Activist derides artificial 'unity'

What is justice? Is justice confined to the realm of law? Why is economic equality considered a oxymoron within the context of a capitalist democracy? These were but a few of the questions Dr. Angela Davis posed to the audience gathered to see her last Monday in the Michael J. Smith Memorial Chapel.

Davis gained recognition as a prominent civil rights activist during the 1960s and 70s. She was a member of the Communist Party of the United States, which, along with her social activism, led to her removal from her teaching position in the Philosophy Department of UCLA in 1969. In 1970, Davis was placed on the FBI's ten most-wanted list under what were later deemed to be false charges. After spending two months in hiding and being apprehended and held by the authorities for 16 months, Davis was acquitted of all charges brought against her. Davis' time in jail and her trial made her a national figure, and she went on to continue to advocate for various progressive causes.

Davis studied under the philosopher Herbert Marcuse, and she eventually obtained her doctorate in philosophy. Today, Davis is currently a tenured professor in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of Angela Davis: An Autobiography; Women, Race & Class; and Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday.

The title of Davis' talk was "Arts, Education, and Activism: Beyond Rhetoric to Action" and in it she offered her thoughts on the function of art, the importance of education and the misrepresentation of the civil rights activists of the 1960s. Davis commented that she thought art had the potential to help train us to think about what is possible and to thereby "give us hope."

She emphasized the important role that musicians played in paving the way for the civil rights movement. Davis cited Ray Charles, a musician who refused to adhere to the conventions of a single genre and was willing to experiment with mixing radically different genres, as one of the sources of inspiration for the civil rights movement. According to Davis, musicians, by breaking the conventional rules of art, inspired ordinary people to break the conventional and unjust rules of society.

Davis also spoke of what she perceived to be the somewhat questionable legacy of Rosa Parks. Although Parks was recently given the honor of having her body laid out in the Capital Rotunda, Davis confessed that she herself was "deeply ambivalent about this honor." Davis stated that her main concern was not with Parks herself, but how Parks' story has "been narrated as a story of discrimination put to rest." The mere fact that Parks is given a hallowed place in American society, Davis said, does not discount the fact that racism continues to exist in a much more insidious form.

Davis went on to speak about the word "diversity" and how she perceived its true meaning to have been altered. She commented that "diversity" is a "term [that] is so ubiquitous today" since it has been based on a "corporate model of diversity" which states that diversity is something to be managed. Davis stated that "diversity can be conceptualized in such a way that does not make it diverse," and she cited as an example the Bush Administration. In one of her many barbs towards the Bush administration, Davis asserted that the presence of a few black members in the administration is not an example of diversity, but rather a guise to make the American government seem to represent diverse interests.

Davis ended her talk by answering a question posed to her about the importance of unity, to which she responded, "I have given up on unity." Davis stated that she felt unity among people of the same race was unimportant, and that is more important to be united along ideological lines. Davis then ended her talk and met with members of the audience.

Although Davis was originally scheduled to speak for two hours, her speech was limited to roughly 45 minutes, with extra time allotted for questions from the audience.

Earlier in the week, fliers appeared on campus protesting Davis' appearance at St. Joe's. The fliers themselves did not indicate the source of the protest, but the College Republicans later claimed responsibility for creating and hanging the fliers. Davis' speech went uninterrupted.