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The BluePrint i*
4 Nov/Dec 2013 SpelmanPaper@gmail.com
DOMESTIC & International News
Halloween
Used as Excuse
for Insensitivity
By: Dedra Mitchell C2014 *
Haiyan,
Strongest Typhoon
to Touch Land in History
By: Raquel Rainey C2014
Halloween 2013 has undoubtedly been
one that will be hard to forget. While many
regard this holiday as an opportunity to
take on a foreign persona
for twenty-four hours, this
year Halloween attire was
exceptionally disturbing.
Celebrity Julianne Hough
thought it would be great to
dress as one of her favorite
characters, Crazy Eyes, from
the new hit Netflix series
“Orange is the New Black.”
Along with her orange prison
suit and Bantu knotted hair,
Hough believed that a touch
of blackface would be an
exceptional finish to her
costume.
On the heels of the acquittal of George
Zimmerman, several individuals chose
to dress as Trayvon Martin and George
Zimmerman. In this particular photo that has
been circulating on the web, an unidentified
man also donned blackface with faux
blood splattered on the front of his hoodie.
Meanwhile, another unidentified man
costumed as Zimmerman holds two fingers
mimicking a gun to the head of the costume
version of Martin.
Alicia Ann Lynch wore one of the most
outrageous costumes of the year. Lynch
chose to dress as a Boston
Bombing victim. In the photo,
Lynch smiles for the camera
in her jogging attire with
imitation blood dabbed on her
forehead and sporadically
on her legs. Each of these
disturbing costumes has
ignited much backlash,
including Lynch, who has
suffered a considerable
amount of adverse reactions,
including death threats.
At the University of
Michigan, fraternity Theta
Xi sent out an email blast
to the entire student body
advertising a party entitled “Hood Ratchet
Thursday”. The event invitation included
several racial and gender biased facets,
including “bad b—-s, white girls, basketball
players, thugs, gangsters, and the notion of
“goin’ back to ‘da hood again”.
Students immediately reacted to the
crude invitation. One particular organization,
the Black Student Union
(BSU), was fervent in
seeing that a conversation
was held between them
and the Theta Xi members,
Eric Quang and Alan Wu.
In an interview with juniors
Robert Greenfield, the BSU
Treasurer, and Geralyn
Gaines, the BSU Secretary,
the conversation did not
seem to yield desired results.
Gaines stated that upon
seeing the invitation she
was thoroughly disgusted.
“They took the lowest of
the low to represent black
and hip-hop culture. We shouldn’t want that
representation of us”. Greenfield said, “The
main reason that it was offensive was that
it was a misappropriation of culture. They
generally didn’t
understand what
they did wrong.”
Both Gaines
and Greenfield
also stated that in
their meeting with
Quang and Wu, it
was a never-ending
cyclical argument.
“I don’t think it’s a
lack of understanding,” said Greenfield. “They
don’t want to understand.” The fraternity has
not received repercussions for their actions.
Rather, they will simply be participating in
a few sensitivity classes. “We let a lot blow
over,” said Gaines. “I want people to know
about this. I want them to be upset and do
something about this.”
It is imperative for people to be
knowledgeable about these
incidents. So next year feel
free to be as creative as
possible with Halloween
costumes and themed
parties, but don’t degrade
someone’s race, gender, or
pain while doing so.
Geralyn Gaines
Rochester Hills, Ml
Junior
Sociology Major, Afro-
American and African
Studies
Secretary
Email :gngaines@umich.edu
Robert Greenfield
Atlanta, Georgia
Junior
CS/IOE Engineering
Treasurer
Email :rogreen@ umich.edu
Since Typhoon Haiyan hit the
Philippines last month, citizens and
government officials are struggling to
rebuild. Recorded as the most powerful
tropical cyclone in world’s history to ever
make landfall, Typhoon Haiyan surged
through the Philippines at a staggering
195 mph with gusts reaching 235 mph.
With the height of the storm nearly 17 feet,
the city of Tacloban received the worst of
the flooding. Over 490,000 homes were
destroyed. According to CNN and NBC, of
the people affected; 3,976 are deceased
(two were American citizens), 1,598 are
missing, 12,501 were injured, 3 million
have been displaced, and 2.5 million are
in need of food assistance.
