Controversial
mannequin removed after complaints
By
Zamná Ávila
On-line Forty-Niner
A
dark-colored mannequin with a noose around
its neck was removed from the College of
Engineering Monday after several complaints
from students.
“This
is a highly inappropriate display and I
am disappointed that it occurred in the
College of Engineering at Cal State Long
Beach,” Michael Mahoney, dean of the
college, said. “My guess is the overwhelming
amount of people in the department would
find it as offensive as I do.”
Passers-by
were readily able to observe the casual-dressed
dummy sitting inside the office of Bruce
Longson, an equipment technician in the
civil engineering department.
“He
has his blinds open every single day,”
Rafael Contreras, an electrical engineering
student, said. “As if he wants everyone
to see it.”
The
controversy is generated from the belief
that the mannequin evokes a symbolic reference
to racially motivated lynchings white supremacists
have historically practiced against blacks
in the United States.
Longson
said the dummy did not have a symbolic motive.
In fact, he said, the dummy was originally
used as a test dummy for the U.S. cycle
team’s bicycles during the 1984 Olympics.
Longson said he kept the dummy as a memorabilia
because he worked on the hubs and part of
those bicycles.
“I
put my clothes on it and people think it’s
me,” Longson said. “It’s
a security guard, he guards the place.”
The
issue surmounts interpretation and perception;
this is an issue of sensitivity, Bede M.
Ssensalo, chairman of the department of
black studies, said.
“If
you are aware of the history it evokes of
the African Americans in this country being
lynched during slavery and after slavery,”
Ssensalo said. “Then you would know
that someone with coming form such a background
would be offended because it evokes those
memories.”
Longson,
described the noose as an “Italian
neck-tie” and said the mannequin is
obviously not a black dummy because he has
blue eyes and therefore it cannot connote
the lynching of African Americans.
“Those people [who have complained
to him] must be uptight, they’re just
troublemakers,” Longson said.
Guido
Piotti, vice president of Associated Students
Inc. said he disagrees. The connotations
that matter are in the eyes of the viewer,
Piotti said.
Longson
argues however, that if people find the
dummy offensive they need not look into
his window.
Several
of the university’s policies foster
the free exchange of ideas on campus, yet
while free speech is encouraged on campus,
hate speech is not.
The
difference is blurred by the intention of
the individual or group presenting that
element of speech, Craig Smith, an expert
with the Center for First Amendment Studies,
said.
“If
it’s perceived as a threat, or intended
as a threat, then it’s not protected
by the first amendment,” Smith said.
“Context is very important.”
Contreras
said he does not see the purpose of a mannequin
with a noose around its neck and that the
perceived threat certainly exists.
“I
feel that he is at least promoting violence,”
Contreras said. “I think it says that
in his eyes it is OK for someone of darker
skin color to be hung.”
Several
attempts were made to contact the direct
supervisor of the technician, Joseph Plecnik,
the chairman of the civil engineering department,
but he refused to return phone calls or
comment.
“At
this time I have much more important things
to handle,” Plecnik said.
Mahoney
said thorough investigation into the matter
would take place in order to determine whether
further corrective measures will be taken.
“If
it was up to me,” Piotti said. “Not
only would I correct the problem, but hold
everyone that let it happen accountable.”
As
a university employee people have certain
rights, but they also have certain responsibilities,
Elena Macias, the interim director of Equity
and Diversity an office that investigates
complaint of unlawful discrimination and
sexual harassment at CSULB, said.
“People
have a right to their opinion but there
is a time, place, and manner that can be
prescribed for by the university,”
Macias said. “We are a learning institution
and want to promote a civil and tolerant
institution where students can learn.”
“I
feel that there has been a laid back approach
to this [the removal of mannequin],”
Piotti said.
Mahoney
said he learned about the mannequin, which
had been displayed in the technician’s
office for several months, Monday from an
administrator and had it removed by the
end of that day.
“I
know this is not an isolated incident,”
Uduak-Joe Ntuk, the recently elected A.S.I.
senator of the College of Engineering, said.
“I find it disgusting and will work
with the College of Engineering to root
out this problem.”
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