LETTER: Hostile Attack

To the Editor: The front page picture of an African-American male alleged to be a homeless, Thunderbird-drinking "West Philadelphian" (DP 9/25/92) is not only a hostile attack on African-American males through the promotion of dangerous stereotypical dehumanizing images intended to incite fear, insensitivity and race-hatred. This negative depiction of the African-American male has been and continues to be a recurring theme in the media. A strikingly similar and vicious characterization was put forth by the 1988 Bush campaign, through the Willie Horton affair, in their attempts to incite racial polarization. The Willie Horton affair is another example of the continual process to dehumanize the African-American male. The DP made no attempts to identify this man, or to substantiate its allegations that he was, in fact, a homeless "West Philadelphian." The effects of these actions totally dehumanized this man, leading to the conclusion that the photograph was printed solely to conjure up stereotypical images and to incite racial hatred. This inaction was a total departure from the DP's usual practice of identifying the individuals photographed. This type of insensitivity is unacceptable. There is no rational explanation for this act of ignorance and irresponsibility. There is no excuse for this type of vicious and racially-motivated attack on the African-American community. I hope the University community can reasonably expect that a University institution, such as the DP, does not exist to intentionally offend, but to intelligently inform. There is no room or reason for the DP to make excuses that it did not intend to or, in fact, did not offend a group. The responsible thing for the DP to do at this point is to acknowledge that a group has been offended and apologize for the paper's irresponsible behavior. Next, if the DP expects to be an accurate and fair in the reporting of events, the responsible act to take would be to retract the photograph, and seek out and identify this nameless man, and tell a complete and accurate story about his life. SUSAN CORNICK-ALLEN President Black Law Students Association