"Contest is Racist"

"Contest is Racist"

This article published in February of 1991 was the first article to address the controversy over the opening of the new African American Cultural Center and Library in the New Student Annex scheduled for March 1, 1991. Gay uses the Ebony Man beauty pageant on campus to express his discomfort with overt displays of black pride and question the need for such a large African American cultural center. He asks why other minorities and whites do not have cultural centers built on campus as well. Gay's point of view reflected that of many NCSU students in the 1990s who had been brought up to believe that issues of racial discrimination were problems of the past and any racial discrimination that existed today stemmed from problems of perception and overt racial pride by supposed minority groups.

Nathan Gay

Nathan Gay, "Contest is Racist," The Technician vol. LXXII no. 56 (February 4, 1991): 3.

1991-02-04

Cheryl Dong

newspaper article

I was proud to be a student here at N.C. State. The working word in the previous statement is "was."

I believe the people on this campus worked hard to move past the stigma of North Carolina racism. I thought we made great strides to eliminate the sexism prevalent in the '50s. Until today, that is

I was proud to be here when the Miss NCSU contest was replaced with Leaders of the Pack. Thank God this sexist display has been thrown out like muddy bath water. No longer will we single out one sex, blatantly ignoring the males of the campus who are willing to represent us.

Now NCSU men and women can place their photos side by side around campus. Now men and women can vote on their peers based not on sex, but on mere physical appearance. Let's hear it for equality!

And so with this new age of equal exploitation of the sexes, we have to deal with a new and great problem facing our upward-bound campus. A new and much more exclusive contest now exists, challenging the boundaries of both sexism and racism: the Ebonyman contest

How can we allow a contest that deliberately exploits African Americans. This blatant display of segregation is as backward as an all-white Miss America Pageant.

Sure, one can argue that the contestants want to be judged on their appearance, or else they would not join the contest in the first place. Playboy centerfolds voluntarily pose naked. So do Playgirl centerfolds. But does that make it right? We will never see a man gracing the staple of a Playboy magazine. Nor will we see a female in playgirl. It is a simple question of upholding an image. It is more like segregating the exploitation of a sex in two separate magazines

So here we have the Ebonyman contest. We will never see a WASP female's looks judged in this pageant. NOr will we see a Hispanic American or an Irish American or a Chinese American for that matter. This contest is exclusive to black males only.

In other words, one race is being singled out solely because of physical appearance. That sounds like racism to me.

Being a white male myself, I can't help wanting an Ivoryman contest on this same upward bound campus. Why should the black males have all the fun?

I'm sure that if this proposed Ivoryman contest was made real, plenty of white males would sign right up to be celebrated for their uncanny good looks. I'd be at the front of the line.

I feel I could represent all white males everywhere. I mean, I have been told of my stunning good looks, my oh so pinchable butt, my steel melting eyes, and brilliant wit

I also henna my hair, a base requirement for all beauty contestants. And I can answer any question about anything with the same answer every time: "In this modern age in which we live, we must strive to be the best at what we are, what we do, what we will be. Our children must learn from us and I believe I can lead our children as Ivoryman 1991."

But my dream of being a beauty contestant is squelched because having an Ivoryman contest would be both racist and sexist.

White people don't dare put themselves on a pedestal because they have learned that racism is not the way

Granted there are still some white people out there who believe they are superior to all others, basing their assumption on their skin color. They believe that the white race must be preserved and the white supremacy must be maintained

But most of us who are educated know the only way for racism and sexism to be abolished is if we all link hands on a common plateau: no one superior, no one inferior, all equal.

In this vision of racial equality, all races will be represented equally. No one race will have special benefits denied to all other races.

So why is it that an Ebonyman contest is allowed, while an Ivoryman contest would be seen as racist and sexist? Why are three floors of the Student Center Annex allocated for an Africam American Cultural Center when there is nothing of equal space for other races represented on this campus?

Don't get me wrong. I think the African-American Library is the best thing to hit our campus. This is a great branch of literature and history too long ignored. But is it necessary to devote an entire floor to space where African-Americans can "hang out?"

Isn't there enough "hanging out" space on this campus? And why is this huge room granted for just one race? Why can't I "hang out" there, too?

All I know is I feel like I am not allowed inside the walls of the African-American CUltural Center. I feel uncomfortable knowing I don'g belong there, just as I would feel uncomfortable in a White-American Cultural Center. I feel segregated from three floors of a place open to all students. I feel discriminated against

We know better than to have an Ivoryman contest, but the Ebonyman contest is allowed.

I don't get it.

newspaper article