We,
the students of the University of Florida, Hereby Resolve:
TITLE:
AUTHOR: Black Student Union
President Marie Denise Jean-Louis, Pride Student Union Vice President Adelle
Fontanet, Black Student Union Chief of Staff Emmanuel Fortune, STAAR Director
Ruan Cox, Senator Whitney Howzell, Senator Keeshie Hill, Senator Kevin Bacon,
Senator Ryan Nelson, Senate President Pro-Tempore John Boyles
SPONSORS: Senator Whitney
Howzell, Senator Keeshie Hill, Senator Kevin Bacon, Senator Ryan Nelson,
Senator Adelle Fontanet, Senate President Pro-Tempore John Boyles
WHEREAS, Freedom of speech and expression remains one of the most valued
and
most basic of human freedoms, guaranteed by the
United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, With any exceedingly valuable and influential
freedom, there must be an
equally extraordinary sense
of responsibility and care; and
WHEREAS, Discrimination and racism have ravaged our nation
and destroyed
communities throughout our
short history; and
WHEREAS, The University of Florida stands as a bastion of education and diversity
which encourages our
generation to grow in our understanding, tolerance,
and ability to build a
greater community; and
WHEREAS, The students of the University of Florida establish
in our Constitution that
we desire to “maintain academic freedom, academic
responsibility, and student rights,” “improve student cultural, social, and
physical welfare,” “help promote national and international understanding and
fellowship at the student level,” “and foster the recognition of the rights and
responsibilities of student to the school, the community, and to humanity;” and
WHEREAS, the caption of the front page picture on September 13, 2005 in
the
Independent
Florida Alligator displays ignorance as to how some members of our community are
identified; and
WHEREAS, The Editorial cartoon in the Independent Florida Alligator on September
13, 2005 and the successive reactions of the staff
of this publication exude an irresponsible attitude towards our community
through the use of a racial slur and an unnecessary attack on one of our
nation’s top leaders, and
WHEREAS, The Opinions Editor of the Independent Florida Alligator has responded
to the events by stating that if she should be faced
with this same decision at a later date, she would approve a similar cartoon;
and
WHEREAS, The Independent
Florida Alligator is a part of our community and as such
bears the responsibility to help build up our
community instead of tearing it down through what has been touted as freedom of
speech; then
THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the students of the University of Florida that we
call for a public apology from the editorial staff of the Independent Florida Alligator for the content of the publication on
September 13, 2005; and
THEREFORE, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED by the authors of this resolution that we encourage
the community to educate themselves on these issues and that we plan to educate
the community through a letter writing campaign encouraging all parties in our
community, including student groups, the University of Florida administration,
and local businesses, to understand the attitude and actions that have been
displayed by the Independent Florida
Alligator and to appropriately discontinue their advertisement in this
publication.