Okay, so let me throw my scandalous, edgy opinion out into the burning fire.  What’s the big deal?  Now, I am in no way attempting to justify the actions of these individuals, nor am I condoning what they did in any way.  I think what they did was very hateful and wrong and should have never been done in the first place.  Having said that, I don’t see why people are getting so enraged at these individuals.  Sure, they thought what they did would be funny, humorous, cute, and obviously the rest of the UCSD community, and even the state of California strongly disagreed with their opinion.  Things like this happen all the time.  People are rude, spiteful, racist, sexist, and hateful about many topics, not just black people.  People are entitled to their own opinions, regardless of whether or not the opinions they possess are hateful or offensive to other people.  The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees an American citizen the right to Free Speech (except of course in the case of shouting fire in a crowded theater) despite whether or not that speech is hateful.

The politicians suggesting “sensitivity training, revoking Pike’s charters (from all UC’s!), and requiring students STATEWIDE to learn how to be racially correct” (Facebook Group: UCSD Students OUTRAGED By The Compton Cookout) are completely ridiculous in their attempts to prosecute the individuals involved in the ‘Cookout.  I don’t see how it is possible to punish the individuals through either the legal system or through the college.  Now, if they used University funding to pay for the party, then they deserve to have the book thrown at them and have them expelled from every conceivable place they can be.  If they did not, however, what is there that anyone can do besides say “You did a bad thing”?  They had a party off-campus, not sponsored, funded, or condoned by any UCSD group or organization.  What can the school do to these individuals without Unconstitutionally infringing on the rights of the individuals?  The Constitution doesn’t just apply when you want it to, it applies in all cases as the “supreme law of the land.”

Just recently, many of my first-year Thurgood Marshall classmates and I turned in a 6 page paper to our “Dimensions of Culture” class entitled “Justice.”  This paper asked us to evaluate the significance of “American democracy, the implicit promise of and criteria for membership in the American social contract, and whether there should be limits on majority rule” (Source), specifically in regards to the two Supreme Court cases of Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) and West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943).  In the first of these two cases, the Supreme Court upheld that “State’s interest in ‘national cohesion’ was ‘inferior to none in the hierarchy of legal values’” (Wikipedia) and therefore was of more importance than the individual freedoms and rights guaranteed to the Gobitis children by the Constitution.  This decision was later overturned in the Barnette case, where the Supreme Court upheld that individual rights were more important than this “social need for conformity” that the State was trying to impose.  This case signified a large shift in the Supreme Court’s upholding of individual rights claims, and marked a significant precedent that would be referenced many times in future decisions.

Now, having just (within the last week) written a 6 page paper on the topic of individual freedoms and rights guaranteed to individuals by the Constitution, I can personally say that I think the individuals in their actions were well within their Constitutional rights to express themselves in whatever way they see fit.  Now, even though the majority of people in the UCSD community extremely disagree with the actions of these individuals, I think that there are no legal ramifications that can be imparted upon the individuals involved in event.  Pike members, if you are retaliated against by the University or by powerful politicians, I encourage you to stand by your Constitutional rights and fight back.

Like I have said repeatedly, I personally think the individuals should not have acted how they did, and I believe they should issue an apology to the African American community at UCSD (however small their numbers may be).  But, having said that, I do not think it is right for anyone to attack the individuals because of their actions.  Sure, it may seem hateful and racist, but this is the United States of America, where even haters and racists are protected by the Constitution and it’s pesky Amendments.  No matter how hard it is to say, I think this is the way it should be.  The Constitution should not be extended only to people that conform, only to people that think the way that you or I may think; but nonetheless should be guaranteed to all citizens of America.  John Locke’s principle of a “social contract” implies that “individuals give up sovereignty to a government or other authority in order to receive or maintain social order through the rule of law,” and it is this “rule of law” that guarantees that “the law is above everybody and applies to everyone.”

You may or may not agree with the opinions I have expressed in this (lengthy) post, and I respect that you may have your own opinions about the issue.  Heck, I may come back tomorrow and think something completely different, but I felt that this was something that should be said by somebody in this whole debacle.  If you know me personally, you know that I am a person who respects other people’s feelings and beliefs, even if I do not agree with them.  I think people should be justified to their own thoughts, and having an opinion about an issue (be it politics, religion, etc) that differs from my own does not make me dislike that person.  If you don’t know me personally, you’ll just have to take my word for it. ;)

-B

P.S. I will say it once again in case you didn’t hear me: I do not agree with, condone, justify, associate myself with, or even like what the individuals did in planning this event, but nonetheless, I believe that the Constitution still applies to their hateful words and actions.

