COLUMN: Separate Tracks

From Paul Godinez's "Word Up G," Fall '95 For members of Penn's black community, Spring Fling is the "white fling" and the Relays is the "black fling." The conscientious effort of those members of the black community to distance themselves from Spring Fling activities would be noble if based on moral principles. That is hardly the case. The real travesty is that the Penn Relays is nothing but a vehicle for the assertion of the agenda of multi-culturalism popular today for the people of color. The spirit of this momentous weekend is lost in the quagmire of racial and ethnic separation that continues to keep people ignorant at the University of Pennsylvania. The Penn Relays is about all people -- black, white, brown, Puerto Rican, Jamaican, etc. The mixing of thousands of grade school, high school, college and professional track and field competitors together on the last weekend in April gives witness to the great diversity of America and the ability of a diversified population to compete and rejoice together. The atmosphere truly is that of a carnival, with many vendors selling an infinite array of Relay paraphernalia along with music, jewelry and cuisine from a multitude of cultures. This gay atmosphere intersperses the tense paddock area where nervous competitors stretch, awaiting their fleeting moments of agony and glory for the enjoyment of the hundred thousand diversified spectators who flock to Franklin Field for the three day spectacle of athletic grace. Etched in my mind is the infamous day in April a few years ago when I received the baton as the third leg of my high school's 4x400-meter squad team. The incredible feeling of finishing that agonizing lap around the track was extraordinary, as was my surprise when Bill Cosby picked me up off the ground to congratulate me on a fine race in front of 45,000 spectators. My experience has been shared by the thousands of athletes who have graced the Penn Relays with their finest performances -- professionals like Carl Lewis or high school legends like Brendan Benner and Gary Kelly. The experience of the Penn Relays has not ended for me. To return to Penn Relays as a coach will be equally joyous. Watching the kids I coach represent University City High School next weekend will be as great an experience as lacing up the spikes again. It is in these kids that the Penn Relays spirit is captured. Their desire for excellence, their anticipation of the competition and their immense pride in their performance epitomize everything wonderful about the Penn Relays. For any one race or group to lay claim to the Penn Relays is a cruel joke and a farce. The Relays are not a showcase of one race's athletic superiority, as some aspiring leaders at this school contend. Anyone who is a true fan appreciates the great performances put in by everyone. It is a celebration of school and national pride and of individual triumphs over adversity. The American high school squads always get better crowd support than the dominant Jamaican high school squads. The Special Olympic teams receive as much crowd support as the men's Olympic development 4x100 race. The celebration is not about reinforcing stereotypical myths like the slow white man. The Penn Relays brings out excellent performances in every competitor, great or small. The student body of Penn does not realize the greatness of the Penn Relays. Worse, some try to put an ownership label on the it, a racial division between black and white. Never has there been a more faulty charge made by black students on this campus to call the Penn Relays their event. The Relays belong to the athletes, not the arrogant political activists who seek to continually separate themselves from the rest of the student body at Penn. A step show and party in Superblock is a great compliment to the carnival atmosphere. The personal initiative of black students to claim this weekend as a black-only weekend is asinine yet sadly understandable, considering previous attempts by black students to segregate themselves. The Penn Relays will celebrate its one hundred and first running this year. Nothing would be better than to let the Relays remain a spectacle of athleticism amid diversity and not a vehicle for promoting racial separation. This has no place on or near Franklin Field next weekend. Anybody wishing to argue knows where to find me the last weekend in April. It will not be with all the ignorance that pulsates up Locust Walk right into Low Rise North. I'll be sitting in the stands, among the many varieties of Americans who have come, like me, to appreciate the amazing efforts of athletes for three days rather than deal with the continued drive of young black students to segregate themselves from America.