Disclaimer: This is not a critique of Caterina Kachadoorian or those who agree with what she published in her Opinion submission Monday. Rather, it is a critique of the ideas and beliefs in that piece.
Dear Caterina,
How dare you tell Black people what’s wrong with Black America? How dare you tell outraged Black students that a peaceful protest is an outlandish and ignorant way to express their frustration with the racial insensitivity on this campus?
You have no idea what African American students on the campus of UCLA experience on a daily basis because you are not Black. As a Black male, it would be impossible for me to completely understand your broad experience as an Armenian woman in America or your specific experience as an Armenian Bruin. Vice versa, it is impossible for you to understand our experience as Black Americans or Black Bruins.
The “Kanye Western” party was not “mildly inappropriate,” it was grossly offensive. You are not offended by the plump lips and padded butts because those Kardashian-esque physical features are viewed positively in pop culture. Furthermore, you even admitted that those features are not generally associated with Armenians, so you rightfully have no reason to be offended.
However, the sagging or baggy jeans that students wore to the party represent one of the most notorious African American stereotypes in fashion. So notorious in fact, that it has led several cities across the country to make sagging illegal. The racial undertones associated with this clothing style make its cultural appropriation highly offensive to Black students. Pertaining to your claim that none of the students wore blackface, the pictures clearly show that some of the students browned their skin to look Black. In 2015, blackface is not necessarily tar-black face paint and white lipstick.
Caterina, you claimed that, “If any other race had dressed up as pop culture figures from other ethnic groups, there would absolutely not be this much uproar about it.” I am afraid to tell you that this statement is both outlandish and ignorant. Both Native Americans and Asian Americans find costumes depicting their cultures equally offensive.
Caterina, you cited a barrage of crime statistics that have nothing to do with the “Kanye Western”-themed party or the backlash. You cited a statistic that 38.5 percent of people arrested from 2011 to 2013 for murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault were Black. Congratulations! You unintentionally highlighted America’s racial policing problem. This statistic does not prove that Black people in this country are overwhelmingly immoral. If police arrested the rapists that run rampant on college campuses like this one or the jocks who assault each other after every game of beer pong at the same rate they arrest Black people for the same crimes, those statistics would be much more proportional to America’s racial makeup.
Caterina, you ignorantly stated that the Afrikan Student Union members are wasting their time protesting and should instead, “help the future African American generation succeed.” However, the same First Amendment that you cited as justifying the costumes students wore also grants members of ASU the right to peacefully protest. Furthermore, a quick Google search would have allowed you to see that ASU is helping younger generations succeed. The Afrikan Student Union has a “Reach 1” program, through which its members pledge to reach out to at least one Black high school student and assist with the college admission process.
Allow me to cite some statistics that may actually help you understand the microaggression that Black Bruins experience on a daily basis. According to UCLA’s demographic profile, only 4 percent of UCLA students are African American. In 2013, while Black men were 3.3 percent of the male student population, a whopping 65 percent of them were athletes. Black students at UCLA face a suffocating and unwelcoming atmosphere every day on campus. This protest was not a response to an isolated event; it was the culmination of pent-up frustrations that Black students accumulate every time they walk into Ackerman Union or across Bruin Walk.
Lastly Caterina, please do not worry. You are safe. None of the Black students at UCLA will attempt to commit the crimes of murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery or aggravated assault that you cited as being the real issues in Black America. Unlike the characterization of our people that you depicted in your submission, we are actually quite civilized.
Jackson is a graduate student at the UCLA School of Law.
Excellent response to a truly tragic piece of journalism by Kachadoorian. Bruins would do well do understand the points made by both Caterina and Caleb.
“Pertaining to your claim that none of the students wore blackface, the
pictures clearly show that some of the students browned their skin to
look Black. In 2015, blackface is not necessarily tar-black face paint
and white lipstick.”
Say what you want about Kachadoorian’s piece and her opinions, but the quote above is misleading and manipulative. You’re using the word blackface to evoke emotion against either Kachadoorian’s piece or the attendees of the Kanye Western party knowing full well they were not wearing blackface. What are your motivations for spouting this lie?
The black color on their face was smudged in bits and pieces….like dirt (a dirt smuged face is a common image for a golddigger). They were wearing flannels (not a stereotype of black culture, definitely included in the image of a gold digger). They had tin plates with pieces of gold in them (not a stereotype of black culture, definitely included in the image of a gold digger). It was CLEARLY a reference to an actual gold digger and had ZERO REFERENCE to black people in any way. Not every black marking on a person’s face = blackface.
You must of not seen the other photos. Remember the famous one? The one
with the girl in saggy pants with something shoved down her boxers to
make it look like she has a large penis? Where does that ideology come
from? Out of the blue? Please help me understand your point of view.
The Cognitive Dissonance is real.
How is it any of your business what some white girl does for laughs among her friends, are you some kind of voyeurism freak? Mind your own racism.
……cause she publicly posted it on the internet….?
This article is idiotic, and you, who clearly wrote it, are also an idiot. I feel sorry for you.
Allbruinsmatter
Thank you for this important response. We at Hye-Phen have been working on ways to address this in our community and one of them was putting out this statement.
Hyes for Black Lives: An Armenian Commitment to Dismantle anti-Blackness and Complicity
http://the-hye-phen-mag.org/hyes-for-black-lives-an-armenian-commitment-to-dismantling-anti-blackness-and-complicity/
” You are not offended by the plump lips and padded butts because those Kardashian-esque physical features are viewed positively in pop culture.”
Kanye and his sagging pants are not also viewed positively in pop culture? Sure, not to the educated public, but neither are big lips/butts and the Kardashians.
Mr. Jackson, this was a fantastic response! I think it’s great that you addressed her speech with more speech and keep the important discussion going!
Blacks should stop crying RACISM at every turn!
The problem shouldn’t be that you, or anyone, was offended or held a protest against the party. It’s that the administration listened to you. People get angry over the stupidest things, and in an age of information overload actually go out of their way to be exposed to events they previously would have had no knowledge of. This is why the first amendment is so important. People must be allowed to express themselves however they wish (barring illegal activity), because no matter what someone does, it’s guaranteed to offend someone somewhere. Even taking your claim at face value, which as far as I can tell it’s entirely puffed up bravado as there are no images of anyone with actual blackface, it is not illegal for a private citizen to be a racist. You should, of course, be allowed to protest and express your anger at the situation, but that is the double edged sword of free speech. Despite it’s name free speech comes at a cost, the cost of allowing others the same right. You seem to even get angry that baggy pants have become a stereotype of black culture because obviously most black people (like all the adults) don’t sag their pants. Then claim they are illegal in many cities because they ARE a part of black culture, then immediately get angry about white people appropriating sagging pants. At least focus your rage. Like the point of this comment though, you are of course entirely entitled to your opinion on the matter, and I certainly wouldn’t begrudge you of it regardless of how wrong I may think you are. It’s so very important you are allowed that courtesy so that I may have mine. This party may have seemed as obviously offensive to you as (in another articles example) Neo Nazi’s marching past the house of the Holocaust victim’s houses and is therefore a special exemption, but just keep in mind EVERYTHING offends someone. In my personal opinion (a fairly weak one I’ll admit not being black myself) Black Americans face many greater problems then a theme party, and by showing such disregard for the freedoms of others you damage those causes on the whole by giving fodder to the worst of us.