Remember this, Rollo

How much of an outcry was there when a (very progressive) panel discussing “intergroup dating” concluded against the practice? There was none.

So now the present matter: I think, at worst, my previous comments were only puzzling and not racist, as they don’t indicate any sort of racial prejudice–far from it, they were intended sarcastically and might be as effectively replaced by an entry suggesting that J. Crew or Abercrombie will soon take over the Co-op and College athletic outfitting and that Kenneth Lay will be a visiting professor in the fall at Tuck. Slippery-slope sarcasm: get it?

It is apparent that I didn’t make myself clear. In this day and age, resolving such things is what email is for. Right?

So both humorous and troubling are the wild conclusions to which Sam Stein leaps in the D. According to him, I am “narrow-minded,” abusive of my rights (which Stein seems eager to take from me, anyway), pitiable, and guilty of having been “racist.” Stein has made his uncharitable assessment of me on the basis of very little data, less than 100 words altogether. It’s a Plato’s problem, and this missing information (that which gets us from “numbers-runners” to “racist”) must be coming from somewhere, right? Most likely, Stein thought it up himself.

Well, there’s a word for this: prejudice.

Consider that when several black students made overly racist remarks–admitting, in fact, to racially-motivated behavior–Stein (now known to us as a racial activist, agitator, etc.) was nowhere to be seen. When a (former) writer for The Review publishes remarks that are less racist than incomprehensible, Stein is shocked and outraged (not to mention, as Menashi did, self-contradictory and seemingly-confused).

So what accounts for this discrepancy? Is Stein biased against white students, students who have written for the Review, or students (and alumni) who enjoy too many gin and tonics before posting things online, or is it some other group of which I am a member that he dislikes? Without one of these, Stein’s accusations couldn’t be.

Of course, I could be charitable and suggest a different motivation for Stein’s letter. Look this one up.

Ah, to be a sophomore!