I write in response to a letter to the editor written by Nicole Tautges claiming that racism is an issue in Eagle Heights. This claim is an overreaction to a seemingly benign joke which paints an unfair image of the community. 

In the letter a man is quoted saying “It must be the Asian only workday, huh”? in reference to the fact that nine out of 12 people in a garden are Asian and speaking in another language. Was the joke in poor taste? Probably. Was it racist in the usual sense of the world? No, not really. This man pointed out the fact that most of the people there were Asian, but that’s all there was to it. 

Here is one definition of racism: prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief. Based on the information in the article and the absence of information about the tone he used, there is no reason to infer that he meant anything by it. The fact is that ethnicity is a very real thing which some people take immense pride in, and it is okay to notice ethnicity. It becomes racist when people start stereotyping or ostracizing others based on their ethnicity.

I’m not trying to completely justify the man’s statement. I am only pointing out that it is hyperbole to call it racist. It cannot be ignored that Nicole Tautges already noticed being excluded from the group by a language barrier. The man’s comment could have been addressing this, albeit he could have addressed it more eloquently. 

Instead of assuming the worst about the comment, she could have had the man clarify what he was trying to say or why he made the joke. Maybe he really did say it with contempt; his tone would indicate this but was not specified in the letter. Or perhaps he didn’t think that pointing out ethnicity was much different from pointing out other traits such as hair color, height or gender. Imagine instead that almost everyone was female and he chose to say “It must be the women only work day, huh”? Would this have caused the same sort of reaction? Would it have made a difference if he had recognized the specific language the group was speaking and referred to them that way?

Most importantly, what really strikes me is not only that the letter takes this man’s comment to be overtly racist without making any further inquiry, but also that it makes a public statement in the paper about racism being a problem in Eagle Heights. The article takes a single questionable event and blows it way out of proportion. This is completely unfair to the other residents of Eagle Heights and damaging to the community’s image. Furthermore, emphasizing such a non-incident dilutes the conversation about real racial problems. In the future, please make sure that such statements are clarified. 

David Gedymin ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in chemical engineering with a business certificate.