Staff member does not appreciate sarcasm

Publication Date: 10/03/2006

I would like to thank Ryan Sawrie for his response to my letter. Everything is much clearer to me now that I have been stung by his sarcasm. Purdue isn't participating in a culture of prejudice at all. Things are actually as they should be here, presumably because of the nature of the Negro race. African-Americans disproportionately earn their place on the football team, but cannot earn their place in the classroom to anywhere near the same extent, because they are a more "physical" less "cerebral" people.

I guess I was mistaken with my silly ideas, like African-Americans tend to devote their talents disproportionately to athletics from a early on because it is one of the few avenues in our culture where they feel they will be evaluated based on their abilities, and not their race. I was just confused by all the many brilliant, articulate African-Americans I've met in my academic and personal life. I should have known they are just the exceptions, and not the rule. I hope Mr. Sawrie can forgive me.

I was concerned that Purdue was earning a reputation as being a place where African Americans wouldn't get a fair shake or feel welcome, and that people like Mr. Sawrie were contributing to that problem. Maybe, if blacks were smart enough to take more management courses, they might be able to follow Mr. Sawrie's arguments. But alas, according to Mr. Sawrie's own logic, most are probably not sufficiently cerebral to understand all that anyway. The best that most black students should hope for is to entertain us on the gridiron Saturday afternoons.

Mike Sloothaak

Purdue Staff