Minutes for September 29, 2005 Meeting to Form Coalition Against Independent Alligator Regarding Racial Slurs in Cartoons

Minutes for September 29, 2005 Meeting to Form Coalition Against Independent Alligator Regarding Racial Slurs in Cartoons

I. Meeting from 5:15pm-6:52pm- Darius Bost, IBC Director moderated the discussion.

��

�� A. Darius opened up by reading Mike Gimignani�s official response in the

�� Alligator

�� B. Angelique provided overview and update on the situation

�� b. Cartoons in question were:

�� i. Scene of New Orleans (Mother Nature or Human Nature)

�� ii. My Bad

�� iii. �Ni@@a Please� with Condoleeza Rice and Kanye West

�� iv. Reprint of the cartoon between Condoleeza Rice and Kanye

�� West

�� v. Past printing between Israeli and Palestinians

�� c. Cartoonists and editors claim to have been misquoted in the Gainesville

�� Sun

�� d. Protest march on Friday

�� e. Alligator asks UF administrators why they support entertainers who use

�� the N-word

�� f. Dr. Evans spoke and asserted there were over 100 people who

�� participated in the march

�� g. Student Government passed a resolution to remove funding from the �� Alligator on Tuesday

�� h. Mentioned the forum that took place on Monday

�� i. Recounted the list of negotiable and non-negotiable

�� C. Floor was then opened up to speakers who represented various groups

�� (Assertions were written closely to speakers own words as they were said)

�� c. Angelique viewed Alligator�s response as problematic

�� i. The Alligator offered a backhand apology

�� ii. They have wrongfully acted as though they are taking the lead �� towards bringing about talks on race relations

�� d. CARIBSA President asserted that the Alligator failed to print any of the �� letters that CARIBSA sent the Alligator on the issue of racial slurs

�� e. Schevon asserted that this issue is a reflection of the UF culture and

�� how it fosters lack of cultural diversity

�� f. President of NOW asserted that the cartoons are one-sided and is

�� targeted to the acceptable majority. The Alligator as a whole is

�� responsible and their� �apology� rubs mud in people�s faces.

�� g. Representative of Pride asserted the Alligator is critically one-sided and

�� looks for the negative in Greeks and censors the good sides. Misused��

�� the terms transgendered and transvestite.

�� h. Mary-Kay- LBGT training issues should occur for the Alligator

�� journalists

�� i. Santra had problem with the representation of black people in the

� cartoon. All black people don�t dress like that. Kanye doesn�t dress like��

� that. It�s also about stereotypes and white people don�t think its a��

� racial issue

�� j. Angelique announced forum on Hurricane Katrina and the Racial��

�� Divide to take place October 26, 2005. The burden should not fall on��

�� black people to educate everyone else about race

�� k. Schevon- This is a belief system and a belief issue. People are

�� conditioned to think a certain way in this society.

�� l. Dr. Evans- You can�t make someone feel or think a certain way. In

�� extending Dr. Dowdell and Mary-Kay: What do you want as your long

�� term and short term goals? What do you want?

�� m. Ramona- The Independent Alligator needs a certain Code of Ethics to �� address sensitive issues. It would offer a springboard for community �� between readers and staff.

�� n. Krystal located the problem in the institution. People in the Alligator

�� print what they want to print. She strongly suggested that UF should

�� once again produce its own newspaper

�� o. CARIBSA asserted that we need to rely more on the Gainesville Sun

�� and push the Alligator towards getting its work together

�� p. Darius- What have we done?

�� q. Schevon asserted that we need to lead by example. We need to include �� people and allow different people to have experiences with one

�� another.

�� r. Santra- She wore her SISTUHS, Inc. shirt and showed the newsletter to �� many white people and they said positive things about the newsletter.

�� s. May-Kay- She directed an open question- �What keeps you from having �� white friends?�

�� t. CARIBSA- People�s comfort zones keep them in their own cultures

�� u. Mary-Kay- Comfort zone. It requires looking at the value of

�� relationships rather than simply moving up the ladders

�� v. Dean Zdziarski asserted that this is an exciting time for young

�� people to see there�s more out in the world� and it�s better to work��

�� together to make a big stride

w. HSA Rep. asserted that various cultural organizations need to do events��

�� together such as BSU and HAS

�� x. Imani- We need to find commonalities and common ground

�� y. Lydia- Her dad always told her �Don�t ever trust white people.�

�� However, through Gatorship and other UF experiences she has learned

�� to step out of� her comfort zone and highly encourages everyone to do

�� the same

�� z. Joe Goldberg- Attending the meetings of various cultural organizations

�� have made his UF experience much richer

�� ac. Ramona- The training of leaders in Preview� was not as realistic in its

�� race relations. They should be more realistic in the way they cover race

�� relations topics. The envelope gets pushed but it is not opened

�� ad. Deon- We need to increase the diversity and increase the chances of �� diversity experiences. This should be done on the administrative side

�� as well.

