Western Oregon Journal

Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Post

There was a cardboard likeness of an African-American presidential nominee hung from a tree, by the neck, with words that condemn a scholarship program whose benefactors are "disproportionately" minorities. The story made the national news, even though it was at a small private Christian college, George Fox University, in Yamhill County, Oregon.
It prompted the typical reaction:
"Racist!"
"We will enforce tolerance!"
Quotations from exceptional champions of equality quickly follow.
I find it so sad.
The words of equality advocates have been recycled into clichés, reused to the point of powerlessness, evidently. Martin Luther King has become the resource of the status quo, rebuking those radicals so desperate to be newsworthy. The term "racist" divides, while MLK's words make it palatable.
Was the action purely racism to be reviled, or was it the manifestation of frustration at the towering cost of an education, frustration at inequality?
The action was obscene. It has absolutely racist overtones that I find offensive and possibly even threatening to those receiving scholarships. However, I know what it is like to barely squeak by on full-time wages because of tuition. If crap happens, I'm out of school again, until I can afford it, again.
Were they hoping for cheaper tuition for all or just jealous of those that had a full-ride? I doubt the altruism, but a guy can still hope humanity isn't so filled with bigotry.

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