Correction Appended
The Bruin Republicans’ call to a debate with MEChA, a
Chicana/o cultural group on campus, was left unanswered Friday
evening when members of MEChA did not to attend a BR-scheduled
debate.
The debate was planned as part of the BR’s continuing
campaign against what it considers racist elements in MEChA’s
founding documents.
MEChA maintains its documents are not racist ““ rather a
call to unity in response to racism of the late 1960s ““ and
have said it no longer subscribes to parts of the document.
Christopher Moritz, a member of BR, said the purpose of the
proposed debate was to give MEChA a chance to defend its ideology
in an organized format.
Most of the nearly 50 people who attended the event were
supporters of the Bruin Republicans.
“I don’t understand why, with so much passion and
ability to organize, they didn’t come tonight,” said
Eric Garthoffner, a member of the BR. “It blows my
mind.”
Members of MEChA said they chose not to acknowledge the BR
invitation because they “felt that it was not going to be a
productive space to engage in a meaningful dialogue,” said
Allende Palma/Saracho, a member of MEChA and internal vice
president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
“It wasn’t neutral. “¦ It was a space to attack
us,” he said.
Palma/Saracho said MEChA would be willing to engage the BR in an
ideological discussion but did not want to be put in a defensive
position.
“At this point, we believe … Bruin Republicans
(isn’t) really interested in a discussion,” said
Elizabeth Alamillo, chairwoman of MEChA.
“If (it was), that is how the campaign would have
started,” she said, referring to the fact the campaign began
with the BR publicly condemnation of MEChA rather than calling for
a discussion between both groups.
If MEChA had participated in the debate, the event would have
been aired on the radio on Al Rantel’s radio talk show.
Earlier in the campaign, the BR had gone on the same show and
received a large sum of money ““ over $28,000 ““ from the
radio show’s listeners.
A primary concern addressed on the talk show in early February
was that mandatory student fees go to MEChA but are not available
to BR. According to USAC bylaws, the council only can fund student
groups not religiously or politically based.
To date, discussion between MEChA and BR has been limited to
angry arguments on Bruin Walk, in which it seems little has been
accomplished.
“I think that (BR’s) argument needs to be addressed
by MEChA,” said Genevieve Chavez, a first-year student who
attended the event on Friday, adding she thought BR had not
approached the issue in a productive way, “as far as tabling
and fliers that compare MEChA to Nazis.”
In lieu of a debate with MEChA, David Horowitz, a widely known
conservative author, spoke on issues ranging from the war in Iraq
to what he called the “myth” of racism.
The focus of his presentation was what he believes is a bias in
the classroom and a culture against conservativism on college
campuses throughout the country.
Some BR members said they agree with Horowitz and were
uncomfortable expressing conservative views in the classroom.
“I know I would write a paper so that it was in
concordance with what the professor thinks,” said BR member
Joelle Trowbridge.
Chavez found the BR and Horowitz presentation offensive,
particularly generalizations made about minority groups on campus,
which she saw as belittling.
“What really upset me was that all minorities were grouped
together as being unpatriotic,” Chavez said.
Chavez said the atmosphere of the presentation made it difficult
for her to give BR claims against MEChA fair consideration.
Correction: March 17, 2004,
Wednesday
The story should have stated that David Horowitz spoke about
what he considers to be the myth of institutional racism, not
racism in general.