�� ae. Pres. of� NOW-We need a coalition of all groups on campus; a meet

�� and greet among other groups; leaders would send representatives and

�� would no longer go themselves��

�� af. President of CARIBSA suggested that UF implement a mandatory

�� class in Preview and make it mandatory

�� ag. Schevon asserted that the administration needs diversity training. What

�� does diversity really mean?

�� ah. Evans- There is a mandatory sexual harassment training but not a

�� mandatory diversity training.

�� ai. Dean Zdziarski- The idea of introducing diversity class into the general �� education requirement for graduation requires an on-going

�� commitment.

�� aj. Dr. Evans- We need an agenda. We have a coalition here as an

�� advisory and editorial board to the Alligator�

�� D. Plans for Action and Votes on Issues were taken

�� d. Continue Boycott- 13 In favor, 2 Abstentions

�� e. Dean Zdziarski- What are people looking for once people get it?

�� i. Joe and Lydia agreed to make a plan for continued education

�� ii. Pride Rep. Make diversity training mandatory for all current and �� future writers for the Alligator

iii. Schevon- Make establishing a University paper a long term��

�� goal

�� iv. Lydia- The coalition won�t be successful if we only make a

�� black thing. We need to make it broad and across many

�� different communities.

�� v. Pride and HSA Reps. agreed that we need to get this document �� signed by the different members of different organizations

vi. Ramona- They need to refer back to the Code of Ethics and

�� abide by it

vii. HAS Rep. asserted that we need to discuss what the Alligator��

�� is to us and what it means to them and decide to either��

�� completely pull apart or come together

�� viii. Angelique- Long-term or short term?

�� ix. Deon- We need to hold or stand firm on the boycott until our �� demands our met

�� x. Joe- It�s early to make a decision until we see change on this

�� xi. Deon- Requiring diversity training might be much

�� xii. Pride Rep.- The Alligator represents SG Sponsored events

�� xiii. Imani- We can make them by boycotting

�� f. Current and future diversity training- 11 In favor , 1 Abstention

�� g. Direct Apology on Front page with satisfactory language -10 in favor, 0 �� against

h. Demands signed by other organizations- 8 in favor, 2 against, 3 abstentions

�� i. Suspension of cartoonist- Passed�

�� j. Boycott until demands are met- 7 in favor, 0 against, 4 Abstentions

�� k. Require a Code of Ethics- 10 in favor, 0 against, 2 against�� i. Deon- Is there a point person for this information?

�� ii. Dean Zdziarski- We need it in a structured language.

�� iii. Darius- Vanessa Fabien has done the secretarial work.

�� E. Enumeration of Tasks and Assigned Tasks

�� e. List of companies and organizations that advertise with the Alligator

�� f. List of organizations on campus that advertise with the Alligator

�� g. Formulate document that organizations can use to approach businesses

�� and the UF community

�� h. Call for committee on item �e�

�� i. Imani, Velouse, and Santra

�� i. Call for committee on item �f� and �g�

�� ii. Ramona, Angelique, and Vanessa

�� j. Dr. Evans suggested that we set ground rules for approaching businesses

�� i. be respectful

�� ii. only contact businesses that have advertised that week because

�� others might have pulled funding already

II. Meeting officially ended at 6:52pm.

III. Continued Efforts

�� A. Things we need to confirm at this point:

�� a. Will Student Government be able to facilitate distribution?

�� b. Will a list of names and organizations be good enough for this

�� document so� that it can be disseminated quickly or do we need to have

�� actual signatures� from each organization representative?

�� c. Should UF Administration (the Dean of Students Office) be responsible

�� for letting The Alligator know what we have decided?

B. We did not set a next meeting time. In the future before we end our meetings,��

�� we will set a meeting time for the next meeting.

�� C. Please note that the headquarters for all of the information on this matter ��

�� will be housed in the African American Studies Program. It is located in �� 3323 of Turlington. This makes access to the information readily available to

�� all of us working on this initiative.

�� D. All of this information is also available on Dr. Evans� website at ��

�� http://plaza.ufl.edu/drevans
�� E. Keep the fight alive. Remember to not waste time and energy on an � �� emotional fight. Remain focused on the issue. Your hard work and �� determination will positively impact the lives of future generations. �� Everyone is significant in this initiative. Support one another.

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