Lampoon Sleaziness

To the Editors of The Crimson:

We, the Third World students of this University are once again subjected to and abused by the malicious racism that the Lampoon so fondly indulges in for the sake of satirical comedy. Have the mistakes that you have made in previous years escaped your minds or is it that you never really let these mistakes enter into your consciousness? Your arrogance is only overwhelmed by your ignorance and we, Third World students are disgusted by this obvious lack of respect that you have for our intelligence. The implications of the Bakke case apparently have escaped your level of comprehension, if indeed you ever had one.

Your article entitled 'Sleazy Letters' oversimplifies the issues of affirmative action. You imply that the only way Third World people can enter into the higher education institutions is by these "quota systems" which, in turn, select only the people least qualified. You then imply that the only reason that these "quota systems" were established came about as a result of the violence of other Third World people who did this because they did not have anything better to do with their time. By this you imply that there are no qualified Third World students that would enter into Graduate programs or into anything else which requires intelligence for that matter.

To add insult to injury to more insult, the extracurricular activities that the Third World people engage in slip your narrow-minded Western perspective as being the most 'barbaric' things that a person would do in Western civilization. You then go on to make a farce out of the hundreds of years of blatant discrimination suffered by the people of the Third World by placing us on the same level as, and thus equating us with freaks and outcasts.

We would like to point out something to you. We have found through a survey that most Third World people and other progressive thinking students do not read your magazine because of the "master mentality" that you perpetrate. Thus your readership consists of people who either do not care about the questions of racism and oppression or actively condone them. Both types of readers are indeed racists. Your articles and pieces, supposedly humoristic, serve to reinforce this narrow-minded racism that appeals to and supports those reactionaries who cry "reverse discrimination." We are tired of being the victims of your sick humor. The reality of oppression and racism that permeates through this university and the society at large is bad enough without your warped sense of humor which makes fun of our situation.

We therefore demand that you publicly retract your piece entitled 'Sleazy Letters'. We are not inert objects which can be used for your pleasure any time you want. And we will not be placated by your patting us on the heads and telling us "we're sorry" or "it was only humor." Your 'comedy' presupposed that we are all equal in this society but your racism ensures that the conditions of our oppression remain the same.

We have had enough. American Indians at Harvard-Radcliffe   Harvard-Radcliffe Black Student Association   Harvard-Radcliffe RAZA   La Organizacion Estudiantil Boricua de Harvard-Radcliffe   Harvard-Radcliffe Asian-American Association   Harvard-Radcliffe Carribean Club