Iran Comment Stereotypes

To the editors:

Richard Lee and Alan Wirzbicki in their lampoon of Eddy Dominguez's "calls for major structural reform" on the council are right in claiming that "this isn't Iran" (Crimson Wisdom, Dec. 8). Indeed "this" is a place where "calls for structural reform" can be heard in the spirit of healthy democratic debate whereas the voice of political opposition within the Islamic Republic of Iran is muted by a complete disregard for human and political rights as we know them in the United States.

To claim that the "radical" council presidential candidate Eddy Dominguez is similar to an Iranian revolutionary demonstrates extremely poor judgment. This metaphorical conflation is not just a patronizing way of undermining the democratic ideas Dominguez's campaign inherently espouses by taking part in a presidential debate--it is also an offense to Iranians.

Lee and Wirzbicki's metaphor plays into the demonic stereotype of Iran favored by the U.S. media while at the same time trivializing those Iranians who have died for being suspected of holding (never mind expressing) the political beliefs which Eddy Dominguez can freely debate. SAADI SOUDAVAR '99   Dec. 8, 1998