racial discrimination in this country.”  These statements reflect the facts that Ferguson County consists predominantly of black communities.

Nearly the entire police force in Ferguson consists of white males, with the exception of four blacks. This ratio reflects a historical trend ‘white flight’ in many American cities over the last few decades. As many white families moved out to the suburbs, black families have moved into the suburbs. However, the large number of white officers may reflect the nature of job placement or historical relationships and ties to the community.

As riots and protests are breaking out around the country, people are wondering what will happen next. The death of Michael Brown has raised questions about the relationship between black communities and law enforcement. Perhaps the case reiterates the demand for our nation to address our criminal justice system. However, without a doubt in terms of dispensing true justice, many contend our system is the best in the world. “But, like every facet of the American democratic experience…,” CNN legal analysis and criminal defense attorney, Mark O’Mara remarks, “…it can use polishing.” Within these months and even years to follow, The Justice Department will be forced to grapple and respond to these harsh realities facing our nation today as it pertains to justice and discrimination.

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Your Vote, Your Voice

Election season has become a monotonous time that typically has lacked the interest of many college students. But why? Why do students fail to exercise this Constitutional right as a United States citizen? Maybe it’s because students don’t think it affects them? Or perhaps they think their voice won’t be heard? Either way, when voting time comes, students remain unengaged and uninformed.

A statewide survey released by the California Voter Foundation (CVF) found that 23% of unregistered voters say they’re too busy to vote. While two-thirds of those surveyed noted that they didn’t turn out to vote because they believed that elections are controlled by special interest groups. In addition, the foundation found that 76% of nonvoters have no more than a high school diploma.
KatharineLebrecqueQuoteBased on a 2012 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, young adults have been found to vote more often in Presidential elections than in congressional election years. Voting rates have been historically low, especially between the ages of 18 and 24, since 1964. However, within recent years, voting-turnout rates among young adults have seen a dramatic increase. It appears that students are often drawn to particular parties based on single issues or interests. For example many individuals, and not solely students, are attracted to parties that have issues on their agenda such as climate change, the economy and social welfare, and bioethics.

Yet despite these daunting facts, voting is arguably one of the most important civic opportunities available to United States citizens.  Voting does matter. Not just in presidential elections, but in local and state elections. Elected individuals represent the interests of the people. Our country was formed on the premise that we were to have a government “for the people [and] by the people.” We have a civic responsibility to exercise this right. You have a voice. You have a vote.

Alexander Buska, a senior political science major encourages students: “Vote local. Elected officials only respond to those who vote. State and town officials will be much more interested in what you have to say, and better able to accurately represent your point of view. Look at how they came out to Houghton for the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex – they are plenty interested in what is going on.”

 

Moreover, these decisions and legislations made at the local, state, and federal level have a major impact on our lives. When asked, “Why don’t you vote?” responses included: “I’ll care when I pay my own bills,” or “I’ll register [to vote] eventually when I settle down.” The problem with waiting is

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that your vote counts now. Voting on elected officials affects not just the present, but the future. Your voice matters. Your vote matters, and it matters now.

So when is your next opportunity to vote? Midterm elections are November 4. You can pick up registration forms at your local county elections office, post office, library, DMV, or print out a registration form online at your state and local board of elections website. Also, be sure to request an Absentee Ballot. This can be requested by state for midterm elections at www.yourvoteyourvoice.org.

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News

Bangladesh Faces Uncertain Future

Courtesy of thediplomat.com
Courtesy of thediplomat.com

As it stands, Bangladesh faces a future of political and economic uncertainty. The escalation of hostilities could not have worse timing as the country confronts extreme poverty and a rapidly depreciating manufacturing sector. Within the last month, the country has seen a rapid increase of violence and political unrest as opposition parties increase their capacity in the upcoming election. Additionally, such anti-government protests have forced thousands off the streets of the capital Dhaka as police and paramilitary guards attempt to confine and subdue the opposition. As the January 2014 general election approaches, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) continues to put pressure on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to install a neutral, non-partisan administration to oversee the voting process. However, despite the protests and fighting, Hasina and opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia have failed to come to an agreement despite the desperate state of affairs. In response to the stalemate, the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations have advocated for both parties to come to an expedient consensus in the upcoming months.

Historically, Bangladesh has experienced significant pre-election violence. Dating back to 1996, polls have been interrupted and aborted as a result of intense violence. In 2007, voting was halted due to party opposition that led to military intervention to install a ‘caretaker’ or temporary government. A precedent and mutual distrust among the two leading parties has made elections virtually impossible and less effective.

