LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Penn Relays: Separate Tracks?

To the Editor: I enjoyed Mr. Godinez's reflections on his memories of the Relays and his celebration of the culture of competition that are indeed a hallmark of the Relays. I love the Relays for their competitive spirit, an antidote to the "hot-doggin" and showmanship that has taken over so much of professional and now amateur sports. But to imply that the Relays may become a "?a vehicle for promoting racial separatism?" is the purest of follies. When did this occur, I would ask Mr. Godinez? I think Mr. Godinez also misses much of what the Relays mean to the African-American community. When I was an undergraduate in the 1960s, the Relays were synonymous with a tradition of African-American social life usually reserved for the historically black colleges and universities. The Relays, for years, have offered African-American college students, alumni and Greeks an opportunity to strut their stuff and celebrate the best in African-American social life. Today's African-American students have Atlanta's Freaknik, Philadelphia's Greek "thing" and numerous events held throughout the year. For my generation, there was only the Relays, and I enjoy seeing the Penn African-American community host an event that is the essence of an African-American tradition that may soon be swallowed up by "multiculturalism." I hope Mr. Godinez would not deny his African-American peers participation in one of the great social events on the African-American calendar. Finally, as the administrator directly responsible for Low Rise North, I must reject Mr. Godinez's comment about "?all the ignorance that pulsates up Locust Walk right into Low Rise North." I think he owes an apology to the faculty, students and staff of DuBois House. The students who reside here embody the student code of conduct and civility lacking in other pockets of the Penn community, and since I've come aboard, along with the faculty master, we intend to make sure it remains that way. But to ask our students to carry the burden of our American racial problem is unjust and unfair, and to deny them the fruits of one of African America's great social traditions is equally unfair. Perhaps we can look forward to a day when that will not be the case, but today it is. So, Mr. Godinez, we look forward to seeing you at DuBois House during the weekend, so that you might share in this tradition as well. William Eric Perkins DuBois College House Interim Assistant Dean n To the Editor: In the past few weeks, I have not written a word about the mating habits of lemurs, the pleasures of genital piercing or what it feels like to be sober at Spring Fling. There is a very good reason for this: I know absolutely nothing about these things. Generally speaking, it is both good practice and sound judgment for a writer to write about something with which he is familiar. It may seem like a truism, but evidently it is a truism that has eluded the toddler-like intellectual grasp of Mr. Godinez and many others on the DP staff. Godinez's column ("Separate Tracks," DP 4/20/95) is little more than a reckless and racist diatribe couched in some off-hand and seemingly innocuous remarks about the Penn relays, and is the very embodiment of the ignorant, irresponsible, divisive, second-rate journalism I have come to expect from the DP. The column is all the more troubling because, as far as I know, Mr. Godinez has never so much as stepped foot in our house. Next time, perhaps Mr. Godinez and his ignorant self should "pulsate?right into Low Rise North," and actually speak with some real, live, 100 percent genuine black students before he makes an ass of himself. Before I go any further, however, I must state what should already be obvious: If you are looking for an intellectually rigorous response to Mr. Godinez's column, replete, as it were, with candied patience and sugar-coated adjectives, you should look elsewhere. By employing language that is intensely racist, Mr. Godinez has forfeited the right to have his ignorance dealt with gently and patiently. Indeed, I hold Paul and his second-class mind accountable for what he wrote, and in this letter, he will be taken to task, and I dare say, even dissed, for his hateful and hurtful ignorance. I should also note that like many other students in DuBois, I too am frustrated by the burden (ironically, in my case, a "white man's burden") of having to respond to such malicious attacks on the humanity and intelligence of myself and my black brothers and sisters. And like others in DuBois, I too am tempted to say that, more than a subtle and sophisticated critique of his views, and more than some nuanced critical feedback, Mr. Godinez is in desperate need of -- and would benefit markedly from -- a swift kick in the ass. Needless to say, labeling an entire college house/race as ignorant and describing its residents with words that bear a striking resemblance to the dehumanizing language (ZANCHOR!) used by Nazis to describe Jews, serve as two enormous, and perhaps insurmountable, obstacles to constructing any sort of campus dialogue about race and race relations. Indeed, even someone as dense as my good friend could understand that when the residents of a college house, and by implication a race, are described as the incarnation of "?ignorance that pulsates up Locust Walk and right into Low Rise North," they might be forgiven if they seem slightly less than eager to interact with people like Paul who, to paraphrase the late Dr. DuBois, cannot conceive of them as human beings. In fact, Mr. Godinez's column is both a vivid illustration and a timely reminder of why DuBois House is absolutely necessary at Penn. In short, there can never be healing and dialogue where respect is wanting. Certain DP writers would do well to remember that. As for Paul's polemical remarks apropos the tenor and expression of racial consciousness among Penn's black students, well, one could gain considerably more insight into these issues by spending an afternoon staring at a pile of hamster droppings. Godinez's column, we might say, fuses the intellectual vigor of a dead yeti with the grace and analytical prowess of Chewbaca the Wookie. Anyhow, I will conclude this section of my letter on what is, admittedly, a rather strident tone, by invoking the words of Langston Hughes, and saying simply this: Paul, if you really want to know what goes on in Low Rise North, "Ask your Mama." Brother, you ain't the only one who can signify. Brennan Maier College '97 Not Remotely Close To the Editor: I write to correct A factual error in your story on the gift of William Reich to Van Pelt Library ("Donor sues U. for collection's return," DP 4/20/95). The story asserts the appraised value of the gift to be $500,000. In fact, the appraised value of the gift is not even remotely close to that figure; it is considerably less. Out of courtesy to the donor, I will not disclose the figure, but it does vary dramatically from the sum cited in the DP. Michael Ryan Director of Special Collections