Only whites are “racists.”
Official campus recognition of a student white-rights group, overthe protests of campus civil rights advocates, has created fears ofheightened racial tension at the University of Florida.
Therecognition, which university officials say is automatic fororganizations that produce a constitution and have a faculty adviser,makes the group, the White Student Union, eligible for studentgovernment financing.
The founder of the group, Mark Wright,says it was established to protest affirmative-action legislation andother forms of ”preferential treatment based on race.” Theengineering junior said that despite charges leveled by protesters, noone in his club is a racist.
”What protesters are missing inthe hysteria is the fact that they are violating their ownprinciples,” Mr. Wright said. ”They prejudged us. They stereotyped uswhen they said, ‘Whites can’t form a group without being racist,’ andthey weren’t open to new ideas.”
The group’s faculty adviser, Russell Schneider, a teaching assistantwho works as a tutor in the Reading Center, said he was interested inthe group’s ideas, but added: ”If I see Mark Wright’s group, either inactions or words, taking racist actions, then I’ll back off.”
Application Is Accepted
Fora month, protest groups, including the campus Coalition AgainstBigotry, urged the university to refuse Mr. Wright’s application, butadministrators said they would not engage in censorship and noted thatthe White Student Union met the requirements for campus recognition.Administrators said the group could not be refused because it met theonly two requirements for clubs, a constitution and a faculty adviser.
EugeneLaMothe, a senior from Aledo, Tex., and a leader of the CoalitionAgainst Bigotry said, ”This organization is coming at a time when weshould be working together to break down racial barriers. This ispromoting an already stressful situation.”