Furthermore, violent clashes with police and protesters since October 26 have left at least fifteen dead and many more injured. Bangladesh reporters have posted photos of burn victims from recent strikes involving the use of arson. The intensified violence, particularly this year, can be attributed to the war crime tribunal set up in 2010 to try those involved in the human rights violations during the 1971 war in which Bangladesh sought independence from Pakistan. In the wake of verdicts, 150 people have been killed and more than 2,000 people injured by police officials, according to a recent Human Rights Watch report. In relation to the hostilities, the political crisis has also forced store owners and their employees to close their business, pushing an already weak and fragile economy further into a bleak trap. Waiting has burdened their capacity to work, earn money, and provide an income for their starving families as they wait for the violence to subside. “We need to go to the office, we need to work,” exclaimed Abdus Salam, who is one of many local business owners desperately waiting for a political agreement between the conflicting parties.

Moreover, only to add to the tension, poor safety standards and recent incidents have put a halt to the country’s main export. Bangladesh is the second leading exporter of readymade garments, accounting for almost 80% of the country’s exports. Appealing to the government, workers have demanded higher wages and better working conditions. The death of more than a thousand workers within the last year has prompted the global community to scrutinize and condemn the working conditions within the factories. However, Bangladesh’s wage board had proposed an increase of less than what the union demanded, claiming to represent the needs of both the factory owners and the workers. In addition, despite the increase, Bangladesh’s minimum wage will remain one of the lowest in the world.

Decades of rivalry and political division have severely undermined the legitimacy of an effective government in Bangladesh. The country’s future is becoming increasingly uncertain as it remains trapped in a persistent cycle of poverty and turmoil. Can the international community intervene? What will it take to break the cycle of hopelessness, poverty, and repression? As global spectators, we note these questions are all too often repetitive, especially as we consider other countries across the globe who have faced various situations of economic and political instability.

 

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News

Take Back the Night Event at Houghton: A Stand Against Sexual Violence

The term “date rape,” as it is used today, is familiar to many adults and adolescents living in the twenty-first century. Studies have shown that more women have been raped on dates by their boyfriends than by strangers.

In 2001, to address this issue, one date rape victim committed to speak out against rape culture. Katie Koestner lead the initiative and, along with other victims, established Take Back the Night (TBTN), the first nationally recognized charitable 501(c) 3 foundation.

Courtesy of cnn.com
Courtesy of time.com

On Thursday, April 18, Houghton will host its own TBTN event. Students have the opportunity to march around the campus and “speak out” against sexual violence. Survivors or friends and family of survivors will be invited to share their stories with the campus. As one of the organizers, Lydia Strand, senior, said, “I think having Take Back the Night here at Houghton is so important because we are often afraid of honestly talking about sexual abuse in our own communities and in our own families.”

The TBTN events will begin with a kick-off party on Monday April 15 at 6 p.m. in the campus center. Printed Matter Press will be printing the TBTN logo on shirts or other items that students bring. At 7 p.m. that evening, there will be a panel discussion of rape culture in America in the third floor library room 323.

On Wednesday April 17, religion professor Kristina LaCelle-Peterson will be leading chapel. She will also be available for lunch afterwards. The final event of the week is a march around the quad starting at 8 p.m. on Thursday April 18 at the chapel steps. There will be a station during the march focusing on statistics and headlines about rape, followed by a station incorporating a poetry reading, and finishing with a station involving a communal art project. The march will be followed by a speakout in the chapel and a prayer service in the chapel basement.

Naomi Woosley, an alumna of Houghton, is also one of the TBTN organizers. Woolsey said, “We seek to empower and promote healing for survivors of sexualized violence who are in our campus community.  One goal for this year’s TBTN is to open our eyes to rape culture and beginning to realize the subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways in which our culture–sometimes even our church culture–contributes to it.”

The TBTN foundation’s mission is to eliminate all forms of sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and sexual abuse. Woosley emphasized that, “A person’s gender–a person’s physical existence–should not be cause for that person to fear for her or his safety.”

Sharing stories and experiences reminds individuals that sexualized violence is not okay, despite what rape culture suggests. Speaking out can help break the cycle of violence. For more information on the Take Back the Night Foundation, visit their website at http://takebackthenight.org/ or contact Sydnie Cunningham to learn more about Houghton’s Take Back The Night events.

