I see the annual Frontier Fiesta bashing has begun, and I'm for it. For some, the event represents a history of genocide of American Indians and stealing of land from Mexican ranchers, but really, Frontier Fiesta is a program built on discrimination in modern times.
Some of the protesters make valid points. The west was built by willful exploitation of Chinese and other immigrants. Forced Indian labor built churches.
Black soldiers were used to displace and imprison Indians. And African slaves plowed fields in Texas and the increasingly white Southwest. Our western heroes, like Coronado, Custer and Kit Carson, massacred Indians and paid money for their heads. Countless criminal acts occurred in the frontier days; human rights were nonexistent.
Accurate history is important for everyone to understand, but most people can't relate to these events of the past.
The real problem with Frontier Fiesta is that it is a social occasion for a narrow segment of the white population at UH that is pretending to be the university's event for the entire diverse group.
It attempts to appeal to a wider audience because of the criticism it has received, but it really only offers drinking and socializing with a country music theme.
It is probably a fine event for the population it truly serves, but it has been given preferential treatment in the form of money, administrative endorsement and employee time that no other deserving programs ever receive.
The university should concentrate on events that benefit people in a more modern world. UH is no longer among the predominately white universities of the fifties, and it is not an agricultural university.
Its programs should showcase student talent and creativity. From space to architecture to child development, university events should exhibit an educational product for the outside community to discover.
The university has strong educational and cultural arts but does little to promote, or even support, these kinds of programs. Black History Month, Diez y Seis, Lunar New Year, Basant Bahar and the International Food Fair should be the focus of university programming.
The Edward Albee workshops, Afro-Cuban Ensemble, creative writing, student recitals and diverse live music and traditional arts in Lynn Eusan Park could attract people from all over Texas.
The Frontier Fiesta should be organized on equal terms with other student events and not promoted as a prominent university event.
It was not a progressive event in the fifties, and it does not suit the best interests of the university today.
In its origin it did not take into account the diversity of cultures that resulted from our history. Pirates traded slaves in Galveston, and Texans later neglected to tell them they were free by federal law.
Galveston, as the second largest port of immigration around the turn of the century, introduced great diversity in our city.
French speaking Acadians migrated here to escape the ravages of the Civil War. Japanese farmers rivaled Louisiana in rice production in the surrounding area.
Frontier Fiesta is no more about diversity now than it was then. Anglos often think that multiculturalism results when people of other races and cultural backgrounds become homogenized in white European heritage and tradition.
The University of Houston should not expect this kind of assimilation of its diverse population in one so-called mainstream event. It should promote great cultural experiences to students and to the Houston community, especially those who are so desperately trying to hold on to a tradition that began in segregated times.
As a key event for the university, Frontier Fiesta can only generate three days of fun in the mud for some and a great deal of resentment and apathy from the general student population.
Students who hoped to win administrative support for their goals in the past found their events derailed by the efforts of the administration to bring back the glory days of Frontier Fiesta. The unfair advantage and extraordinary funding given to Frontier Fiesta have left the wide range of once active student organizations with little enthusiasm for programming in such an unfair environment.
Frontier Fiesta would not be so controversial if it were not given more funding than typical student organizations and if it were not promoted as a banner program for the university. Administrators should recognize that it is a remnant of Texas culture, held over from less progressive times.
The university has always been successful by being progressive.
Fittipaldi is a
former UH student