Writer compares Apaches to blacks
In “Take time to understand history” the Lantern celebrates Black History Month with a moving editorial about our country’s history of oppression. How unfortunate that history repeats itself. The day I read that editorial was the same day a United Nation’s official took testimony from traditional Apache about human rights violations on Mt. Graham.OSU recently rejoined a project desecrating that sacred site. This may not matter to those so jaded they think it’s OK to violate and circumvent our nation’s strongest cultural and environmental protection laws. For some people, particularly in academia, the promise of federal dollars and lure of new technology supersedes anything else, including a people’s right to pray or the continued existence of an irreplaceable wilderness area.Many of us do care, however. We are not deceived by OSU’s disingenuous public relations effort denying Mt. Graham’s sacredness, nor are we distracted by those who say it is a done deal. We are asking OSU to immediately reject participation in any aspect of this project, a racist, unlawful, completely inappropriate activity. Astronomers here have other options for joining large telescope projects which do not dishonor this institution.The Lantern’s message is excellent: understand history. It’s an important story, that 1960 incident at the Woolworth counter in Greensboro, NC, where black men were told to leave. Who would have guessed that a traditional Apache man, as he finished praying on Mt. Graham for his daughter’s passage into womanhood, would be arrested and tried a couple weeks ago for trespassing?
Anne CarlContinuing education
