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- LETTERS, Page 8Campus Bigotry
-
- One important reason for the racism of college students is
- resentment of affirmative-action programs, which have been in
- place for more than two decades (EDUCATION, Jan. 23). This
- institutionalized unfairness confers preference on members of
- minority groups on the basis of color or ethnic origin. As a
- result, equal opportunity doesn't exist. There is no question
- of the need to right some great wrongs. But in these
- enlightened times, surely minority students can compete
- successfully without having to use the crutch of affirmative
- action.
-
- John Hongisto Deerton, Mich.
-
- The suggestion that there is a connection between the
- Reagan years of reduced concern for the civil rights of
- minorities and increased evidence of campus bigotry and
- prejudice is a correct one. Administrative budget cuts and
- attempts to undermine affirmative action, on the one hand, and
- denying that minorities have any valid complaints, on the other,
- have contributed to the continuation of racism as our No. 1
- social illness.
-
- C. Sue Ely Elyria, Ohio
-