DURING the Easter season, it is common for one to reflect personally upon the true meaning of one's religious faith, particularly if one is a Christian (full disclosure: I am one). For those who prefer to look at the holidays in a non-theological light, two Grounds-related issues that have garnered attention in the past few days might have an additional relevance, if considered in light of the political and social lessons of Easter.
Issue No. 1: Burma. Student Council has passed a resolution requesting the Board of Visitors to vote for a stockholder proposal that asks Unocal to disclose its direct contributions to the Burmese government.
To state the obvious, Burma is not a good place to visit. Tales of slavery and human brutality abound from that land. The particular authoritarian regime in power generally requires direct courtesy payments - bribes, to those who prefer direct language - for most corporations to conduct business in its borders. Within America, numerous companies have been pressured to cut ties to this particular dictatorship. Unocal is a rare exception. As the University has approximately $2.1 million invested in Unocal, the Board has the right to vote on this shareholder proposal. In the event the measure fails, Council's resolution encourages the Board to divest itself of Unocal and any other companies doing business with Burma.
Issue No. 2: "not gay." Council has embarked upon a second mission to eliminate the all-too-familiar screaming of "not gay" during the playing of the Good Ol' Song during football games. For those who haven't attended a football game, this lively, raucous 1970s funk tune has a lyric that proceeds "where all is bright and gay," followed by a pause. During this pause, the classy gentlemen of the University, proving themselves far superior to any other institutions in the Commonwealth, scream back, "not gay!" Apparently, this helps pick up dates. Despite the fact that this most powerful periodical has condemned the "not gay" chant for approximately 2,432 years, it continues to this day.
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Council has commissioned a committee to find out a way to get rid of this chant. At Council's March 27 meeting, the special committee put forward some thoughts about focus group questions and the like. Apparently, Council will be trying an educational campaign to reduce the desire to scream "not gay."
In the case of both issues, those involving themselves in these political fights may want to ask one question: Realistically, what is happening because of what I am doing?
In the case of the Burma resolution, three things might happen: the Board divests itself of Unocal, the Board votes for this Burma disclosure resolution, or the Board politely tells Council to go to Burma. In all three options, Burmese slave labor will continue. Given the nature of the stock market, U.Va.'s divestment of Unocal means somebody else will buy it. More than likely, real damage done to Unocal will be nil. Even assuming that Unocal feels like leaving Burma, one has to ask if Burma would come close to altering its handling of human rights issues, given the fact that most American companies already have left such a country.
On the issue of the "not gay" chant, one lousy chant does not perfectly embody any kind of homophobic climate on Grounds. It may represent homophobia nicely, but its absence will not automatically mean anything in the way of a changed climate at the University. It'll just mean that those who don't particularly like gay people will find other outlets. The underlying problem - some sort of homophobia - will remain.
I do not write of the lack of real impact that will be had by these efforts because I think they are useless. I do write because one may easily lose sight of one's laudable, real goals in any endeavor because of the mechanics of achieving a smaller goal that might make one feel better. Enter my aforementioned reference to Easter.
Putting aside the religious aspects of his life, what Jesus did while on Earth caused what conservatively may be called a revolution. He concentrated his work in areas that he knew would be effective. After his time on Earth, thousands of people willingly martyred themselves in his name. The entire world shifted its orientation and its general assumptions about the way the universe operated, because of one person who walked on this Earth.
In pursuing social causes and endeavors, people should think about that kind of pragmatic change and what they are doing to bring about real change in issues that matter to them.
(Seth Wood's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached a swood@cavalierdaily.com.)
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