Experiences are shaped by race

What this article doesn't take into consideration is that one's ideas are formulated in part, if not very significantly, by their experiences. Since we do not live in a color-blind society in which one's character is treated as more important than their race, people's experiences are significantly shaped by their race especially if they come from a historically disenfranchised minority group. Thus, to say that "proper diversity is based on ideas, not race" is fallacious given that racism did not disappear overnight once the Civil Rights Act was passed, nor did it disappear when Obama was elected president. I know you didn't say it, but that is an implicit view that many have in this country.

   -Michael Piccione '15

Race in apps furthers racist agenda

In response to your article "Proper diversity is based in ideas, not race" (Sept. 24):
Articles such as Mr. Fried's show once more why I am proud to be an alumnus of a university that has such a student newspaper. This analysis is such a sight for sore eyes! It echoes the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s proposition made 50 years ago last month that people "should not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," a philosophy that has surely gotten lost in America's continuing obsession with race, an obsession Dr. King wanted to end, not propagate.
I find triumphant Mr. Fried's call for the elimination of racial analysis check boxes on applications and forms. Such a device is the furtherance of a racist agenda. We can paraphrase George Orwell here: all races are equal, but some races are more equal than others.

-Paul Trusten '73

Race is tangible part of identity

In response to your article "Proper diversity is based in ideas, not race" (Sep. 24):
As a black student at Brandeis this piece makes me really uncomfortable, but I think the main problem is that the author seems to believe that race is just "skin deep" and that it only has to do with the color of people's skin. Race is a very tangible part of people's identity that has very real effects on their lives, and puts "racial minorities" at risk for systematic and institutionalized racism and discrimination. Eliminating practices that support racialized people will not do anything to make Brandeis or anywhere else a "diverse, tolerant, and inclusive" place. Race is not skin deep and the programs you suggest getting rid of are necessary to address the racial inequalities prevalent in American higher education.

  -Zuri Gordon '15