Reporting DiCara

To the Editors of the Crimson:

Larry DiCara might have won his "First Test" (Crimson September 22), but Garrett Epps' pompous, incredibly racist write up on it diminished his victory and the Crimson's reportorial stature.

Why the fact that DiCara is young or Italian or goes to Harvard should be labeled as "strengths" rather than whatever positions on issues he might take (listed later almost as an afterthought) suggests Epps as little more than a class snob commenting on the fun and games of lumpen politics.

Epps further comments that DiCara has a real chance since Boston voters don't consider him a Harvard-type but more "one of them...short, stocky, hook-nosed, balding." Genuine Harvard people, we must assume from Epps' viewpoint, are all tall, thin, straight-nosed, and hairy. Nowhere does Epps suggest that some Boston voters might have selected DiCara for his platform (or his understanding of their problems) rather than his nationality or looks. But then, that might be asking too much insight from the Crimson president whose narrow vision still very much reflects Harvard's W.A.S.Per-than-thou mentality.

I do not vote in Boston and have no stake in DiCara's campaign but he hardly needs an amateur version of hack reportage. Peace,   Jean Bergantini Grillo

(Grillo's attempt to interpret my racial or ethnic views--or even, in fact, my ethnic origin--on the basic of a place of relatively straight reporting is puzzling to me. To answer her points in order: 1) The listing of DiCara's strengths was an almost verbatim paraphrase of the listing given me by his campaign manager. Grillo cleverly omits one-third of the listing: the word "liberal," which is ordinarily taken to refer to a candidate's political beliefs. 2) My listing of DiCara's appearance was not a slur, but merely an observation that he did not lit the image of the Harvard grandee. I submit that this image does exist, and that it would be a minus factor if DiCara conformed to it. Of my own height, waist-line, nose or hairline, of course, Grillo knows nothing. Lastly, I stand by my observation that racial and ethnic origin, community rootism, and strength of organization are often of coequal importance with political stands in Boston elections--and, indeed, in elections all over the country. If it is Grillo's suggestion that I made up this idea and somehow grafted it onto DiCara's campaign, I urge her to dismiss it from her mind. The interpretations were almost all supplied by DiCara himself or by members of his campaign staff.   --Garrett Epps)