First and foremost, if you feel that covering the deaths of two students and a professor, the shooting of a student, and campus gun control is evidence of The Panther going rapidly downhill, I’m sorry you feel that way.It is obvious that the main source of your shame, embarrassment, and disgust stems from the title of my column and not its content, because several of the arguments made in this letter to the editor as well as on the boycott flyers distributed on campus are completely irrelevant. Nowhere in my last column is there a direct reference to the student body. In fact, I will tell you as I told Texas A&M’s Battalion after they reprinted my column “For my niggas” retitled as “For my black people” that the word nigga and black person are not interchangeable.
I am deeply saddened by the miscomprehension and failure to look beyond the title. Truth be told, I probably should have titled my column “Only niggers settle,” because that was the point I was trying to get across. Only a nigger settles for being “Miss Fat Booty,” or a prison inmate- they settle for mediocrity and refuse to challenge the system. My sincere intent was to beg of my peers to never allow themselves to be “destroyed by believing that [they] really are what the white world calls a nigger,” and never for a minute resort to portraying yourselves as a “bunch of lazy, shiftless, triflin’ niggas.” Achieve beyond your great grandfather’s wildest dreams. I do not apologize for that, because I want the best for everyone.
Personally, I believe that just by publishing the column at this campus reflects my respect for the intelligence and confidence I have in my peers’ ability to think beyond themselves, and scrutinize the social and political problems facing our community. The title was for figurative and not literal purposes, and as scholars I would hope you could grasp that.
Furthermore, I am a black woman who embraces the tragedies and triumphs of my race. I love my people enough to request that we take time out to look in the mirror and examine whether or not we have finished our fight. So, in response to your inquiry, I say that it never “behooved” me to write to my “chinks, wetbacks, or white trash.” I could never identify with them. They are not my people and it is not my place to challenge their status. The notion is quite imprudent. However, if a writer who identified with another ethnicity decided to write a commentary parallel to mine, of course I would run it. The Panther is not biased and strives to uphold high ethical standards.
I do sense in your letter that there is an underlying problem with diversity on campus that has nothing to do with my column, my staff, or the content of the newspaper. This problem should be taken up with administrators.
“For my niggas” was intended to stir the student body and encourage mobilizing for a cause. Naturally I assumed my fellow Panthers would choose a worthy cause such as campus safety, increases in fees and housing, financial aid, or the inability to truly customize meal plans; but I suppose I am still a bit proud it sparked a “boycott.” I was recently encouraged by the fact that “stirring up controversy is often a signal of good journalism.”
Finally, I am well aware of The Panther’s nationwide audience. As a matter of fact several of the readers who do not attend this university have called or written to congratulate me on the “provocative” and “thought provoking commentary.” So I seriously doubt that I have disgraced the school.