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March 01, 2005

Letter to the Editor: Why you should have been at the MLK commemoration celebration

Apparently it was decided by the Oracle staff to make an anti-student of color edition. Maybe this was done to draw attention to this paper and have students respond. Throughout this edition, beginning from the first page of the Feb. 22 Oracle, it was disrespectful and hateful to the students of color on this campus. We do not entertain this approach, but we cannot help but to respond to at least a few of the major concerns. We are forced to write this letter to undo the injustice that has been caused by the blatant discourtesy of this paper.

We were shocked and perplexed at the letter to the editor entitled “Different races should follow the golden rule.” Initially shocking is the title. What does this title imply? Different races other than whites should follow the golden rule, implying that white people already follow this golden rule? If the writer’s intentions were to have all people follow this golden rule, then that is what the title should have stated. We gather from the lack of information that Ms. Jenna Witt was not present at the MLK commemoration celebration. For her sake, we will address the issues that she raises in her misinformed perception of Ms. Robertson’s charge to this campus.

Angela Robertson actually stated during her charge (both orally and the written copy published in the Oracle) to her fellow white students “to recognize your privilege and acknowledge your whiteness and to step out of your comfort zones by challenging yourselves to be educated but don’t always expect students of color to be your teachers.” Furthermore, to her fellow students of color to “be aware that you are not alone in the fight but if you don’t do the work for yourself nothing will be accomplished and understand that you are not the only one with barriers, you have to give at least a little to receive a lot.” These quotes were taken out of context to fit the ideology of Ms. Jenna Witt. She attacked Ms. Robertson’s statements and invalidated her voice using irrelevant evidence to support her misguided conclusions by cutting and pasting different pieces of Angela’s statement together. Angela’s wording was altered to make it seem as though Angela was talking about all people in the world, when she was specifically making a charge to the Hamline University community.

Ms. Witt assumes that white students and students of color have shared experiences and should be held to the same standard of this golden rule that she speaks of. The golden rule has absolutely nothing to do with Ms. Robertson’s charge. She was not advocating for people to treat each other differently based on race but was actually challenging all students to be proactive in the struggle for racial equality, similar to that of the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King. You cannot hold all races to the same standard when certain races are privileged and others are not. Many students of color on this campus have very different experiences than white students. So why would you address them in the same manner? You would not.
This is why it was addressed in the way it was.

It is impossible to conclude this letter without addressing one final issue. Ms. Witt stated “the ideal of professor diversity is similar to the process of affirmative action.” This statement could not be any more false! Wanting a diverse faculty has nothing to do with the basis of affirmative action or with equal opportunity. Affirmative action is a very controversial topic and should only be applied to issues that it deals with directly. Ms. Robertson said nothing of affirmative action, nor gave any indication that it was a policy that this university must adopt. It is apparent that Ms. Witt simply wanted to state her opinion on this issue, and this is fine; however, she mistakenly did this in the context of Angela Robertson’s charge.

This letter is frustrating in so many ways and can be picked apart line by line. It is apparent that Ms. Witt is misinformed and is doing the exact opposite of what she says should be done. She states, “Racial differences should be celebrated.” In what way is Ms. Witt celebrating racial differences? By demoralizing a student of color. By attacking the idea of a diverse faculty and staff. By saying affirmative action is reverse racism (which does not exist). This sounds more like racism then a celebration of different races.
One should not write an article in which they have no idea about the issues they are discussing. Do come to the MLK Commemoration Celebration next year so that you can get a clear understanding of the dream that students have for the Hamline University campus.

Juanita C. Boyd
Laura Mann
CLA Students

Posted by msveum at March 1, 2005 07:43 PM

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