Bush’s bold statements in second debatedemonstrate courage and leadership

Contrary to all expectations, President Bush showed in the seconddebate that he was indeed a forward-looking leader, capable ofre-thinking old positions and accepting change when necessary. Thathe would boldly and without hesitation denounce the Dred Scott vSanford decision, this in spite of the racial attitudes of hiselectoral base, makes clear to the world that this is a man with thecourage to publicly condemn the slavery of the 19th century and thevision to move into and embrace the racial attitudes of the 20thcentury.

It is with renewed respect and profound curiosity that I await hisperformance in the third debate, during which one can only hope hewill make equally clear his position on Plessy v. Ferguson. (I thinkI know where he stands, but hey, I’ve been wrong before.)

Ron RichardsSDSU Alumni

Headrick promotes ignorance with racialstereotype of Lakeside residents

I have a few comments about the column written by ConsuelaHeadrick (“Racism is still alive in United States,” Oct. 6). Shebelieves America has not changed much since the Civil RightsMovement, but if it has not changed then how come there currently isaffirmative action, reverse discrimination and government programs toassist minorities to get into college? I don’t know if you havenoticed, but there are no programs to help white students get intocollege. There may be programs to help poor students, but no programsto help white people specifically exist. Instead there are manyscholarships and programs for black students, Latino/Latina students,Asian students, etc.

The importantissue in my mind is affirmative action, wherecolleges now have to fill racial quotas for their admission. Thismeans people with higher grades, higher SAT scores and morequalifications can get denied admission simply because of their race.How would you feel if you worked hard all through high school earninga high grade point average and doing well on your SAT test only to bedenied because of your race? Affirmative action is supposed to levelthe playing field for all races and diversify schools. Although itmay be doing so, it is also accepting lower standards simply becauseof a person’s race.

I was also deeply offended by Headrick’s comments about notstepping foot in East County (Lakeside) – I am from Lakeside.She made it seem as though everyone in Lakeside is racist. That isstereotyping and stereotyping leads to ignorance – makingracial matters worse. People who read her article will think everyoneis racist in Lakeside. However, that is not true. Headrick is makinghuge assumptions without doing the proper research. Her only point ofreference was a documentary shown on PBS.

I went online and researched the documentary and read articleswritten by Diane Lee. She quoted the director of the program assaying, “The community I found was filled with people who cared verymuch for their town and for kids.” He did not say anything about thecommunity as a whole being racist. Yes, there are a lot of guys inEast County who drive pre-runner trucks with shaved heads, but thatdoesn’t make them racist. Headrick says there are open racists inLakeside, but the reality remains there are open racists everywhere.If a city has some racists it doesn’t mean the whole city is bad. TheLakeside I know is family-oriented, where families go to rodeos andcheer on the riders. The point I am trying to make about Lakeside isthat the rumors are untrue. I know plenty of people in Lakeside andthere is no reason to stereotype the town because of the actions of acouple kids.

Headrick has made many complaints in her column, one of which wasabout her shopping experiences. She says she was singled out becauseshe’s not white, but I think she was singled out simply because shewas a teenager. Also, Headrick says America accepts racism againstblacks, Latinos, Asians, etc., but she doesn’t tell why racism isaccepted against white people because of what our predecessors havedone. The problem is, none of us have done anything – we arenot slave-owners, we’re not the founding fathers and none of usproclaim, “I’m white and proud because we used to own slaves.” I amsick of taking the flack for simply being white. I have not oppressedyour people – the world I was born into was one in which weapologize for everything we do and have to be politically correctabout everything.

If you do not want to raise a child here, that is your choice.This is the United States – you have the freedom to have ornot have, kids. You also have the option of leaving the country. So,if you’re so unsatisfied with our country you can simply get in yourcar and travel away – north or south, or hop on a plane andhead to the Middle East. You’re bagging on America, but it isAmerican freedom that lets you write your columns and publish youropinions.

I am an 18-year-old white guy with a shaved head from Lakeside,but don’t stereotype me – get to know me before you make yourdecisions about me.

James Vishnursing freshman

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