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Re: Nats' Racism Forum
I would first like to point out that not that many of us (coaches and
debaters), showed up to the "Is CEDA Racist?" Forum at nationals this
passed Saturday. So, here's my take on it.
Unfortunately, like many well intentioned attempts at addressing the
issue of racism in different social settings, this one not only fizzled
but succeeded in actually insulting many of us in the audience.
The Forum's title should not have been "Is CEDA Racist?",
but rather, "One Uninformed School Bureaucrat's Sorry Attempt At
Dispelling Popular African-American Stereotypes." In an attempt to
accentuate this real problem that is entrenched in our activity, the Forum
organizers only succeeded in trivializing it even further.
The first mistake was that the issue of racism was never really
specifically linked to the CEDA community. The Bureaucrat's rhetoric
seemed to be a generic cultural sensitivity training for all non-Black
audience members.
The second mistake was having the CEDA President take the role of a
moderator rather than a spokesperson for our community. I mean, we could
have gotten anyone to sit at the table to choose which audience members
were next in line to speak. In all honesty, it made both the President
and the Bureaucrat look bad. The issue was never addressed.
I can go on and on, but I would like to see some of your responses. I
know I'm not alone on this one.
Eduardo Cabrera
SFSU Gator Debater
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Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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