During the week of Spring Break, I came back to school early to cover Ward Connerly at a Columbia Pachyderm Club meeting. I entered a room full of strangers who seemed nice enough, but I wondered what type of people have the middle of a Friday available to attend (what I thought was) some random meeting. Anyway, when I entered I found a place to sit with a nice woman who offered me a spot at her table when she saw me attemptimg to sit at an already occupied table. I sat in the back with her and found myself staring at the backs of the head of many white-haired, white people. So, I did what is called a speck check (or at least I think that's what the guy who I stole this term from called it), where I scanned the room to see if there are any other black people, or other minorities, in the room. There was one, so I felt like I could sit through the meeting without people staring and wondering why a random black person showed up.
At the time, I wasn't as familiar with Ward Connerly as I should've been. (It was Spring Break!) When a black man entered a room full of predominantly older white people, to speak about affirmative action, I became extremely interested in how he would choose to present his information. He began with a joke about meeting the president. Okay, good, start with a universal joke to loosen people up. Next, tell them why we no longer need affirmative action. What!!! I began to realize this was the "Uncle Tom" another student who I had spoken with about the anti-affirmative action bill was referring to. As Connerly continued speaking, I wanted to drag him behind the restaurant and beat him so that no one else could hear the bs he was spreading. (I'm sure this is the type of speaker a similar audience at an ASNE conference last March would've wanted instead of Spike Lee who came to talk about inequalities during Katrina. A speech during which much of the audience walked out.) However, the audience enjoyed it because they gave him a standing ovation upon the completion of his speech. By this time, I was the only "speck" left in the room.
I knew the only thing harder than not walking up to the podium and telling this man about himself would be to get interviews. For some reason, the president of the Club just couldn't find the words to tell me why she didn't believe in affirmative action. So she called over another member. For some reason, he ust couldn't look me in the eyes when he was talking to me about how he's wonder if a minority candidate has received a job over him. I appreciate him speaking with me, but if it wasn't for my previous summer at the Montgomery Advertiser where I had to listen to an old white lady talk about how black men are criminals and black women are welfare queens an hour before I even began to interview her, I may have been shocked at this incident.
Afterward, I talked to Connerly. I genuinely listened to his perspective. I guess I can see where he is coming from. One, I believe there is a huge disconnect between the older generation of African Americans and the current generation. He believes that many of us expect discrimination and look for handouts because of it. he said tat if we eliminate such programs then people are more like to be placed in positions where they are more competitive and not placed because of quotas that need to be met. I agree to some extent, but this reinforces a stereotype that blacks only get to where they are based on race based programs.
As of now, I am just sharing an experience for the week. I think I successfully completed the assignment because as a journalist, I have to learn to face these situations and come back with a story. I wrote the story objectively, but I addressed many issues that I hear people concerned about, and addressed peoples sentiments without being biased. I didn't beat up anybody and the story was printed the next day with a sufficient amount of useful information, instead of an account of an event. As a journalist I think these incidents help build integrity and character.