Last week, I wrote a column about the Swamp Party. I outlined some of the suspicious and unethical behavior of the Swamp Party and its predecessor parties.
This week, I would like to outline why the Swamp Party is dangerous to anyone in Student Government who has an opposing point of view, and I would also like to explain why minority organizations should stay far away from the Swamp Party.
In the Summer of 2011, the Student Senate passed the Fairness and Efficiency Act. The Senate was led by Swamp’s predecessor, the Unite Party, at the time.
According to Alligator archives, the passage of the act “would grant the Senate president power to remove disruptive individuals from the chamber, give the judiciary committee power to kill legislation before it reached the Senate floor, shorten debate time for certain motions and raise the number of votes needed to approve certain motions.”
The misnamed Fairness and Efficiency Act effectively gave the majority the power to silence the minority.
I’m not sure Swamp cares any more about minority voices than Unite did. It may be that Swamp is just as hostile to anyone with an opposing point of view, and that would be dangerous.
A Senate with a massive budget of $17.5 million dollars and runaway majority power can be dangerous to all students. The really scary part is some of these people may very well go into politics.
If anyone cares anything about the minority voice, he or she should stay away from the Swamp Party for that reason alone.
The majority won’t care about minority representation or rights until the minority makes it the majority’s concern to care. This is as true for minority parties as it is for minority organizations on campus.
Every group has its own agenda, including the majority. The majority will pursue its own agenda until the minority compels the majority to take notice and act.
I would like to draw on some analogies from UF history.
The UF Institute of Black Culture became part of UF in 1971 after a tumultuous year of black student arrests, withdrawals, protests and sit-ins. The IBC was established as a direct result of those valiant student actions. In the face of racism, unity was established.
The IBC proudly displays old Florida Alligator clippings detailing the history of struggle between the black Student Body and then UF President Stephen C. O’Connell.
The students protested and rallied, sat in at O’Connell’s office and finally started withdrawing from the university. Racism was met with a strong, nonviolent force, and racism was overcome.
Another analogy would be that of the Asian experience on campus. In 2001, a fraternity held a party in which males were dressed as American GIs and females were dressed as Vietnamese prostitutes, according to an article by the Florida Times-Union.
According to Leah Villanueva, the current director of Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs at UF, in 2003, a rally was held after the fraternity held a similar Vietnam-themed party. Villanueva, who was present at the rally, said the Asian American Student Union called for certain reforms, including the establishment of the office that she now holds.
The moments when we are the most upright, both as a Student Body and as a species, are when we are sensitive to what others are due. Very often, this requires reminding people about the needs and agendas of others.
In other words, I’m not sure how much good it does for the minorities to submissively do the will of the majority. If the minorities are quiet and loyal to the majority, then the majority won’t worry about the minority’s needs.
If we’re all going to study and live together as equals, it might require some shouting, and that might mean staying far away from the Swamp Party.
Brandon Lee Gagne is an anthropology senior at UF. His column runs on Fridays. You can contact him at opinions@alligator.org.
