Controversy over Caucasian club

ASCSM President Matt Kaidor is working to establish a Caucasian Cultures Club on campus, in order to fill a gap in racially based clubs. "It's not been done before," said Kaidor. "There are peoples of Caucasian descent who do have cultures and they're worthy of celebration in the same way any other culture is."

The adviser for the club is Rudy Ramirez, CSM ethnic studies professor. "It's a frivolous sort of approach to create dialogue," said Ramirez.

"The stigma with having a Caucasian club, if you will, is, what is the image it conjures? Some cross burnings? Lynchings?... I want to get that out in the open and have some type of forum for people to have a rational discussion," said Ramirez.

Kaidor reported that has already found 10 students interested in joining the club, the majority of which are not of Caucasian descent. He is in the process of drafting the club constitution, which is a formality required to create a campus club.

"Very technically speaking, a Caucasian is a person whose descent, whose ancestry goes back to the peoples of the Caucuses mountains. Someone with that sort of ancestry is Caucasian," said Kaidor.

CSM has never had a Caucasian club before, but according to the San Francisco Chronicle, a high-school student in Oakley, California who attempted to create a similar club in 2003 was accused of starting a racist group and chose to transfer to another school. Kaidor was quick to deny any racism behind the establishment of the club.

"Any group within a public institution has the right to peaceably assemble for any reason that they wish as long as they're not breaking federal or state or local law," said Kaidor, "There does exist a set of double standards that say it's ok for certain groups of people to peaceably assemble, but it's not ok for another group of people to peaceably assemble if it's called the Caucasian Cultures Club. the CCC."

Many students agree with Kaidor. Tim Palladino, 19, film major, said, "I think that, if there's a club for other races, like the Asian club or the black club or the whatever club, it should be alright. I don't see why not. It's not like we're burning crosses or anything like that."

Eddie Elder, 19, business management major, said, "That's their own business. If they want to start a little something-something, they got the right to do that."

But some students are adamantly opposed to the club. Middle college student Alice Guan, 17, has already begun planning a petition against the CCC.

"I feel like this is a club based on race, not on culture," said Guan, "I don't think it's a culture, so there shouldn't be a club. White isn't a culture, so you can't celebrate it."

Guan supports culturally based clubs, such as the German club and Unity Among Brothers, a club for African-American males. "If the club actually forms, then I'm going to start something. It's racist."

Middle college student Marcus Freeman, 16, is also adamantly against the Caucasian club.

"It's not strategic and calling against inequality in America. It's not trying to express any one culture that's being suppressed. It's to elicit a reaction," said Freeman. "There are a lot of other issues and hurdles that other people and different ethnicities have to overcome, as opposed to explicitly the white race. I feel like that's blatantly offensive."

Kaidor believes that Caucasian culture is not the same as white culture. "I'd be hard pressed to try to define white culture. I'm not sure there's such a thing. But there are peoples of Caucasian descent who do have cultures and they're worthy of celebration in the same way any other culture is."

Though the alliteration of the club name parallels the infamous Ku Klux Klan, Kaidor was quick to distance the CCC from racist organizations. "The Nazis and the KKK were not really celebrating any culture, rather they were destroying other cultures and other peoples and that's never ok. And it's definitely against the law," he said.Above all, Kaidor hopes the club will build bridges between different cultures. "I don't think what we want to do is promote any one culture. What we want to do is celebrate the cultures that exist."

Ramirez recognizes the controversy of the club. "We don't know how things are going to work out. I'm sure there will be some angry folks out there. But again, it's called tongue-in-cheek. It's to enflame passion and create dialogue," he said.