Activists should channel energy where it counts
By Kimberly Mackesy
So! I’m not the only one who’s a little concerned about the
ubiquitous proliferation of Proposition 187-bashing articles in the
Daily Bruin! I’m about as far to the left as a person can get, and
although their letter smacks of Republicanism, I have to say "Right
on!" to Scott Burros and Michael Urcan for their Nov. 23 letter,
"The Bruin takes the last straw."
Don’t get me wrong, I’m anti-187. I think this is one initiative
that will create more problems than it will solve. However, seeing
at least a whole page on anti-187 in Viewpoint every single
god-given day is starting to bore the hell out of me.
Oh, yes, I can hear all of you "activists" out there huffing in
indignation. Truth hurts, doesn’t it? I know, I know, the fight is
not over, we have to make our voices heard, we have to take
ACTION!, etc., etc. Fine. That’s all well and good.
But I feel obligated to give you all a reality check: Writing
whiny, petulant articles spouting the same ol’ chewed up, tired
rhetoric day after day isn’t action. It doesn’t solve anything.
Unless they’ve been spending fall quarter on Mars, everyone knows
the issues and has already made up their mind.
So seeing more of the same isn’t going to touch any more lives
or spur anyone into action. All it will do is make us think "Oh.
Another one of those articles" and flip over to A&E even faster
than usual.
So, if all of you "activists" really want to make a difference,
I suggest you get off your high and mighty, holier-than-thou
letter-writing kick (I call it the
"my-conscience-is-clear-because-I-wrote-a-letter-so-I’ve-done-my-part"
syndrome) and actually start doing something about it.
Call up and harass Wilson’s staff. Write angry letters to him,
not The Bruin. Hell, organize a weekend caravan up to Sacramento
and traipse around on the lawn of the capitol building. Do
something, anything.
But remember this: Writing angry letters didn’t get students a
meeting with Chuck Young, a 26-arrest protest did. Writing letters
to The Bruin about Prop. 187 and condemning all the racist WASPs
who voted for it isn’t helping, it’s just desensitizing the UCLA
community through its futile repetition.
Knowledge is power. The pen is mightier than the sword. And the
attention span of the average American is about the length of one
of those 30-second TV news bites. Proposition 187 opponents, listen
up. Don’t waste precious time and energy putting your effort in the
wrong places.
Mackesy is a first-year pre-communications studies student.