After reading Debra Fleischman’s March 19 column, and after reading AP-related stories in the local dailies, something got stuck in my stomach and continues to bother me. It hurts worse than a punch in the gut. To think my alma mater has students who practice racist tendencies is, well—Debra said it best.

I guess I noticed it while I was there, but never gave it much thought. I can find a reason for such racist tendencies, but it surely is not an excuse.

Maybe it’s because most NIU students are a product of Chicago suburbia. While many parents of ours brought us to the suburbs for better schools and a decent backyard, many parents moved outward to get away from what they considered crumbling neighborhoods. In reality, those families’ decision to move was the reason for the crumbling.

Paranoia seems to be the only reason for those actions. That paranoia filtered down through generations.

Again this doesn’t justify racist actions. Those racists who screamed obscenities must have had quite an inferiority complex to put themselves so low. It’s too bad for them that there aren’t any rocks large enough for them to crawl under.

Ralph Tector

1982 graduate

NIU journalism