I'm starting to suspect that the lack of journalistic quality and the paper's long harshness to SG and Greek Life are somehow inter-related facts, hints to a developing syndrome of mediocre skills exacerbated by a lack of scape goats on which these poor, feeble-minded aspiring writers use to vent their very serious frustrations over.
Had the Senate honored Smathers, the Alligator would have gone the anti-FBK/elitist/anti-wealth/anti-legacy soapbox we know all to well they love to ride. But since the Senate did the politically-correct thing, since they took the African American community's feelings on the matter seriously, because they acted conscientiously now the Alligator attacks the body for what? For not honoring the passing of a man that literally bogged the civil rights movement down but whom happened to go here and left the schools a shitload of money? This coming from the young, idealistic, non-conformist, alternative-culture kids of the Independent student paper?
It's really pretty clear that no matter who's running SG or what the Greeks do, that the paper will always have sour apples. I mean giving Smathers a laurel is like nominating Jesse Helms or Strom Thurmond to the Nobel Peace Prize (and these men served in the Senate well into the 90's). Did you know Smathers oppposed Thurgood Marshal? I mean how in the hell can the Alligator honor this man? Money doesn't buy respect and alumnus status doesn't indebt SG to anyone, much less to pay official homage.
I just wonder if the Alligator will ever follow SG at some point and truly be of service to the Student Body. AAREST/SG raise awareness, the Alligator writes it's hype; the Senate shoots down an irresponsible bill, the Alligator fires of its version of one defying SG. With a paper that goes through an editor-per-year you have to wonder if Ms. Rifkin realizes that this paper has offended UF's largest and arguably strongest minority bloc before and that this laurel might further offend this community. I wonder if that level of concern even exists in that friggin building anyway.
4 comments:
"It's really pretty clear that no matter who's running SG or what the Greeks do, that the paper will always have sour apples."
Actually, the alligator is with the greeks on this one... the majority of them supported the passage of the bill.
Once again shows, Christian, that you have no idea what the hell you are talking about.
I'm sorry that you lack any sense of differnciation. I cited SG and the Greeks as two examples (independent of each other) as taking the brunt of the Alligator's criticisms. You on the other hand as in many times past, have not been able to understand the bigger picture.
Thanks for being such a loyal reader.
"I grew up with a black guy named J.R. Franklin, who, until I was seventeen years old, was my
very best friend. He lived with us. He lived in our house. He had a room just like I did, and he went to school, and we worked together, and we fought together, played together, and so on. Lot of southern white families looked down to their black families with great pride. They'd work with them, right along side of them day after day. They would go to church with them. Some of the white guys would sleep with some of the black girls, and vice versa, but somehow, they didn't want to be seen on Main Street with their arms around each other or anything like that. It was just bigotry."
-George Smathers
If the student senate had actually done their jobs and did responsible research they would have realized that what they were saying about George Smathers was not entirely true. Many things that were reported about him were untrue. No one could ever confirm the Thurgood Marshall thing. The irony in all of this is the black voting block, insulted one of the senators instrumental in the 1964 civil rights act. On the Brown v. Board of Education, George Smathers' was reported as saying it was an abuse of judicial authority. Well so did Clarence Thomas, it wasn't a racial issue but the legality of the case is still debated today.
From my time in senate, I have been able to realize that senate while never really doing much can get the chance to make an impact on the rare occasion. As a student of UF I am ashamed to have been so wrongfully misrepresented by the senate. They finally made an impact and it was an insult to so many people. To see George Smathers compared to Hugo Chavez and Hitler, was one of the most terrible things I have ever heard. While many may not like our past, the AA community has to do their research when they decide to do reverse racism and of course do the very un-christian act of not forgiving.
The student senate had one chance to bury the state of Florida's greatest politician with a formality of respect and honor that he rightfully deserved, and they dropped the ball. George Smathers, one of the greatest gators of all time, will be buried with the last farewell from the students of UF that he gave so much to being a slap in the face.
To those senators who actually want to do factual research and care that what they did was an insult to our entire university.
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/oral_history/George_A_Smathers.htm
1:22AM, I had a discussion tonight with an old figure from florida politics. He did not have a lot of respect for George Smathers, in fact he blamed Smathers for the decline of FBK over the years as he was a poor role model for that generation of keys, in particular on the race issue. And this was an important figure in the state of florida (a hint, he helped to draft the 1968 constitution of florida)
Now I did not know george smathers, yes you have oral history of him saying some nice things. But you also have a number of figures in florida who knew smathers say he was an out and out racist. The mlk story is in particular apalling. Should they pass a resolution honoring smathers, maybe, should they also remember that he was not in particularly good on dealing with race relations, maybe. Thats not my call.
The bottom line is this, a lot of the founders of the gator nation and leading beacons of florida were racists. There were some like leroy collins and reubin askew who were really good on race relations, but others were not. We as the state of florida, in particular UF have to try to accept this and move on.
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