Jason Parham wants to call for a truce between races, and I fully agree with him. To accomplish a truce, all races need to be treated equally. So Mr. Parham, how is supporting affirmative action and race-based scholarships calling for a truce?

Affirmative action gives minorities preference over whites to jobs and schools. Is that equality? A black person with the same GPA as a white person receives a scholarship because of his or her race. How is that fair? Is it right that there is money available to minority students only? Tell me, how is that a truce?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that his four little children would one day live in a nation where they were not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Affirmative action and race-based scholarships aim to achieve the opposite. We cannot work toward eliminating racism in America while there are programs in place that take race into account.

Racism at Penn State will continue until these programs are halted and we begin to view each other equally. Let's hope that a black president would lead to the demise of race-based programs. After all, it will be one step closer to our truce.

Kevin Yoder

junior-wildlife and fisheries science

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I'm glad Jason addressed this topic, so I can finally come clean with my guilt. During my time at PSU, I was allowed to skip classes because of my white privilege. Also, during my seven years of working, I was allowed more sick days strictly because I am white.

While working toward my M.B.A. for three years at night, half of my assignments were waived by professors for my Casper-like appearance. Finally, in purchasing my home, no attention was paid to my cash in the bank or my credit score. One look at my face was all the mortgage company required for approval.

My advice to Jason: Grow up.

So long as people are different, bias will always exist -- racism, reverse racism, etc. It's a shame and should be addressed, but its existence, while truly unfortunate, is a fact of life. In the real business world, which is driven by profits and results, performance will trump racism almost every time.

If black people continue to use racism as the main reason for inequality of results, they will never achieve true equality. As a member of the real working world, my suggestion would be to ignore rhetoric mouthpieces like Al Sharpton and listen to guys like Bill Cosby, who preach accountability and self-examination, to genuinely improve the black community.

In 20 to 30 years, Hispanics will be the majority in this country. Best of luck playing the race card with them.

Stephen Brown

Class of 2001

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Jason's right. Having a black president won't end racism. But contrary to what he goes on to claim, neither will affirmative action programs. Nor will any of the race-based scholarships or any program based on distributing goods and benefits based on race.

Affirmative action is not the answer. It doesn't cure racism. It only spreads it, because it is a method of revenge. What white people of years past did to minorities was wrong, but that doesn't make it acceptable to return the favor.

Affirmative action, at a basic level, fights discrimination by using discrimination. It's supposed to be some sort of twisted tactic of leveling the playing field, but that's not what it does. It serves as nothing more than an eye for an eye, and, as we all know, that makes the whole world blind. Or hateful, in this case.

I do not oppose affirmative action in order to protect white privilege or keep the black man down. I oppose it because it is in itself a racist policy that does not solve racism. Racism is a sin of the individual, so to bring its end, we must all fight it within ourselves. We must strive to be colorblind and to respect all people for who they are, not for the color of their skin. We cannot hope to ever live in an equal society if we continue to abide by policies that mete out the goods based on uncontrollable circumstances.

Patrick Lane

junior-criminal justice