Column reinforces stereotypes

Philip Kurian’s Oct. 18 column, “The Jews,” has once again incited controversy. Yet, as in the past, Kurian’s end did not justify his means.

My problem with Kurian’s column, and one he wrote last year entitled “The Others,” is that he hopes to resolve oppression by pitting everyone, specifically minorities, against one another.

Qualifying and quantifying oppression breeds petty belittlements and displaces the focus off of its source: racism. Regardless of whether certain stereotypes are “positive,” stereotypes represent backward steps for society. What about those who don’t fit these stereotypes? How do they feel about themselves or others “like” them?

I am not cheapening the issues of other minorities, rather, I am trying to make the point that stereotypes are defeating, and that we should unite to break them down rather than reinforce them as Kurian did in his column.

Academic freedom should mean that people know all sides of the story. Many readers share Kurian’s column’s similar stereotypical views. We take his words at face value, and by using slanted factual information, he only reinforce those stereotypes. Without the outrage, we’d all be worse off.

Speaking of the outrage, it’s exciting to see the barrage of comments both physically and electronically. Yet, thinking back to “The Others,” only two responses were published.

Of course, Asians (an all too broad category) haven’t been prominently attacked for being the over-generalized ‘model minority,’ but why, for essentially the same kinds of comments, was there no outrage? Why should things be different if you change Jew to Asian to Black to Latino to Native American to White?

Think about it.