I direct this letter especially to Jeremy Davis and Cameron Beccario as an answer to their letter (Oct. 2) asking for a response to their questions.

It’s good to see they are interested in both sides of the issue, unlike the snide, uninformed letter published the same day as theirs by Travis J. Muff.

On Sept. 14, I submitted an opinion article, “The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics Defends Their Heroine,” which the Iowa State Daily has yet to publish. I’ve heard rumors that journalism professors objected to my opinion pieces because two appeared during the first three weeks of class and they thought it suggested favoritism, but I have no way of knowing if that is true. If the “Catt Center” piece is published, it should provide most of the answers you requested in your letter.

In addition, a letter by Lisa Hermsen and Laurie McCartan (Oct. 3) addresses some of the flaws in the article written by Sharon Haselhoff, Ginger Hale, Erica Hanson and Molly Foster (Sept. 25) that you refer to as going unanswered. ISU alumna Kel Munger has also written a response that has yet to be published. I believe all these replies will be helpful to you.

The well-written article by the four women covers essentially the same ground as a folder produced by the Catt Center.

You can get this folder by going to the third floor of Catt Hall, and, as I suggest in my article, you should make every effort to obtain one, especially since you realize there are two sides to almost every argument.

To Davis and Beccario, I say the Haselhoff et al. article indeed conflicts with what the September 29th Movement has said. Because I’m not sure when my own article will run, let’s subject the Haselhoff et al. essay to rhetorical analysis. Although well-written, their argument is flawed.

Their argument suggests that Catt made only one serious error in her career and mentions the weakest of three comments written by her about white supremacy in Chapter 6 of “Woman Suffrage by Federal Constitutional Amendment.” Their article, and the Catt Center folder, strongly imply that Catt only served as editor or compiler, if you aren’t reading carefully; reread their article and you’ll see what I mean.

She was indeed the editor, but each chapter carries a byline in the table of contents; chapter 6 has Catt’s byline, although the table of contents is absent from the Catt Center folder.

Both the four women and the Catt Center are silent about her other white supremacy remarks and the many xenophobic and classist comments she made during her 50-year plus career.

The comments researched by the Movement span more than 40 years, continuing until 1939 when she talks about the “ignorant foreign vote” 19 years after the 19th Amendment was passed.

Catt’s xenophobia and classism are totally absent from the article by the four women and the Catt Center folder. They don’t admit it or deny it, they ignore it.

You can see Catt’s comments yourself, and the sources for them, in either Meron Wondwosen’s essay, “White Woman’s Burden: Carrie Chapman Catt and the Woman Suffrage Movement,” or “No Sister of Mine: A Word From the Great Unwashed on Carrie Chapman Catt” by Prof. Debra Marquart of the English Department. Both will be provided free of charge.

I’ll be glad to discuss the Haselhoff et al. article in greater detail if my Catt Center article doesn’t run. If it does run, and you have additional questions, I’ll certainly respond.

Because of space limitations, I’ll give a thumbnail sketch response to your question about the requests made by The September 29th Movement regarding multiculturalism. If you find it inadequate, please contact me and we can discuss the subject at length.

Since at least 1619, the former British colonies, now the United States, have been multicultural, with people of European and African descent coming here — Africans forcefully — and existing alongside American Indians and Latino/as in an ugly and violent history.

Asian peoples came to this country in the 19th century; their numbers have increased greatly in this century. However, despite this mix, the nation has been monocultural, dominated largely by the hegemony of European culture, traditions and mores.

In the last three decades, these other suppressed voices have been demanding to be heard and led to a realization (we hope) that recognizing and learning about the multiplicity of cultures may be beneficial to us all, if we can just work it out. Some of us are trying to work it out.

I can answer your questions about priorities and the Kuumba School, but I’m running out of space, although not interest. Your questions deserve more thorough responses than I have room to give but I’m willing to talk if the two of you are.

We certainly need the increased support you mentioned.

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Milton McGriff

Graduate student

Creative writing