Crayon Diversity Award

Today's Crayon Diversity Award goes to the University of Washington Board of Regents and to Robert L. Jamieson, Jr. of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Earlier this month, the UW College Republicans organized an "affirmative-action bake sale" (Caucasians and males were charged higher prices than were women and minorities). In response, the UW Board of Regents agreed to write a letter condemning the bake sale. Individual regents also spoke out against the bake sale:

“The views expressed by (UWCR), which look like they were intentionally divisive — I think are repugnant,” said Regent Craig Cole.

...

“We are dealing with certain realities and the reality is racism is alive and well; it lies just below the surface,” said [Regent Ark] Chin.

...

Regent Dan Evans, former Republican governor of Washington, expressed disappointment that those sharing his political affiliation would sponsor such an event. However, he defended the group’s right to hold the event.

“Free speech includes stupid free speech and this was certainly pretty dumb,” said Evans.

Evans concluded by applauding the outrage that followed the event, saying it was the proper response.

...

“It hurt me,” said Student Regent Darlene “Daya” Mortel. “I’m all for free speech … but there is a very thin line when free speech becomes hateful speech, becomes violent speech.”

The only violence related to the bake sale was the "outrage that followed the event", as applauded by Dan Evans -- i.e some of the pro-racism activists vandalized the bake sale.

In an astonishing display of Orwellian vocabulary! McCarthyite suppression of unpopular views! crayon diversity! anti-democratic disregard for the voters of Washington state! The Regents circle the wagons against the anti-racist College Republicans:

Regent Cole went on to talk about the importance of diversity and said the event had strengthened his resolve that the UW should promote a more diverse campus. Regent Ark Chin said such advocacy was a must in light of the atmosphere on campus.

The Board of Regents wins today's Crayon Diversity Award for advocating the principle that diversity is a good thing as long as people don't express diverse opinions.

As I've pointed out previously, the college-age population of the State of Washington is 72.5% white, 6.5% Asian and 3.7% black, while the University of Washington freshman class is 56.5% white, 27.9% Asian and 2.9% black. The only way the university could accurately reflect the diversity of the state's population would be to send 3/4 of the Asian students home and admit a lot more white kids and a handful of new blacks. I hope that's not what the Regents have in mind.

The P-I's Robert L. Jamieson joins the UW Regents as Crayon Diversity Award co-recipient for his last Friday's editorial discussing the bake sale. Jamieson wrote

Never mind that voters approved Initiative 200, which virtually wiped out affirmative action in our state

implying that the College Republicans were simply picking a fight over a settled issue. But the issue is not really settled. Although 58% of the voters approved I-200 in 1998, it remains under attack by various elites, such as the Washington Supreme Court and the leadership of the University of Washington.

In his attempt to defend(?) the College Republicans, Jamieson damns them with the faintest of praise

Was the bake sale illegal? Nope. Was it as incendiary as students walking through campus wearing white sheets? Not close.

By comparing the College Republicans with the Ku Klux Klan, he is implying that they are expressing a milder form of the same underlying sentiments. But that misses the entire point by 180°. The KKK, like the promoters of racial preferences, say that people should be classified and judged by the color of their skin. The College Republicans reject that concept and attacked it with the bake sale parody. Based on the backlash, they seem to have struck a nerve. Good for them.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 27, 2003 09:49 AM