Letters to the Editor

Editor’s note: The following letters were received in response to the commentary in the April 2006 Metropolitan.

To the Commentary Editor(s) of The Metropolitan:

Please consider the full impact of Ronnie Howell’s April 2 letter, and apologize to the African American community and the university. Such a use of that word in fact can never be understood as the exercise of free speech. No matter what its intention, the word’s impact is one of great harm: it conveys hate, ignorance, and the intention to debase. Had the letter been written by someone examining and (sort of) disavowing his former misogyny, I can’t imagine you would allow the language’s most obscene word for "woman" to appear 6 or 7 times in the opening paragraphs.

Please join in the community-wide effort to repair the damage from your unfortunate decision, and to carry forward the cause of racial justice at Metropolitan State

Sincerely,
Katie Kraemer
Graduate 2001 and member of the university’s Anti-Racism Leadership Taskforce

At this point in my life this letter is very vulnerable. I am sharing this to anyone that can hear. Some might say that this is going too far or that it is inappropriate. I understand all may view this as such.

However, I am not asking anyone for permission to write this. I have a voice and I have feelings

Some will read the article that was printed in the Metropolitan and initially be angry because of the repetition of the word use of n***** over and over again. To be honest that should be enough.

I cannot explain the pain that an African-American endures on a regular basis. The scrutiny of your education, the constant invalidation of what you know, to be right and the never-ending conditioning of having to prove whatever, to whomever.

The word n***** has never been a word with the exception of the times of slavery that has been an acceptable term for people of African decent. We as African-Americans have been called Negro, Colored people, black and now African-Americans but never has n***** been a respectful term.

I thought initially after reading the article. Man, if a black person would have written that using derogatory terms with comfort about whites, we would be in hot water and out of a job. But the word cracker, honkey. red neck, has never held so much weight with one group of people and been a contributing and determining factor to the survival, or success, of one group of people. Those derogatory words, although cruel and ignorant has never meant the same to whites systematically, socially, what n***** has meant to people of African decent.

By no means would I ever minimize the pain associated with those words, but the reality is that it has never carried the same weight and power.

That word for my people embodies so much of what Slavery, Jim Crow, Legalized oppression said that we could not be. It embodies the essence of degradation, low self-esteem, inadequacy and inferiority. The word alone reminds me of the countless murders of black men and women, castration and mutilation. “You are a n***** and we own you. You are a n***** and you can’t vote. You are a n***** and you are nothing.

As a student at Metropolitan State University I will say this. The people that allowed this article to be printed so that we could get some shock value, or so that we could be offended, did not think about the complex pain of this word.

I am an African-American living in a country that practices the demonization and dehumanization of my people on a day-to-day basis. I don’t need to be offended in a paper that my hard earned money pays for. I don’t need a lesson on the "evolution of prejudice." I need for whites who have privilege or relative privilege to be educated and transformed.

This letter that I am writing can never embody the digressions that this article will contribute to the progression of our University. The wounds that it opened and the division that it causes are inexplicable and irreversible.

We are all now met with different challenges now.

For me it makes me think about the way that I am treated at our bookstore a little bit harder.
It makes me wonder why I was not helped by the librarian before my white counterpart was.
It makes me wonder why my classmates think that it is okay to micromanage my group work.

I am a learned individual; I have been conferenced and workshoped to death. But I am sorry to say that it’s puts me on the defense; that is not somewhere I usually abide. The article printed in our school paper will contribute to the breaking of my heart in life once again.

No Santa is not real,
No the Easter Bunny is not real,
And no everyone at Metro State does not get it (the complexities of race, prejudice and privilege) especially the editorial team that viewed this commentary and allowed it to be printed.

These are my thoughts. Anyone who allowed this article to be printed and was either too incompetent to see the problems that it would cause or division that it would provoke should not be employed by any vehicle of media. I for one will not pay and or support the employment of people that are incompetent or culturally insensitive to anyone. I will do everything in my power to either have them transformed through education or no longer employed by the dollars of the students at Metropolitan State University.

Thank you!!!
Shvonne L. Johnson

The African American Student Association has introduced a climate for unity since the fall of 2005 with the exceptional new leadership of Karen Monahan (Treasurer) and Shvonne Johnson (Secretary). The "Rebirth of Unity" event was held in September and other student associations helped us push the envelope. The "Skate for Unity" party shortly followed and things were getting better on the surface: there were more hugs than mean looks, more co-sponsored events among associations and more dialogue students, faculty, and administration. The article, "The evolution of prejudice," gave us a reality check.

Too often we pretend that racism or prejudice doesn’t exist and in all actuality is worse than ever before. Signs and symbols are for the conscious mind and The Metropolitan has thrown its future leaders an unexpected turn of events similar to Maya Angelou’s “Graduation.” When there are people bold enough to lash out and disrespect an entire culture, there are always people that are willing to step up and put things back in perspective. This issue has given me an extra incentive to dedicate more time to destroying the structure of institutional racism. Rosa Parks sat down so that I can stand, the time is now.

