Monday's column by Philip Kurian is perhaps the most blatantly racist 1,057 words I have ever read. Despite his claim that he is "not debating the relative suffering of American minority groups," the article routinely compares these American minority groups to one another, leading to his eventual assertion that "African Americans bear the brunt of the racist legacy in this country."
He cites the controversial opinion that slavery has an impact on the "black psyche," only briefly recognizes the Native American situation, and completely ignores the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the subsequent racism directed towards them. Also, despite beginning and ending his article with a discussion of the recent party, Kurian neglects to address any of the issues that have arisen from the discussion that followed. While he presents many points that illustrate the plight of Latino immigrants, he always manages to find a way to insinuate that blacks are worse off. Kurian's implication that the "model minority" epithet of the Asian American community is deserved further demonstrates his contempt for non-black minorities in America.
Kurian is the second Chronicle writer in the past few weeks to describe Latinos as the largest minority group in the United States. This point should never be made. When presenting the argument that a minority voice should be heard, the size of that minority group should be irrelevant. The fact that the Latino community is larger than the Asian, black or Native American communities does not mean that it is more credible or important.
Another troubling aspect of this column was the fact that the predicament of American blacks is implicitly blamed on others. Kurian cites statistics about hate crimes (an ill-defined concept based on motivation behind a crime, a fact that renders most or all related statistics inaccurate) and imprisonment. By doing so, he implies that those in power are somehow attempting to ensure that Blacks can never improve their social status. The last time I checked, serving time in jail required committing a crime. Few will argue that there exists some level of corruption within the judicial system, but I highly doubt that it is sufficient enough to warrant 1.6 percent of all blacks serving time.
Kurian's article undermined the racism that exists towards non-black minorities in America while exaggerating the plight of American blacks through the quotation of selective statistics. He also blamed the majority of this on those in power while neglecting to attribute any of it to individual decisions made by members of that minority. This is a University that prides itself on discouraging intolerance. While I agree with his point that even racists have a right to be heard, I sincerely hope that the student body will protest this as heavily as they did the David Horowitz advertisement that ran a few years ago.
Justin DeSimone
Trinity '03
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