Mainstream Values Versus Pluralism

Thank you for trying to show two sides of the campus diversity movement. Unfortunately, the two articles were written by people who represent two small factions in this debate. Because these are the groups that speak the loudest, they get the most attention, but the attacks they wage on each other do nothing to solve the problem.

The conservative writers dismiss the liberals as people who are “politically correct.” This term refers to people who support a cause only because they think it is popular to do so. Similarly, the liberal writers term their opponents “reactionaries,” people who are militantly opposed to change. By using labels which apply mostly to themselves, the writers unfairly generalize about the entire movement, its supporters and opponents.

Those of us who genuinely believe in diversity and equality, and those who oppose our efforts for their own valid reasons, are drowned out by the shouting matches waged by the groups these writers represent. We are neither politically correct nor reactionaries; we seek to persuade each other through discussion, not intimidate with attacks. Unfortunately, ours are not the voices that are heard.

Rather than generalize, we must begin to listen to and talk with each other as individuals, equal people with different beliefs.

DAVID BECKERMAN

Los Angeles