I applaud the Daily’s efforts to combat racism here on campus, but how does removing the “Just Sayin’” section do anybody any good? It doesn’t. Eliminating the section doesn’t remove the pain of the offended people and it doesn’t do anything to decrease racist thoughts. Removing it is the equivalent of sweeping dirt under a rug. It merely hides the problem and allows the Daily and our student body to continue pretending like the problem doesn’t exist.

Not only does removing the “Just Sayin’s” do zero good, it also causes those that enjoyed the section grief. The section was a fun and unique part of the Daily, which made sifting through the many pages of the paper more enjoyable. They were certainly the part of the paper that I looked forward to reading the most, and I know many people who only read the Daily at all for the “Just Sayin’s.” Why should we remove something that has been so good for so long, because something horrible happened one time?

A clear and level-headed decision would be to fix the screening process for which “Just Sayin’s” are selected so that this mistake is never repeated. Axing the entire section is an overreaction, which while understandable given the situation, should be fixed. Let’s not punish the many for the mistakes of the few.

If we actually want to combat racism, we should ask ourselves, “How do we make it so that racism no longer matters in this nation?” The answer is that we have to stop treating it like something that matters. Racism isn’t something we’re born with; we obtain it through our interactions with each other. Here’s a prime example, before this whole catastrophe I had never heard/thought of an Asian as a “squintey,” but since this has become such a hot topic, the new name and stereotype has popped into my head as I walk across campus. It makes me wonder, if this hadn’t been blown up so big, would my thought patterns have changed? Would I be watching my fellows as closely as I am now? No.

I realize that what I’m saying is radical, but at least Morgan Freeman and I are in agreement. The way to stop racism from developing at ISU, and in the world, is to stop talking about it.