To the Editor:
I am, to say the least, ashamed, perplexed, and a little bit surprised by the current uproar over the recent Bear Bones cartoon strip that insulted the Asian male's genitalia. The cartoon was such a blatantly inflammatory piece that when it was run last Wednesday, both myself and another friend immediately assumed that someone was attempting to spark a controversy.
I was amazed The Dartmouth allowed the strip to be run in the first place, but now I no longer am. Call me paranoid, call me insane, but it is immeasurably ridiculous that this debacle has turned into a call for a dean for Asian and Asian-American students.
Don't get me wrong. I am not necessarily opposed to a dean for Asian students. I do firmly believe in truth, however. If there is a need for such a dean, then we as a community should work to bring such a dean to Dartmouth.
To create a "supposed" controversy over a "supposed" insult, that highlights a "supposed" need, with a dean being the end result is both shameful and ridiculous to this student.
I have no firm opinion on the matter of a dean, because I am very poorly informed. What I see is a letter to the editor on stereotypes followed by an incredibly (and I might add stupidly) insulting cartoon in a newspaper that is very politically correct, all followed by controversy, meetings, and a call for a dean for Asian students.
I am completely opposed to the ideas portrayed in that cartoon, yet it seems as if there is something else here, and I don't know what it is. If this is all some random coincidence, then this is some bizarre coincidence. If it is not some random coincidence, I'd like to know what is going on.
Regardless, it seems obvious to this student "The Dartmouth" should simply apologize for running the cartoon in the first place, and let life get back to normal. We don't need senseless controversies that shouldn't have begun in the first place.
We should let the issues that are important be important, and those that aren't, aren't. If this is truthfully an issue that needs to be addressed, we will know it on the basis of other things besides this debacle.
Please stand up for the truth.
