Letter: Lack of diversity in STEM programs not due to racism

Editor,

I recently read several articles in the 28th of March edition of the Daily Lobo and I have several rebuttals to make.

The first being to the divisive Ted talk that just took place. I am a white student in a STEM program and want to point out many of the fallacies and bigoted thinking that permeated this article. First off, if you’re not white, you can still be a racist. Look up the definition of the word. Secondly, I’m fairly certain I didn’t get lost on my way to African studies and wind up in the Engineering complex by mistake. It was a personal choice, the same personal choice that most students have in which educational route to take.

Saying that there is inherent racial prejudice in our education based on the fact that more whites are in STEM is insane. It’s meant to be though. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” – Joseph Goebbels.

Having to admit that people choose their major based on their own cultural, personal, sexual and ethnic background would mean that we would have to admit there are certain dividing lines in our society. This is okay, totally normal in fact. It helps to create a diverse opinionated society, which is exactly what colleges are seeking to dismantle. They want to force us to homogenize, and guess what, this truncheon tactic is working. It’s meant to foment the weak minded bigots out there on both sides of the aisle instead of focusing on real topics that affect our society.

Instead of saying that we need to force people into a major they might not want or enjoy, how about we give them the chance to make their own personal choices and empower themselves regardless of race, color or creed. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” - MLK Jr. Let’s empower each other, not tear down an entire system based on skin color alone.

My second rebuttal goes to the issue of Belgium. The migration policy that Belgium had as well as the history of this recent migration crisis was one of the most liberal and accepting of Muslim immigrants, along with France. They did not check the backgrounds of their immigrants and now there are Muslim ghettos where police are too afraid to go. ISIS said they were going to use the migrant wave to spread terror cells throughout Europe, and now we can see they were true to their word.

This doesn’t mean we need to consolidate power, the antithesis of a free society, but we need to use some common sense and find out who really is coming across.

Justin Davis

UNM student