This letter is in response to Tom Sullivan’s letter that appeared in the Star. It is hard to find a place to begin sifting through all of your gross over-generalizations, perception of equality, and desire to be pluralistic.

Is not forcibly removing persons from their homeland, stripping them of all identity, severing family ties, and dehumanization worthy of shedding at least one tear? Should we tell all the Holocaust survivors to “stop crying about what happened … and worry about the future?” It is incomprehensible that you can simply discount the history of an entire race, one which would not even populate this continent in the numbers it does had it not been for “the white race.”

Secondly, can you prove that America is the land of opportunity? You state that “everyone has the right to succeed if they try hard enough,” and in the very next line you contradict yourself by stating that, “the better education a person gets, the better chance there is of getting a better paying job.” I must conclude therefore, that this is a land of opportunity so long as one can afford to be educated.

Your statistical “evidence” indicating that 75 percent of blacks do not graduate is neither relevant, nor correct. Where did you obtain this statistic? Aside from the lack of empirical evidence, this statistic is not inherently informative.

Thirdly, why is Jesse Jackson racist? Is it because he wants black equality and that scares you? By the way, Clarence Thomas may not believe in special treatment, but if you had looked into Thomas’ history, you would have found that Clarence Thomas has received the position he has through many affirmative-action type programs.

Maybe you like Thomas because he has done absolutely nothing to empower blacks and that makes you feel safe with him, or perhaps Jackson’s ideology threatens you? Whatever the reason, sound advice should not include idolization. Ever hear of Jim Jones and the mass suicides?

Finally, it is my conclusion that you are not “all for an intergrated society,” but rather for a society in which the white race dominates. If you did indeed, believe in a pluralistic society, you would not refer to African-Americans as “the blacks,” and you would not be concerned or intimidated about the Black Student Union, black Fraternities, graduations or educational programs.

Why is it such a terrible thing for African-Americans to be proud of their heritage and share a common desire to socialize with others that have this common bond? If there is no need for black student unions then there should be equal representation in every university club of every different culture. Reality check, there isn’t.

I feel sorry for you that you are so grossly misinformed. What I cannot understand is that if you are so against black organizations because they cause racial tension, why did you fail to mention the existence of white-power supremacist groups that perpetuate racial hatred?

The next time you decide to write a letter, I hope that you at least provide a reason to write instead of writing to disseminate your insecure views about freedom and your rationale for maintaining the status quo. By the way, does communism still exist?

Michael Tantillo

Junior

Psychology/Spanish