Editor,
This letter is in response to Peter Lynch's letter published in the Daily Lobo on Tuesday. Lynch's "humble opinion" is terribly misinformed. He suggests that the ethnic requirements of El Centro de la Raza are equivalent to those of the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazi party. Quite a comparison, indeed.
Last time I checked, none of the ethnic centers here at UNM burned crosses on front lawns, lynched innocent men or participated in a genocide.
Is Lynch really suggesting El Centro de la Raza is equivalent to these hate groups? If not, his hyperbole is shamefully trivializing the horrible atrocities those groups are responsible for. Wasn't ripping the Mexican flag enough?
Furthermore, he uses Raza Graduation as a basis for this inequality argument, ignoring the fact that all are welcome to participate in it. He suggests the Web site disguises the truth when, in fact, he has already decided he is not welcome at Raza Graduation and that El Centro is equivalent to the KKK or the Nazis.
I would like to remind Lynch that judging El Centro and deciding that it is lying about its intentions is by its very definition an act of prejudice.
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Lynch's usage of the word egalitarianism is flawed. You do not need to eliminate the things that make people unique in order to promote equality. Identical is not the same as equal. In a sad irony, groups such as El Centro exist because they work for equality. The very goal of the ethnic centers is to promote equality to a point where they are no longer needed.
By suggesting they are no longer needed, Lynch is saying that equality has already been reached, which is not true, or that they maintain an inequality in the status quo, which is also not true.
I invite Lynch to visit El Centro and learn more about what it is about, but I know this is futile. He has already judged the organization and the people who represent it as equivalent to the KKK or the Nazi party.
Oddly, based on his letter and previous actions, his prejudice seems to be aimed specifically at El Centro, so I would instead suggest he visit the other ethnic centers and learn about them, since they all share the same goal of ethnic equality, though not through the process of ethnic identity abolishment.
Lynch's feeling that he is unwelcome may be genuine, but it certainly did not come from El Centro or Raza Graduation. Rather, it may be his attitude and behavior toward those who do not share his common beliefs.
It probably goes without saying, but if Lynch wants to feel welcome with his peers of differing ethnic backgrounds, he needs to be welcoming of them as well. These things seldom work one way.
Arthur Sedore
UNM student
