whims

Half Mast

Ted Kennedy died last week. My hours in the car afford me hours of public radio listening and last week I listened to much Ted Kennedy talk. It was truly a somber moment in our nation's history. With his passing, the memories and legacies of his two famous older brothers were retold, their battles brought back to the forefront. We find ourselves in the heat of another social justice battle, one whose torch Ted Kennedy held high for years. But, health care was only one of his issues. Together, the three brothers represented some of the most important civil rights leaders in our history. Of course these men were not not infallible. Of course they made their mistakes, both personal and professional. Their faults cannot overshadow their impact, however. As I walked by the flag pole with its flags flying respectfully at half mast, the relevance of the Kennedys' work hung heavy in my heart.

UNO is truly a university of the people. It's the most diverse university I've ever been to yet it's also the most American. Last week, because it was the first week, there was free (meat only) lunch and a DJ pumping out the jams outside the student center everyday. What a trip that first day was. As I walked along along the path, I took in the scene around me. I was exactly what I had always expected out of university; it was that image every Hollywood movie portays a fancy highschool to be. Kids were sitting on the grass, on the steps, all around the student center munching on their fleshy lunches while hot dog smell stung my nose and hip hop bounced in my ears. The kids were sitting small groups. I saw the punks with mohawks. I saw the sweety pies. I saw nerds. I saw those groups in their hyperbolic forms. Not once that day did I see blacks and whites talking. That I noticed. A few days later some fraternities and sororities took over the music square with their dancing and the color difference could not have been more stark. The latina sorority was out. So was the black sorority and fraternity. And they were the only ones dancing. They formed this ring around which the white kids stood, looking on. The segregation at UNO continues to shock me and I wonder if those more accustomed to the scene even notice anymore.

So, as I looked at that flag flying low and I looked around me, I remembered that those battles the Kennedys died for are far from vanquished.

posted by Marielly @ 6:58 PM