Mr. Mitchell, while you argue that “A true racist is a person who takes the time to study the different races of the planet in order to understand them,” you never do get around to defining “race” itself. In this instance you make race seem the equivalent of culture.

In another instance, “A racist in the true sense of the word is a person who is knowledgeable about all races,” but again, no definition of race.

If race is simply a reference to the five races, black, brown, yellow, red and white (or Cuvier’s “Caucasians, Mongolians and Negroes”), then this understanding of race is no more than biology. This doesn’t begin to answer any of the problems or questions regarding race relations in America.

I submit that erasing the meaning we have come to understand when we hear “racist” and replacing it with your cheap definition simply belittles the trials and tribulations people have been through in America.

I am afraid that if we just “revamp” words to their literal meaning then perhaps nigger and negro can come back into acceptable usage.

After all, following your example, nigger is merely an extra “g” to the latin word for black and negro is simply the Spanish word for black; there shouldn’t “technically” be any problem using the reference, except for those pesky connotations, which you advocate erasing for the word “racist” Faggot comes to mind, too, as does gay.

And the list goes on. Where do we stop?

Carlos G. Martinez

Northern Arizona University