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California Legislature Names October "European American Heritage Month" --October has been designated
"European American Heritage Month" by the California legislature, which unanimously approved the resolution
in late August.
Read dates in October's European American History Month
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European-American student clubs can be a lot of fun, but there can be hostility toward them at this time. Surprisingly,
the most bitter opposition will come from members of "white" elite groups. Some non-European Americans
will view your application for a club with initial apprehension, but that will fade when you explain your purposes
to them.
CLUB PURPOSES
Develop the purposes of the club before approaching school or college administration so that you and your friends
have carefully thought through your ideas for the organization. Review the guidelines or rules at your school or
college for starting a club before going too far.
When you and your friends have developed purposes of the club, write them down and use them as initial guidelines
for the club. Here are two good purposes for your club:
EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE
We are organizing to provide information about European American diversity and contributions to students and faculty.
We are committed to carry out an educational program centered around the month of October each year, at which time
we will strive to educate students and faculty at our campus about European American diversity and contributions.
Planning and executing our October educational events will be our prime activity around which we will structure
our organization. October is European American Heritage Month.
ANTI-RACIST PURPOSE
We are anti-racist. We oppose racist slurs and negative stereotypes directed toward any student or group of students
on campus, including those directed at European Americans.
WAYS & MEANS
You will find that you and your friends will need to make several commitments in order to be successful.
(1) All club meetings should be open to any student or faculty member. Most students won't want to attend, but
they would find a bar to their attending very fascinating and very objectionable.
(2) Membership should not be limited to blood descendants of indigenous Europeans. The membership requirement should
welcome all members who share your educational and anti-racist purposes as stated above, notwithstanding their
continent-of-origin.
(3) Your club should not be centered on college preparation because that will result in a club membership that
is not interested in publicizing European American diversity and contributions. The only good focus for your club
is to prepare and carry out educational activities, especially during October.
(4) You must be vigilant in guarding against malicious persons who will seek to use your club to make negative
statements about European Americans or others. Most administrators and faculty will assume that your club intends
to do this, and it is vital that it not.
(5) Don't expect fairness or parity by school administrators or faculty. Remember that "white" elites
will demand higher standards for you to comply with. This is the way it is at this time. Don't complain, just do
it.
(6) Choose your language carefully. For example, avoid the word "pride" and use "decent sense of
self-respect." Most terms and phrases used by other ethnicity-based groups are simply not available to European
American groups because they would trigger a torrent of abuse. It's not fair, but it is the way things are at this
time.
PROJECTS
There are several things your European American club can do to promote knowledge of European American diversity
and contributions. One thing would be to create, copy, and distribute a calendar page for October, showing some
event each day on which some meaningful thing happened to Europeans or European Americans.
Another thing would be an essay contest or an art contest with the theme of an element of European American diversity
(something about Celts or Slavs, for example) or contributions (something about airplanes or written constitutions,
for example).
And a third thing would be to make an exhibit in the school library or student union during October picturing several
positive contributions of European Americans or Europeans.
KEEP US INFORMED
As time goes on, kindly send us emails letting us know your success or
questions. Good luck!
webnew@eaif.org
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