To the editor:

I would like to address Justin Kramer’s article titled “Affirmative Action Enrollment Policies Reinforce Racism”.
Wow. His grasp on the issue of race is that of a child attempting to grab mercury with a open hand. 

Kramer wishes to live in a surreal, color-blind society that utterly ignores the history of race in our country
as well as white privilege. When he refers to affirmative action as “a backwards-thinking, racist
governmental program,” I would hope he uses stronger language for the institutions of slavery and
segregation. Furthermore, his diatribe ignores the positive effects on gender equality in university
admissions that has been the result of affirmative action. Please take the time to look around and
educate yourself. 

I assume the nuclear engineering department is full of a diverse range of professors
and students. There clearly isn’t an academic disparity between races in the Madison and Milwaukee
school districts (read: sarcasm). Simply put, we can only achieve the post-racial society Kramer dreams of if
disadvantaged races first find equal opportunities as the privileged majorities.

Lastly, I’d like to turn to the background of the two presidential candidates in this upcoming election.
Hidden in the now infamous 47 percent video, “Mittens” Romney further espouses his views on the
Black and Latino voters. He jokes this election would be a whole lot easier for him if he was Mitt
Rodriguez. To his credit, I understand how hard it is for a white male born into wealth to comprehend
racial issues. Since Kramer supports self-made individuals who pull themselves up by their bootstraps, gain
admission on the worth of their academic success and go on to achieve greater success, I would like to
express my appreciation for his implicit vote of confidence in President Barack Obama.

Chris Hoffman ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science.