Letters to the editor

'Pointing Fingers' acknowledges prejudice

I couldn't agree more with the editorial board in "Pointing fingers not the solution," especially when they say, "We have pigeonholed non-affiliates as the wrongdoers who try to infiltrate our protected bubble of a community."

It brought to mind an incident that happened this past weekend to my friend Marty, who is a junior here at Santa Clara. Marty tried to go to a party with three non-Santa Clara friends, but they were unsuccessful and were subjugated to what I feel is a very shameful reflection of our student body.

Two of Marty's three friends were black, and both were not admitted entrance into the party. However, Marty and his other friend -- who is white -- were admitted. The host did not know anyone in the group and still allowed Marty and one of his friends to come in, but not the two who were black.

Granted, I do not know what was in this host's mind and I was not present at the incident, but from hearing Marty's testimony, it seemed the only criteria she was using was race and perhaps guessing as to whether or not they were Santa Clara students.

I completely understand having a party and not wanting strangers in your home. As a student living off campus who often has people over, I understand that there is a fine balance between wanting to open your house to new people and also wanting to be safe and protect your home. But I think there is a big problem if our criteria for judging safety relies on the color of someone's skin.

I think this incident also reflects how secure we are in our Santa Clara bubble. Our school has a very small amount of racial diversity and we are a relatively small campus. Because of these two factors, when we see black students who don't look familiar to us, it is easy to assume they do not go to our school.

As last week's article pointed out, non-affiliates -- primarily black San Jose students -- are often targeted as the perpetrators of on-campus crimes.

The editorial states, "These students are often scapegoated for crime that happens on campus. This all-too-convenient excuse has been grossly overused and has even more damaging implications behind it." This attitude seems to deny the possibility that Santa Clara students are capable of wrongdoing. And as for the damaging implications, I believe it was this prevailing attitude that led to the rejection of Marty's two black friends -- completely friendly and polite guys -- which in turn made them feel judged and ashamed.

I hope that the next time people have parties, they decide whether or not they want to risk having an open party and, if so, to allow anyone into their party regardless of the color of their skin. Otherwise, people should stick to inviting people they know. Admitting people based on skin color is appalling and is stepping backward into a society of prejudice and hate. I'd like to believe that our campus community exhibits better behavior, especially from students of a Jesuit university who are said to value competence, conscience and compassion.

Megan Zehnder

English '09