I’ve had it! I can’t read another sentence without getting my thoughts down on paper. Before I go any further I want people to understand that I’m far from being prejudice. Guess what color my skin is? Everybody assumed white, right? Well, you’re correct and this is one of my points. This prejudice issue is so one-way. There are certainly prejudiced blacks, but we never seem to hear about them. All we hear and read about are racial and prejudiced whites. Granted, blacks are a minority and certainly are affected more by the prejudiced whites, but let’s quit pointing the finger at whites all the time. Is it possible that the blacks are part of the problem?

Some of you might be questioning the truthfullness of my statement of being far from prejudiced. Let me tell you a story. I grew up next to a wonderful family who happened to be black. They were outstanding people. The mother and father were both uneducated, but they worked their butts off and sent all four of their children through college. The one brother even used to babysit my younger brother and me when we were children. I have all the respect in the world for that family.

When I was eight and my brother was five, it happened to be 1968, the height of the racial tensions in this country. That summer this family took my brother and myself to a Cubs game. It must have been just a few months after Dr. King had been killed. It would have been easy for them to be bitter, but they were far from it. I hope I have everybody convinced I’m not prejudiced.

I have to comment on this latest so called “racial” incident. How can people be so damn sure it was racially motivated? Is it because the victim was black and the attackers were white? Let’s pretend for a second. Let’s say the victim was white and the attackers were black. Do you think it would have received as much ink? Would we read signs on the sidewalk saying, “Stop racial violence now!”? I don’t think so.

I’m always reading about how NIU is a racial institution. I commute so things probably happen that I don’t see, but the only way I can agree with that statement is if a student would get a lesser grade because of the color of his or her skin. Again, I don’t think so. People are here for an education, or at least they are supposed to be. Let’s be more concerned with our grade point average rather than looking for things to complain about. I don’t think this racial thing is as big as people make it out to be.

Bryan Dunaway

Senior

Marketing