Spring Break
Senate bill condemns campus racism
Chris Curtis
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Campus
12/04/08 - The University of Rhode Island student senate passed a bill last night condemning three recent incidents in which offensive or racist images and descriptions of President-elect Barack Obama were left in classrooms or public areas on campus.
The bill called for the senate to state it's disapproval of the incidents, saying the images "represent a disregard and lack of respect for not only the President-elect Barack Obama, but to the University of Rhode Island community and our nation."
While a majority of the senate voted in favor of the bill, the vote was not unanimous and a number of senators voiced opposition to it.
Debate on the bill centered on its wording, with some senators taking issue with the specific reference to President-elect Barack Obama.
Senator David Coates said he did not believe the senate should be reacting to the attacks on Obama, but to the issue of "hate speech" as a whole.
"If this was a bill that specifically condemned hate speech regardless of the individual, I would have absolutely no problem with it," Coates said.
Coates also questioned the wisdom of the bill, saying it would only encourage whoever was responsible.
"I realize that we don't live in a world that's free of racism ... but it surprises me that we're feeding into these incidents when people like this are looking for attention," Coates said.
Tom Ahrens, senate president, said he disagreed strongly with Coates' statements.
Ahrens said that the senate had a responsibility to react to specific incidents on campus.
"It's something directly affecting our students and it's our job as representatives to state our point and the fact that we do not accept it and we're against it," Ahrens said. "It's much broader than one person, but the message that we're sending to campus is that it's not acceptable and it's not appropriate."
Senator Drew Yensan also spoke in favor of the bill as representative of a broader issue.
The bill called for the senate to state it's disapproval of the incidents, saying the images "represent a disregard and lack of respect for not only the President-elect Barack Obama, but to the University of Rhode Island community and our nation."
While a majority of the senate voted in favor of the bill, the vote was not unanimous and a number of senators voiced opposition to it.
Debate on the bill centered on its wording, with some senators taking issue with the specific reference to President-elect Barack Obama.
Senator David Coates said he did not believe the senate should be reacting to the attacks on Obama, but to the issue of "hate speech" as a whole.
"If this was a bill that specifically condemned hate speech regardless of the individual, I would have absolutely no problem with it," Coates said.
Coates also questioned the wisdom of the bill, saying it would only encourage whoever was responsible.
"I realize that we don't live in a world that's free of racism ... but it surprises me that we're feeding into these incidents when people like this are looking for attention," Coates said.
Tom Ahrens, senate president, said he disagreed strongly with Coates' statements.
Ahrens said that the senate had a responsibility to react to specific incidents on campus.
"It's something directly affecting our students and it's our job as representatives to state our point and the fact that we do not accept it and we're against it," Ahrens said. "It's much broader than one person, but the message that we're sending to campus is that it's not acceptable and it's not appropriate."
Senator Drew Yensan also spoke in favor of the bill as representative of a broader issue.
