Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

I read the Cornell Chronicle on a regular basis, since I consider it the best news source on the Cornell community, and it was not surprising that I found your article regarding the new Asian-American task force [Jan. 23, 2003, Page 3] to be of great interest. I am, however, rather stunned by the classification in the article of the Asian races as among the "community of color." Personally I consider terms like "colored people," and "student of color" to be unfair and inauthentic representations of any non-Caucasian races. I am still mildly shocked that such terms have not been banned as other offensive terms have been. It is unfair that some ethnic group should be termed "colored" (as if "tainted"), simply because they have slightly higher melanin pigment concentration in their skin cells as opposed to the "bleached" population, otherwise known as the Caucasians -- which I consider a far better description than "whites."

Even our late astronomy Professor Carl Sagan pointed this out in his last book, Billions and Billions. He said that "Caucasians" and "African Americans" are much betterwords, since the difference in skin pigment is only manifest under the condition that our eyes see at the visible-light wavelengths.

I fully understand that most writers like you are well-intentioned and simply wish to search for a substitute for the word "non-Caucasian." But, as a matter of fact, I doubt that there are any better substitutes.

If the new task force is directed to help lessen racial stereotyping and prejudices, the offensive and misrepresentative terms used in newspapers and journal articles and books should be the first things it should work to eliminate.

Sincerely,

--Daniel Liu '05
College of Arts and Sciences