To the Editor:
There are generally two ways to deal with anger. One can go about trying to fix the problem in a constructive manner, through education, reasoning, logic. This involves sacrificing a certain amount of pathos and personal feelings for the benefit of the argument and the change it will hopefully spark. One can also simply vent their anger and not attempt to change anything. This method of dealing with an injustice often leads to personal attacks and hurtful words as the argument is driven purely by emotion; this often blurs the lines between appropriate and inappropriate, relevant and irrelevant comments.
What a shame that Amy Evans chose to share her anger with Oberlin College in the way she did. In her essay, "Pale neo-hippie boys have no right to bang African drums," Evans marred her valuable message with racism, sexism and language that does more to polarize readers than to bring them to a common understanding.
Whether the racism Evans perceives as inherent in the drum circles is present or not, inadvertent or intentional, the manner in which she chose to illustrate it was both ineffective and offensive. In likening improvisation on the drums by the drummers' "pale hands" to "the way a master's young son must have experimented with the whips and later the female slaves he was to inherit," to rape, Evans indirectly accuses her schoolmates (not their ancestors) of being slave owning rapists simply because of the color of their skin and the instruments they choose to play. She constantly refers to the drummers as "white boys," "pale boys," when in fact, not only caucasian men (as they deserve to be called), but women (not girls) and men of many races partake in the drumming. Evans does not strengthen her argument through either of these statements; she only weakens it by making ill-founded assumptions and connections.
Evans' essay contains valuable constructive information about the origin, history and symbolism of African drums. Had she shared this information put in context with the drum circles she attacked in her essay, she could have shed light on the issue for every reader. As written though, her article encourages little real consideration of the matter while stimulating more confusion, defensiveness and anger. Real change requires compromise, respect and a willingness to have open dialogue. As I read Evans' essay, I did not get the impression that she was willing to discuss the matter with "pale neo-hippie self-assured descendants of slave masters." This type of anger and hatred have no value in Evans' attempts to create change and increase cultural awareness in the Oberlin community about the sacredness and significance of the African drum.
Copyright © 1996, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 124, Number 24; May 10, 1996
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