In the past few days, we have seen and read the article “Why I Hate White People” by James Koman and the subsequent responses in “Letters to the Editor” here in the Mustang Daily. I would have to say that Koman’s piece was, if taken at face value, utter garbage. What he says in no way represents white people and is a very disrespectful way of looking at things.
In light of all this, I am very proud of Jacki DeMarchi and Derek Smith for standing up and announcing to the world that yes, they know how to read. That is a rare thing indeed in science majors these days, so congratulations to you both. It’s a good start, but as I recall learning in my high school English classes, when reading an article or essay, it’s also important to understand the “author’s intent.” Whatever that means. I remember reading things by these guys named Jonathan Swift and Voltaire who wrote stuff you had to “read between the lines” to understand. It was called something like “Satire,” or maybe “South Park”; one of the two. It’s pretty vague for me, being a fellow science major.
However, I think it might behoove the readers of these articles to sit down and think about not just what the words are saying but what the author is trying to tell you. Maybe next time, you will stop to consider the possibility that a white guy isn’t a racist against his own ethnicity, but his intentions might just go beyond hateful “whitey”-bashing and ignorant ranting.