To the Editors of the Pioneer,
A few weeks ago, I drove from Seattle to Walla Walla to attend the memorial service for Dr. George Ball. As I was coming into town I fiddled with the radio dial and found some music that seemed interesting. As I listened to the song and looked at the dial, I realized that it was probably KWCW. When the song was over, a young, presumably white, DJ came on. She said [paraphrased], “Um, I don’t know what you guys . . . uh . . . like . . . think of that . . . but . . . if you could see the video? . . . you would see that . . . I don’t know . . . there seems to be this trend lately with African American bands? I don’t know if they’re like trying to be . . . Western . . . or what, but there’s this trend where they’re wearing blond wigs . . . and . . . I don’t know what that’s about . . . because that’s not their natural hair color.”
I was appalled. I can only hope that mine is not the only letter coming in on this subject.
I will let the comment about “trying to be Western” sink in and speak for itself. Let me just raise two questions, however, that may be helpful in starting a dialogue. Would the DJ be equally confounded to find that white band members were doing things that weren’t “natural” to their hair? And what criteria does she use to judge white people who appropriate the music, dress and hairstyles (think dreadlocks perhaps) of others?
As a Whitman alum, I have watched with pleasure the growth of the college over the years. The college offers a wider array of classes than it did when I was a student, and seems to attract a more diverse student body. I was mortified to hear these words coming from the college radio station.
Jeanne Morel
Class of 1980