Danielle Heselbach from the University of Colorado at Boulder asks us to imagine being “black, Asian or Latino; your ten-year-old daughter has just been raped violently by a group of white teenagers.”

She also asks that all white men look at the privileges they were born with. This is her justification for meeting the “requests” of Allan Nosworthy.

As a white male, I particularly take offense to the insinuation that I am a rapist. If Heselbach insists on racism as proof for her point of view against white males, she should abstain from use of broad slander and should stay with facts. If a white male had singled out a minority group as rapists, he would be immediately branded as a blatant racist.

However, it is apparently acceptable to attack white men as a group.

Heselbach wonders why the ISU community could “turn [their] heads as a young man starves himself for justice, equality and equal opportunity?”

I believe that everyone would like to see more money for minority programs; however, the reason I “turned my head” was because I completely disagreed with the methods used by Nosworthy. He used his starvation as blackmail against ISU, asking for money in return for no negative publicity at a time when the university is trying to grow.

Heselbach also insists caucasians were born with privileges. However, I was not born into a rich family. I am proud of the fact that I receive no assistance from my parents to defray the cost of tuition, instead of demanding more money from government sources.

I did not have the opportunity to apply for scholarships on the basis of race, gender or religion, as minorities do. Is this racist? Do I deserve money simply because of the color of my skin? “ALL people deserve an equal chance,” Hesselbach says. If so, scholarships available only to minorities should be opened to all students.

Heselbach insists that the focus of her letter, white men, are ignorant and apathetic. However, by branding all white men as rich, racist and sexist, and all minorities as poor and living in “rat-infested apartment[s],” she shows her own ignorance and hatred.

Her reverse racism shines through as the true intent of her article, instead of simply supporting Nosworthy. Hesselbach and anyone with similar feelings should open up to new ideas. Not all white men are evil.

Jordan Lanini

Junior

Animal ecology/agricultural engineering