Matthew Mikuni

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Author: Matthew Mikuni

Dear Editor,

I’m writing this in regards to last week’s article about Oxy’s secret website (jssolomon.com) and its reflection of campus climate. First of all I’d like to say that I wholeheartedly support the acquisition of the IP addresses and identities of everyone who made personal threats against specific individuals on campus and the subsequent prosecution of those people. However, I feel that Ms. Simes may have misinterpreted an “undercurrent of hate” that (according to discussions in my sociology class) is prevalent all around campus. I’d like to point to the author’s first “favorite” which was “I am a conservative, so I live in a giant house made of money [held] together by the blood of gays, minorities and women who stepped out of line. It is all red and green, very Christmas themed.” It seems obvious to me at least, that this was most likely written by someone on campus making fun of conservatives rather than some disaffected and bitter conservative himself (or herself). Did anyone even consider the possibility that some of those posts were written simply to cause a huge response among the more vocal members of the Oxy community? While I do agree with you in the fact that those posts were “despicable vomit,” I would caution against generalizing that all those posts on that site are a direct reflection of people’s actual beliefs. I do however, vehemently disagree with you in your conclusion that the posts on that site are the reason why we can’t have “real discourse on this campus regarding social justice.” I think our campus as a whole has to seriously look at the tendency of people to label others as “fags, homos or bitches” but also as “racists, bigots, and sexists.” We also should take notice of the current ‘campus climate’ that seems to attack and ostracize anyone with slightly different viewpoints in regards to issues of race and diversity. By doing these things, I think we can reach the heart of why any serious discourse regarding social justice seems to elude us here at Oxy.

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