The recent decision of the Iowa State Daily to publish the advertisement “Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea – and Racist Too,” by David Horowitz, raises some important questions for all of us to consider.

Since this is a paid advertisement, publication is not a question of free speech in the usual sense.

However, it can be argued that a public business must accept all comers. If that is true, why do we find no ads for condoms, hard liquor and the like in the Daily?

Or perhaps the staff would argue that, since the content is political, it is a question of free speech after all.

Does that mean that they would also print ads from the KKK or white supremacist groups?

If the staff feels it is incumbent upon them to print ads of a political nature, do they not have a responsibility to point out facts and statements that are misleading because of a lack of context?

The problems with Horowitz’s ad are too many to identify in this letter, but let me close with the words of the Duke University dean of African-American history, John Hope Franklin: “All whites and no slaves benefited from American slavery. All blacks had no rights they could claim as their own. All whites, including the vast majority who had no slaves, were not only encouraged but authorized to exercise dominion over all slaves, thereby adding strength to the system of control.”

White privilege is still in effect. Here’s one example: racial profiling.

Christie Pope

Associate professor

History