Socialism article contained mistakes
Review erred: Not all SLAC'ers are Socialists
Review photographer lacked manners
Shepard incident should serve as a call for community unity
To the Editors:
I am writing in response to your article of Oct. 9, 1998, entitled "Socialists Visible on Campus." Several mistakes were made in the article which I believe need to be cleared up. The first mistake is in regards to the mentioning of the Oberlin Socialist Student Union. The article states that "(The OSSU) which has been active in past years is currently inactive because they didn't turn in a budget to the SFC for the year." (OC Review 10/9/98) This is inacurate.
The OSSU was classified as suspended at the beginning of this year, but the reason had nothing to do with the budget. Indeed we do have a budget. The problem was that the members of the OSSU who were here last spring at the time of charter renewal were all seniors. They completed a charter and a budget, however they did not fill in an officer's list since the members who were going to be here this year were all on academic leave. We have now completed our officer list and are in the process of becoming un-suspended.
More mistakes were made in a paragraph about the history of socialist activism at Oberlin. The article states that before 1996 two socialist groups existed on campus, The Democratic Socialist Association, and the Marxist Reader's Club. While there were two socialist groups on campus neither of them went by the above names. The Democratic Socialists of America was a student chapter of a national organization. The second group, the Oberlin College Marxist Revolutionaries was an independent group of Oberlin Marxists. The article goes on to describe that these groups dissolved because of inactivism. This is also incorrect. Both DSA and OCMR were active, DSA members attended national conferences and both groups were active around local labor issues. Furthermore, the groups did not disband at all. They decided in the spring of 1996 that it would be better to form a coalition of socialists than to have energy and resources divided between two groups. This coalition became known as the Oberlin Socialist Student Union, it had no national ties and was open to anyone regardless of party affiliation, or personal definition of socialism. The OSSU still believes this is a valid mission and hopes to remain as a coalition for many different sorts of socialist activists to work together for common goals.
While 1996 might seem like a long time ago, there are still several students on this campus who were members of DSA and OCMR. There are certainly still members of the OSSU. These mistakes could have been avoided, and perhaps a wider perspective could have been gained had the Review staff made an effort to talk to other groups in the writing of this article. The errors do a disservice to the time and commitment contributed by many activists on this campus.
To the Editors:
As members of the Oberlin Student Labor Action Coalition (SLAC), we are writing in response to "Socialists Visible On Campus" (Oct. 9, 1998). The article included SLAC in a list of Socialist organizations at Oberlin. Although some SLAC members are Socialists, many are not, and SLAC itself is NOT a Socialist organization. As the name suggests, SLAC is a coalition of labor activists from across the political spectrum; and the organization endorses no specific political ideology aside from support for labor campaigns.
Recent activities SLAC members have organized and participated in are indicative of the diverse political leanings represented in our group.
Had the Review bothered to contact anybody from SLAC before writing an article involving the organization, all of these things could have been made clear. In the future, we hope the Review will contact one of the undersigned members, or attend one of our meetings (Tuesdays at 9 p.m. and open to all) instead of writing an article with insufficient reporting.
To the Editors:
I was appalled at the utter lack of manners and tact displayed by a photographer of your staff at the concert given tonight in Finney Chapel by the Colorado String Quartet. The photographer had the audacity not only to take photographs while the quartet was performing, but also to stand up in the front row and walk out, unsubtly, twice during the same performance. Whether or not the photographer was aware of these disgraceful actions, I suggest that you train your staff to remain invisible and inaudible while documenting such performances. I am sure that the entire concert-attending community here looks forward to future, uninterrupted, performances.
To the Editors:
It's about racism; it's about sexism; it's about hate; it's about intolerance. It's about TIME to do something. The recent tragic death of a gay University of Wyoming freshman has spawned a diversity of reactions and has even raised questions of intolerance within our own college community. We often fail to realize how isolated and unique we really are here at Oberlin. At the same time, we neglect the fact that we are so much the same.
"I'm not sure that I agree with the portrayal of this event as a homophobic issue," someone posed to me this morning. The reality is, homophobia is such a minor component of the huge picture that this incident portrays. The outpouring of support at last night's candlelight vigil clearly illustrates this. Students of all backgrounds, races, orientations and beliefs gathered together in a display of compassion. This is about humanity.
This event has touched me in so many different ways, on so many levels. In reflecting on it, I've dealt with emotions ranging from frustration, hopelessness, and despair, to guilt, ignorance and egotism. I cried for society's loss not because I'm a GAY man, but because I'm a HUMAN. The realization that such a deep loathing of ANY group of people pervades the shadows of our culture is frightening and disgusting.
Parallels have been drawn from this occurrence in Laramie, Wyoming to a similar hate motivated racial killing in Jasper, Texas last summer. While the motives were different, the underlying hate is the same. To think that the town of Oberlin, Ohio is somehow above that is not only ignorant, but probably a great deal inaccurate. The place is different only superficially from every other town in America.
We claim to be progressive. How can that be? How can we be so self consumed as to give ourselves such a label, while sitting amidst a diversity problem as large as any in the nation? How can we tolerate intolerance? Granted, we are not watching crosses be burned or gay bashing in the streets, but we are not exactly uniting against such atrocities either, are we?
Unfortunately, the majority of the unity here is small scale. We are unified within our minorities, but find little need to reach out beyond that. I think that it's about time to reach out. I am more frightened by the idea of any form of hate to be found here only because it's masked. At least "out there- in the real world" you can see exactly what you're going up against.
It's time to talk, kids.
I worry about the general reaction that this letter will cause. Perhaps that is exactly the problem. We are so afraid to address the issue for fear of offending someone that we would rather let it fester. Please don't misinterpret my call for unity as a call for assimilation. We can come together as ONE COMMUNITY while still maintaining our identities.
The greatest injustice that we could do to ourselves and to our future is to be apathetic. Don't rely on someone else to start it; take it upon yourself. The genius of great leadership is the ability to recognize that you can't be at the forefront of every movement and that not everything can be solved in one fell swoop. Hundreds of small efforts are equally as great, and more attainable, than one massive one.
Don't assume that someone doesn't want to discuss their adversity, just because they aren't talking about it at the moment. At the same time, don't assume that everyone wants to discuss it either. Try asking. You might just learn something you never anticipated.
This isn't going to be solved in a day, a week, a month or even a year. We'll be lucky if we surpass it in our lifetime. That's no excuse for not taking a stand and fighting against it.
Being apathetic on issues of hate and intolerance towards ANYONE is as bad as condoning it.
Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 127, Number 7, October 30, 1998
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