“Plenty of black guys in overalls and straw hats ate watermelon at the University Freshman Welcome picnic Tuesday afternoon. But almost as many professors and a smattering of New Englanders participated in the kick-off event as well.”
“Plenty of fat women in muumuus and sandals chowed down at the Ben & Jerry’s fan club meeting. But almost as many skinny people and men attended, too.”
“Plenty of Asian women in well-tailored suits worked calculators at the Collegiate Investment Management Society meeting. But as many hippies in tie-dye and Africans in Kente-cloth attended as well.”
“Plenty of chubby Jewish men with middle-European accents attended the Lisner auditorium Barbara Streisand concert. But lots of WASPy suburban couples and a smattering of African-Americans enjoyed the show as well.
“Plenty of thin, single and neat men in lavender shirts discreetly held hands at the Carmen Miranda film festival last night. But as many Latino women and some tattooed punks attended as well.”
Improbable leads to a story in The GW Hatchet? Racist? Sexist? Worse? Yes, they never would have made it past a real editor’s red pencil. Yet the following was the lead to the story “Red, white, and you” appearing in The GW Hatchet, Thursday, Aug. 26, 1999: “Plenty of white guys in khakis and Polo shirts schmoozed at the College Republicans’ Welcome Week reception Tuesday night. But almost as many women and a smattering of minority students participated in the kick-off event as well.” Contrary to this lead’s fundamental assumption, there is nothing in the constitution or aims of the Republican Party that directs its efforts to the exclusive membership, or the promotion of, white males in traditional clothing. The GW Hatchet’s explosion of its own straw-dog stereotype only confirms its bias and presumptions, and isn’t news. It is ignorance and prejudice.
The presumption of the legitimacy and inoffensiveness of the stereotype of Republicans as preppy, white males is racism and sexism, albeit apparently of a type of racism and sexism that is politically correct and acceptable to the reporters and editors of The Hatchet. But membership of an organization should not be analyzed on the basis of its racial and gender stereotypes, and no organization should suffer such coverage.
In a failed attempt at balance, The GW Hatchet quoted the College Democrats’ president, yet any information on the race and sex and clothing of the members was conspicuously absent. Allow me to write the lead for the coverage of the CD’s kick-off event: “Plenty of mixed-race trans-gender journalists in cheep sneakers and ill-fitting Soviet-style suits pledged their commitment to the coverage of liberals with public relations puff-pieces and coverage of conservatives with irrelevant, inaccurate, and biased details at the College Democrats/College Journalists’ co-sponsored Ideologue Week indoctrination session. But some people who aren’t racists or sexists and dressed normally and believed in the ideals and aims of the Democratic party were there too.” Draw your own conclusions on whether such a characterization would be relevant or accurate. Or fair.-James N. Wardgraduate student
