The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Race issues not limited to black and white

Tommy Curry's column on multiculturalism, while making valid points on white assimilation of black culture, uses rhetoric that risks perpetuating the very assimilation he attempts to expose. By limiting racism to a black-white binary, Curry ignores the prejudice directed towards other marginalized groups: he equates 'race' with 'blackness', which is tantamount to saying only blacks face racism.

As the renowned critical race theorist Richard Delgado argues, binary thinking on race obscures the myriad of racial identities in this country which face discrimination on a day-to-day basis (Delgado, R. and Stefanic, J. "Critical Race Theory: An Introduction").

In addition, the binary reduction on race is often used as a rhetorical tool by racist institutions to pit one marginalized group against another, which prevents cross-cultural coalitions that Delgado argues are necessary for fighting institutionalized racism.

Curry cannot continue to expose racism in one area as an attempt to change attitudes on race without exposing the totality of racism, or at the very least opening up a dialogue for the multiple cultures seeking equality in this country. The notion of the black-white binary risks perpetuating racism against Latinos, Asian-Americans, etc., as would any binary discourse for any race. Each has a unique experience facing institutionalized racism and each race has a unique voice in racial discourse.

It's like pushing on a balloon - the area pushed is reduced while other parts of the balloon expand. If Curry wants to try and educate students about power relations and race, as I truly believe he does, he must avoid binary rhetoric on race.

Geoff Smith
graduate student, undeclared

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