 

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Houghton Students Attend Intercultural Management Conference

On Wednesday, March 14, six Houghton students from the Political Science and Intercultural Studies Departments embarked on a trip to the Nation’s Capital. Students were to attend the American University Intercultural Management Institute’s (IMI) Annual Conference on Intercultural Relations. The conference costs were nearly all covered by the Katherine Lindley Project Fund and funding from SGA.

Courtesy of Katherine Labreque
Courtesy of Katherine Labreque

Expecting to be blown away by scholars in various studies of academia, Houghton students found themselves seemingly prepared. “The material discussed in the sessions notably confirmed and expanded my prior knowledge of intercultural relations,” said senior Ben Hardy.

Students were able to attend various lectures and simulations from scholars such as Janet Bennett, author of American Ways, which is a text familiar to many Intercultural Studies majors. Lectures included “Strengthening Higher Education in Africa,” with a visiting professor from Uganda, and “The U.S. 2012 Presidential Election: Cross-Culture Viewpoints,” with the perspective of a Japanese Professor, Motoo Unno. The diverse perspectives allowed students to observe the importance of cultural sensitivity and how awareness of different cultures can be crucial to the effects and the increasing reality of globalization.

Houghton’s group, in fact, contained the only undergraduate students attending the IMI Conference. Graduate students from Penn State, Georgetown, University of Kentucky, and international students from Iceland, Romania and China made up a majority of the attendees. “I am impressed with Houghton Students. I never heard of Houghton, but I’m sure as of now going to look into it,” said Dr. Nanette Levinson, Associate Professor at the School of International Service at American University. Over lunch we discussed with Professor Levinson some of the many global issues concerning us today in the twenty-first century, ranging from human trafficking to poverty in Africa.

Despite Houghton’s size and isolated geographic location does not prevent it from making an impression on other universities and accomplished professionals.

Sophomore Joseph Poyfair said, “Houghton has prepared me. I am equally informed as graduate students and scholars in the field I’m studying in.”

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Buffalo City Semester: Diversity Close to Home

While scrolling through the course offerings, one may easily skim over the bold print: “HOUGHTON COLLEGE CITY SEMESTER (Buffalo)”. In fact, many Houghton students are alien to the course.

Courtesy of city-data.com
Courtesy of city-data.com

One student replied to the question “Do you know what the Buffalo City Semester is?” with “I heard of it, but I don’t know exactly what you do.” Another student said, “It’s not advertised as well as it should be. I have no idea what it is.”

So what exactly is the City Semester? Located only an hour and a half away, students have the opportunity to live, learn, and explore the historical and culturally diverse city of Buffalo. While in Buffalo, students have the opportunity to engage in an academic environment where development, politics, sociology, and culture come to life. Experience becomes concrete, as professors take students across the West side of Buffalo, providing visual aids for students to stimulate ideas and connect the dots.

The city semester offers a environment drastically different than Houghton’s campus. Students can spend days roaming the streets of Buffalo, experiment with various cuisines, talk politics or philosophy over coffee, or share a home-cooked meal at the Houghton Rectory while listening to stories from Professor Massey.

City semester students also have the opportunity to intern as they take courses from professors Chuck Massey, education, and Cameron Airhart, history. Several students have taken advantage of this diverse option.

Internships are becoming more desirable in the 21st century as jobs become scarce. David Boyes, owner of a technology consultant firm, expresses his concern about students graduating today with a lack of experience as most of their time is spent behind a textbook. To combat this fad, Boyes emphasizes, “[do] an internship.”

Houghton Senior and alumni of the Buffalo City-Semester, Hannah Vardy, said, “The ability to do an internship was an amazing opportunity. Growing skills and learning about your field is a great way to begin looking towards your career or even to see if it’s not for you.” Many internships are available and include Wesley Service Corps, Jericho Road Ministries, Journey’s End, Habitat for Humanity, and numerous other local firms and institutions.

Though the city semester does not compare to the semester in Tanzania in traveling distance, it can be an equally influential experience. It is a way to connect a little place called Houghton with a big city that has its own identity. Embarking on a cultural excursion does not necessarily have to take students halfway across the world.

After being canceled this past spring, Houghton students and faculty are doing all that they can to restart the city-semester program. Professor Airhart is looking for interest in the fall 2013, as well as spring 2014. If interested, please email him at Cameron.Airhart@houghton.edu.