Letters
to the editor
Diversity compared to conformity
This
letter is in regards to the Nov.18 article,
“Media Exploit Blacks’ Image.” Does anyone
else find Ms. Kwesi’s lecture ridiculous?
Apparently, businesses throughout the country
are deliberately targeting blacks for the
despicable act of trying to sell their products
to them! The very idea is so completely
offensive to me and I can’t believe I have
let such atrocity run rampant through the
economy! I feel so guilty about not standing
up for the integrity of cowboys who were
so unfairly targeted by Marlboro and Chevy.
To think of the harm and shame that has
had to be endured by them and their families
is almost to much for me to bear.
It seems incredible to me that during Kwesi’s
10 years of experience in the marketing
world that she did not come to grips with
the definition of what the concept of marketing
is: The deliberate targeting of select people
who you would like to buy your product.
However, Kwesi’s true intent was that blacks’
are exploited by anyone who is not black.
It is inconceivable that seemingly benign
raisins are part of a vast conspiracy to
inhibit the digestive process of young black
men and women.
“The lecturer revealed the African origins
of caricatures like Aunt Jamima, Uncle Ben...”
Aunt Jamima is black? Go figure. Damn corporate
marketing. The next time I see Colonel Sanders’
face I’m going postal. Yes, the fried chicken
pun was intended.
What irritates me the most is the blind
acceptance that the listeners of the lecture
and the paper itself, who swallowed her
words that punishes anyone who would dare
stand to disagree with her. The consequences
of not nodding your head to her crap is
to be racist or an Uncle Tom, which are
labels that no one would wish to bring upon
themselves. As the On-line Forty-Niner so
aptly put, “Words are chameleons, which
reflect the color of the environment.” This
is a remark that completely ignores the
fact that those who shout loudest are heard
by everyone.
Kwesi seeks to control the thought processes
of others through blatant emotional manipulation.
That is something that I can not abide by,
but which unfortunately seems to infect
the majority of the students of this campus.
The diversity so indoctrinated in this institution
is mere synonym for conformity. A vicious
new kind of conformity that preempts the
possibility of dissidence. The only sin
greater than bigotry is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy
makes you a moron and a liar.
—
Casey Brand
mechanical engineering
Diversity
compared to conformity
The
purpose of any newspaper is to inform the
readers with factual, unbiased, and objective
information. In the past few weeks the On-line
Forty-Niner has failed to provide any of
this. Recently an article ran that was deeply
slanted against a particular student who
was suspected, without evidence, in committing
a hate crime. The article seemed to promote
the idea that the student should be kicked
out of the school without due process. The
bias and lack of facts in the article were
nothing less than an article with no journalism
ethics that any newspaper would be embarrassed
to publish.
Furthermore, on Nov. 18, the On-line Forty-Niner
published a front page article, “Media Exploits
Blacks’ Image.” The headline itself is an
opinion and should not be included in any
section other than Opinion. The article
continuously included false facts and was
once again slanted on one group’s point
of view. When a reporter writes about an
event he or she should not take on the lecturers
opinion and incorporate it into the article,
but instead report factual information about
the event.
When reading the On-line Forty-Niner, students
are subjected to articles that are considered
news, but are more opinion than fact. And
yet the On-line Forty-Niner charges the
Long Beach Union’s “Sex at the Beach” column,
as being uninformative and for purely shock
value. However, the column ran by Long Beach
Union is in the Viewpoints page, a page
meant for opinion and not necessarily for
fact. The “journalism” taking place at the
On-line Forty-Niner is beginning to become
a joke and needs to be corrected, for the
sake of the journalism department. If a
factual column cannot be written, then do
not include it in any section other than
your Opinion page. The On-line Forty-Niner
was once a place to find factual and informative
articles about on campus events, I only
wish that the On-line Forty-Niner can achieve
that.
—
Ryan Holliday
liberal studies
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