Editor, Daily Nexus:
This past weekend we commemorated the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some of us attended the commemoration at the eternal flame. Some of us attended the commemoration held by Alpha Phi Alpha near the MultiCultural Center. Some of us, however, chose to commemorate Dr. King in other ways.
Some of us chose to honor Dr. King by vandalizing and scrawling racial and sexual slurs on the doors and elevators belonging to female residents of San Miguel Residence Hall.
Others chose to honor Dr. King by distributing business cards in Davidson Library that read "Save the White Race."
One person chose to honor Dr. King by writing an opinion column in the Nexus ("Reverse Racism in Education," Jan. 16) that dubbed one of the most beneficial gains of the Civil Rights Movement, Affirmative Action, reverse racism. Keep in mind that Dr. King fiercely supported Affirmative Action.
Racism is not something that exists only in the history books, it exists right here at UCSB, and it exists right now in the present. It can be subtle, as it was in Mr. Black’s article, or it can be blatant, as in the hate crimes that occurred in San Miguel. Either way, racism must be openly confronted if we are to advance as a campus community and achieve the dream that Dr. King had for us all.
NICHOLAS CENTINO, EL CONGRESO