2/19 3:22am Update 1: To clarify a little bit, I mean the “what’s the big deal?” questions at the politicians and people who are trying to go after the individuals. Like I said many times, I think what they did was hateful, racist, and stupid. Of course the individuals being racist towards the UCSD African American community is a big deal, and I don’t mean to undermine that point. -Brandon

2/19 4:34am Update 2: I will be the first to admit, I definitely have a differing opinion on this matter than may people because I am not directly affected by the issue.  I was not here for the weekend that the event happened, nor am I African American.  I did not mean any of what I said above to be mean, disrespectful, or hurtful to anybody in the African American community.  I am basically voicing an outsider’s opinion on the issue, as that is what I am: an outsider.  I normally try to stay out of fueled situations, and I already think I have said too much.  The last thing I need is more people hating me for what I think or do.  More fuel for the fire I guess… -B

I have lots to share! Australi was AMAZING! I took around 3,700 pictures over the course of 19 days down under.

College is just around the corner… Move in on the 19th, and I can’t wait! I’m excited to move on to a new chapter in my life. :)

I’ll update more in depth later, I have to be awake in 4 hours…

A lot of people have been awaiting my decision, giving their opinions about which school I “have to go to” or which school “is the best opportunity for me,” and I appreciate that, I really do.  The only thing I fear is that in making my decision, I may hurt some people’s feelings because I did not (or did, hah) choose their school.  And then there’s the whole issue with the girlfriend, “you’re just going there because she is,” or “you’re not going there because she isn’t.”  Hah, I’ve gotten plenty of that from everybody, and let me just flat out say that… are you ready for this? … I am capable of making important decisions that will affect the rest of my life without being swayed by any one person (girlfriend or not).  I know! It’s shocking, isn’t it?!  A teenager able to make important decisions!? GASP!  Haha, well, in any case, Naomi I love you dearly, but you don’t play a part in which college I am choosing.  Sorry.  =]

And so, I know if you’re reading this, you’re wondering which school I’ve actually decided to go to.  Well, let me try and draw it out as much as I can… You know by now that I will be attending a UC school (sorry Amy), which means no Cal Poly SLO, and haha, I didn’t get accepted to any of my five private schools, so those are out automatically, haha.  I guess that’s all that the title really tells you.  No SLO.  Hmm…

This past spring break was a great experience for me.  I got to visit college campuses, and I got a great sense of what I should expect from each college.  The trips were really eye-opening and told me pretty much exactly what I wanted.  By the end of my spring break week, I had visited UCSD and Berkeley, and I had pretty much made up my mind that Berkeley was not for me (sorry Cameron and Jonathan).  And that left only UCSD, waiting for me to submit my SIR.  But then…

Curveball?  I’d say so…  And so, I was sitting in a movie theater in Mountain View, CA (by Google!), waiting to watch State of Play (great movie, btw) with my Dad, and I popped out ye ol’ iPhone and fired up Mail to find this email in my inbox.  At first I was like: “psh, haha, yeah right” because, get this: I never finished sending in my appeal information!  So I kinda dismissed it, and sent an e-mail back to Gordon (Band director at UCLA) saying pretty much: “what’s this?”  Then, after several hours of trading e-mails deep into the night  (he was in Italy at the time), I finally found out what had happened:

1. Upon receiving my admissions decision from UCLA, I sent an e-mail to Gordon requesting information about appealing through the marching band.
2. He received my e-mail, and sent me back forms to fill out and send back to him.
3. He also submitted my name to the admissions office as an “Incomplete Appeal,” meaning he was waiting for more info from me (the forms)
4. I slacked off, gave up on UCLA, and decided not to submit the materials, and just accepted my rejection like a man.
5. The admissions office decided to do something they never do and they reviewed my appeal anyway.
6. They accepted me.

And so, after investing time and money into visiting UCSD and Berkeley, and being set on UCSD, I now had a third player in the game: UCLA.

This truly stumped me.  I didn’t know what to do.  I had crossed out Berkeley, and now I had to make another choice between two great schools, and that just sucks, haha.

UCSD or UCLA?

Who knows… Maybe I haven’t made my choice yet?  Oh crap, no, I have, considering it’s already May 1st, haha.  Well, I will enlighten you readers more at a later time.

See yuh.