Many miss point of mock-lynching message

In a letter to the editor in the Nov. 20 edition of The Chronicle, Amy Schreck condemned affirmative action as reverse-discrimination. She also wrote about the "two bigots" who hung the black doll above the tarred bench last week.

In response to her scatter-brained and only partially thought-out arguments, I would like to say the following:

First, affirmative action is the means by which people who are qualified for a position, but who may not receive it because of their skin color, gain an equal chance at attaining that position. As such, Schreck's argument hinges on the assumption that the majority of blacks or other minorities, including white women, who benefit from this legislation most are unqualified for the positions to which they apply.

Second, there is a need for a Caucasian equivalent of the Black Students Alliance. When race is spoken about, whites are viewed as race-less, yet every other "race" is measured in terms of its assimilation toward whiteness. "White" is as much a confusing term as black is. The difference is, we know it.

As for her objection to all-black scholarships, how many more all-white scholarships do we need?

Although the two black males who hung the doll were tasteless in their expression of disgust, I would caution anyone who comes down so hard on them. No, they did not take into account that there are people who work here who had family members who were lynched. The idea behind the act, however, is being overlooked (as is usually the case).

The idea is that the University has not changed. Blacks are allowed to be enrolled here, but the idea is the equivalent of the transition from field slave to house slave. It is not enough that there is a Black Student Alliance. It is not enough that there is a Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. Those were two things that black students had to rally for because the administration did not see it as important enough to do themselves.

The University needs to become an inclusive institution that is not so mired in tradition and comfort that it cannot see the harm in what is going on. I hope I see that day before I die.