While many citizens are looming
over the lost of their homes and how to
start over, some are still grieving the loss of
family and friends. Marilyn Arroza, a native
of St. Catharine’s, Ontario, lost 14 family
members including her mother. Arroza
spoke with her mother, Linda Collera, a
day before the storm hit urging her to seek
higher ground at an evacuation shelter.
She refused in order to provide space for
children. After the storm, Collera’s body
was found over 30 miles away from her
village. Arroza plans to visit the Philippines
in the coming weeks to provide supplies to
anyone in need.
As far as assistance, the United
Nations appealed for 300 million dollars to
provide supplies and services. The World
Bank is finalizing 500 million dollars to
support reconstruction. The United States
donated more than 20 million dollars. Even
American rock group Journey donated
$350,000 towards relief efforts.
Since November 15, the U.S.
Navy has provided over 400,000 gallons
of freshwater for displaced citizens.
Cebu City, the second largest area in the
Philippines, sent a barge with 2,000 metric
tons of relief supplies, generators and
vehicles to the victims.
The effort towards restoring
the country’s infrastructure is slowly
underway. Donations can be made to
Hope Worldwide-Philippines, Doctors
Without Borders-USA, American Red
Cross, Global Impact, Oxfam America and
the Salvation Army.
Obamacare
and the Cost of America’s
“Affordable” Health Care
By: Karys Belger C2016
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act, or Obamacare as it’s more commonly, is
arguably one of the most controversial pieces
of legislation of the current presidential
administration. While originally a well-
intentioned attempt on the president’s part to
provide affordable healthcare to millions of
low-income American citizens, Obamacare
has inadvertently done more harm than good.
Recently, The Affordable Care Act has
grabbed headlines because of the public’s
inability to register for health insurance;
additionally many Americans have lost their
current health care policies because they
did not meet the standards of the Affordable
Care Act. As a result, Obama has issued a
public apology to all those who have lost
their insurance as a result of the minimal
care standard that the Affordable Care Act
enforces.
The Affordable Care Act also has
provisions that prevent insurance companies
from refusing those with preexisting
conditions, federal subsidies for low-income
families, and individuals whose income is
between 100% and 400% of the federal
poverty level. There are also tax penalties for
businesses with 50 or more employees who
do not offer insurance to those who work for
the company full time.
Prior to its most recent setback,
Obamacare came under fire due to false
allegations claimed by former Vice-
Presidential candidate Sarah Palin that
there would be “death panels” that would
determine eligible sick and elderly persons.
These allegations managed to increase
conservative resentment towards the bill.
So much so they played a rather important
role in the government shutdown in October,
when the Republican-majority House of
Representatives refused to approve funding
for the bill.
The recent failures have fueled
conservative agendas to completely nullify
Obamacare altogether. While this is unlikely,
the president has announced that some
provisions are being made to the bill in
order to correct what went wrong in the
previous stages. In the meantime, millions
of Americans are still wondering whether or
not they will receive insurance or keep the
coverage they have.
November Marked
Native American Heritage Month
By: Dedra Mitchell C'2014
The history of this nation is rooted in
immigration. From the many immigrants who
voluntarily came here searching for new
opportunities, to the involuntary immigration
of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, it is safe to
say that many in America are not actually from
America.
However, Native Americans share a
completely different relationship with this
country. Prior to the arrival of Europeans,
Native Americans were the indigenous
occupants of this nation.
Though November is the month that
honors Native Americans, The National
Museum of the American Indian, located
in Washington DC and New York City, has
several ongoing exhibitions in honor of Native
Americans which include:
“Before and after the Horizon:
Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes
Now-June 15, 2014: New York, NY
Our Lives: Contemporary Life
and Identities
Ongoing: Washington DC
Circle of Dance
Now -October 8, 2017: New York, NY
Traditional Knowledge Shapes
Our World
Ongoing: Washington DC
Indivisible: African-Native American
Lives in the Americas
Ongoing: Traveling Exhibition
For more information about National Native
American Month, The National Museum of the
American Indian and current exhibitions visit
nmai.si.edu.