"Tunnel of Oppression" poorly rebutted in editorial

Monday the 27th, the Georgia Red and Black ran an Opinions-page rebuttal to Jeff Emanuel's column "Tunnel of Oppression reinforces victimhood," which first ran here on February 14, and was printed by the Red and Black on February 23, eliciting an immediate reader response. Included in blog posts previous to this one were an email from a reader, and the author's response. Below is the column:

Last Thursday, Jeff Emanuel missed the point in his column “‘Tunnel’
reinforces victimhood.” The “Tunnel” serves to create awareness mong students, and it must be approached with an open mind.

Unlike Emanuel’s belief that the tunnel seeks “to convey the oppression imposed by Americans on… everybody else,” the tunnel actually conveys the oppression that Americans impose on other Americans.

The goal of seeing this oppression first hand is to allow students to
empathize with students from different minority groups. One would think that a student’s point of view would change even slightly after an up-close view of insults like “Thank God for AIDS” or “No tears for queers.”

What Emanuel and several others across this campus and across this
country fail to realize is prejudice and discrimination exist far beyond
measures so overt as these. In the year 2006, prejudice is more covert than ever, and it is therefore more difficult to stop.

Social psychologists have coined the term “modern racism” to describe this subtle, prejudicial behavior.

By today’s standards, overt prejudice is simply unacceptable, and those who practice it are social outcasts. Modern racism, however, lingers in our cities, suburbs, classrooms and boardrooms.

One great example of modern racism lies in names. While one legally
cannot be denied a job opportunity because of his or her ethnicity, it seems as though one can be denied a job if his or her name sounds like he or she belongs to a certain ethnic group.

The troubling fact is that I am more likely than some of my other black peers to get a job once I leave this University. Compared to those with similar backgrounds and levels of education, I am more likely to be offered employment because my name is considered to be “mainstream,” as opposed to an ethnic-sounding name like Keisha or Malik.

Emanuel also doesn’t understand why the sign stating “Welcome to
America, now speak English” is so harsh. At last check, the U.S. Constitution did not list English as our official language. The framers of the Constitution did not list an official language because they wanted America to be a place that would grow and change.

At the end of his column, Emanuel ponders the question of why
mainstream Christians were not included in the Tunnel of Oppression. When did Christians in America become the minority?

As a Christian, I must say I have never felt that my beliefs were
coming under attack. The purpose of the tunnel actually follows a Christian principle, to love our neighbors as we do ourselves.

Another issue is that many so-called Christians persecute minority
groups, suppposedly in the name of Christianity.

America is made up of people of varying ethnicities, religions, family
histories and so on. Minority groups in America do not wish to be seen as victims, rather as victors. Problems faced by minorities must be addressed by mainstream America if this nation is ever to be as great as its promise.