  ERROL'S TUNNEL VISION Mr Tremolada urlLink didn't like what he saw in a politically-charged art display at Clark Kerr. Many students succumbed to the poorly cited facts that plastered the walls of rooms labeled sexism, racism, “class-ism,” and “religious-ism,” among others. Instead of facts, the signs presented falsehoods with implications that America was no better than any oppressive regime. One sign read: “Over one million black men are deprived of the right to vote because they are in prison.” This suggests that these men were treated unfairly because of their race. The reality is that the United States government does not allow any imprisoned felon to vote, period. There was another posting that read: “0 UC’s built, 2 CSU’s built, and over 100 prisons built.” Factually this is wrong as well, as construction for the new UC Merced is currently underway. The most disturbing sign read: “US TERRORISM” and underneath it were pictures of the Klu Klux Klan. This is outrageous. The federal government never endorsed nor supported the blatant murder of innocent peoples. To say that the KKK represents America, or that our nation has ever acted like terrorists, is seditious. Let's break down those three "falsehoods". Regarding the "prison" item, maybe Mr Termolada should have a talk with Ms. Farenzena who, in her urlLink piece on Berkeley's diversity programs, argues that while de jure affirmative action (or "reverse racism" in Patriotese) is currently prohibited, de facto instances of it are still prevalent. (Her article gets a little muddy, but that's beside the point) Now we have Errol claiming that the stat from the tunnel has nothing to do with racism, because no de jure racism was involved. These two articles appeared in the same issue of the Patriot . They need to get their stories straight.
Next, the "UC's and CSU's vs prisons" item. Not to split hairs, but they said "built", and Merced is not near completion as of yet, so this is far form a falsehood. Lastly, the "Klan" item. The United States government both supported and endorsed the institution of enslaving an entire race for 75 years. For over 60 years, ending in the 1950's, the US Supreme Court took a position in favor of racial segregation, one that the current urlLink Chief Justice has said should not have been reversed.
State and local governments in the US in decades past did not take harsh stances toward the Klan; indeed, the legitimate face of white-hooded racism, the White Citizens Council (now known as the Council of Conservative Citizens) had significant sway in local governments in the American South for many years. I love America and want the very best for it, but I'd say all that makes the claim in the Clark Kerr display quite valid.
And with the three pictures in the online incarnation of his article (just one in the print edition), I sure wouldn't have minded if some of the material he discusses had been included. Moving on... Mister Tremolada, expect a call in the next few days from Milton Friedman, asking why exactly you dragged him into this: This was not a Tunnel of Oppression, but rather of neo-liberal anti-Americanism. And finally, he caps off his piece with: My true concern with the Tunnel was that the event served as an anti-America staging ground. This kind of project completely undermines what America stands for: freedom and justice for all. How... does... it... do... that? 