Vice President of the African American Student Association,
Jason Marque Sole

To whom it may concern,

I realize that this is an email address for submission ideas and apologize if I have misused it. I would like to say that I am a bit concerned by the reactionary forces that have forced your newspaper to backpedal and repent concerning the opinion piece in your latest issue. Upon reading the article, I will agree that it could have been worded better, that the writer did not envision how much emotion is stored in such a racial epithet as n*****, but I believe that the Senate reacted in haste and upon the pressure of a loud few and did not think of the greater circumstances surrounding their actions.

I can appreciate the students concerns and hurt over the issues present in the article, I understand why they could be moved to outrage and shock. Speaking to one of the Student Senators who described the 40 or so students who came to the senate in indignation, I found it odd that a small group was able to invoke action by merely being loud and vocal.

I do not want to lose my point in all of this which is to say that I am troubled by what I believe could be considered censorship. The aforementioned senator told me how the senate froze the funding to your paper. Whether they believe it or not, this is coercion of a gross form. It seems to me that a strong leadership should be able to face the angry multitudes and do what is right although it leave a bitter taste in their mouth.

The freedom of speech is tossed around quite a bit these days and seems to have lost some of the meaning. Perhaps it is because this is "only" a university paper that such disregard for this right is allowed. There is no accountability to be had of the student leadership; no one really cares enough if they react to emotion and the "heat of the moment." If they don’t get elected again, oh well, it is not like their livelihood is ruined.

I apologize if this falls on weary ears, but I believe firmly in our (read all Americans) rights and would extend that to those I call enemy or those who share a different view than I share. I believe it took guts to let the piece go to press and I applaud your ill fated attempt to ensure everyone’s right to the freedom to share ideas and thoughts. With that I shall end. Thank you for your time.

Ricky Foust

Editor’s note: The Student Senate made a motion to freeze the newspaper’s funds, but they were not actually frozen.

I’ve only heard the article once, and never had the chance to read it thanks to the withdrawal of it, but it is my understanding was that this was an editorial piece. My opinion was that the writer was attempting to convey a very true message, but missed the mark, partially with her excessive use of n*****.

While a letter with word choices and structure that are poor is a little concerning to me, what is more concerning is the rapid and complete censorship of the message itself. The article suffered from one major problem: the appearance of being bigoted and intolerant on the surface. For those who insisted that the article be yanked, though, the opposite was true. The article was pulled under the guise of tolerance, but at depth, the complete opposite was true.

Even if the message was meant to be one of complete bigotry, this person is entitled to her opinion, unhindered. This is part of her rights as a human being, and is part of the founding principles of our society, even if we don’t like the message. To allow her anything less is to treat her as less than human, but worse, it makes any one of us that supports such an act the real lesser being, not her, due to our own prejudice and intolerance of others.

I have no qualms about some minor censorship of the aforementioned offensive word, because it borders on swearing in our society. However, by forcing the paper to pull the edition its entirety, Metro State shamed itself in a way that even the most racist and degraded person cannot.

Brian Rule

I found it very disturbing that the school newspaper did not allow a commentary response to the article. In my opinion, it was a reckless and irresponsible move on the part of the editor and the person writing the article. I am an African American Male and understood what the author was trying to convey, but because of the way in which the article was written and laid out in the paper I believe that the real message was lost. As a result a written piece that could have become a tool for a great discussion was turned into being a piece that became the focal point for negative incitement.

John S. Jacskon
Human Services Major

I had the opportunity to read the article before the papers were chucked off newsstands. As someone who strongly believes in the right of people to freely express themselves I appreciated the author’s life experience and her willingness to express what she knew would be offensive to a segment of readers. The way I see it, it’s her personal history and no one should invalidate her experience, or suppress her attempts to express herself. In a multicultural and complex society, there is need for everyone to "keep it real".

I thought the editor and/or persons ultimately responsible for the content of the papers failed the readership of the newsletter. Nothing was accomplished by choosing to include n*****. It wouldn’t have taken anything away from the story if the countless n***** had been substituted by ‘blacks’. Their decision to use the n***** word over & over again was highly insensitive, unmindful, uninformed and doesn’t represent the best of journalistic ethics.

Mureithi Gakuo

My name is Jeanette and I am a student here at Metro State. I am very disturbed by the article that was printed in your April issue concerning the supposed “evolution of prejudice.” I can’t decipher why this would have been printed without, to say the least, the offensive words taken out of it. This article was not only largely inappropriate and unacceptable, but also poorly written; if she was trying to convey that she had overcome her prejudices, the fact is that she would have never written the article in such a way. The message that she gave me and probably every reader was that she was very bitter not to mention ignorant about incidents that happened to her or people she knew and she continues to harbor those negative feelings. If you have a lack of articles, why don’t you publish how the school’s budget is spent on each department that comes out of OUR pocket? We are very interested in that, especially right now when we have to open OUR school newspaper and read a slap in the face that WE paid for.

Jeanette Jackson

I really wish you would put the article back up with a disclaimer so that we can continue the discussion rather than hide it by censorship. Plugging our ears and covering our eyes will not solve problems or make them go away.

Shaun McClary