Norman Tuiasau, speaking to his report on domestic racism.

May Council's Education commission succeeded in becoming wrapped up in one of the most emotionally based arguments I have ever heard. Objectivity went out the window, as the majority of delegates embarked on what can only be called guilt trips.

Following an excellent report to a joint Education and National commission meeting by Norman Tuiasau on the subject of domestic racism, people became wildly ecstatic. Seeing that they could possibly make some attempt to combat this problem, they immediately suggested ways of doing so.

Unfortunately, nobody seemed to be interested in the area Norman claimed to be most responsible for this problem; that of pre-school and primary education. Instead delegates became consumed with the desire to totally wipe out racism at a university level. But most distressing was the way they proposed to do this.

Not the Sole Answer

NPR's were seen as the answer. "New Perspectives on Race" sessions were suggested as one possible way of enlightening students as to the extent of domestic racism. Unfortunately, these sessions were immediately assumed to be the sole answer to the problem, and a motion was passed to the effect that they would be toured throughout the universities in the second term.

No one outlined the structure of NPRs, other than saying how "great" they were. "They are a really harrowing experience; it takes you three days to recover," was one comment. No one seemed concerned that they did not know what happened in the sessions other than the fact that "you play power games designed to bring out a typically white racist response" and "you come out knowing you're a racist".

Vic Alone

However valuable these sessions may be, they cannot be left as the only means by which racism may be combatted. Something must be done as a follow up. Unfortunately none of the constituents seemed concerned about this fact; except Victoria. Our caucus generally agreed that merely knowing you're racist is not enough. For this, "Victoria was accused of being racist and not interested in the welfare of a large number of it's members.

The whole situation became ludicrous when one delegation (who had voted for NPR tours) wanted a definition of the word 'racist'.

Gravity Racist?

In the heat of the moment, another idea was introduced; to introduce anti-racism education in all university studies. Victoria questioned whether all university courses were racist. For example, how can mathematics or physics be 'inherently racist', as some delegates had been arguing? No real reply was given; instead some people became rather agitated, arguing that one had to be consistent.

Unfortunately, the domination of this commission by the issue of domestic racism resulted in some important issues such as assessment, student representation and funding being almost ignored.

Peter Hassett