Columnist doesn’t regret taking diverse viewpoint

By By Tierra Scott

Thursday, May 12, 2005



“When we are moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other.” — from the Crash movie trailer.

This has been a semester full of surprises, some were expected, others were not. I have concluded that through my opinion columns, I may have managed to land a spot in the University’s top-10 list of most hated and controversial University Daily Kansan writers.

It seems that some of the student body was displeased — to put it mildly — with the content of my columns. Despite those reactions, I believe I have fulfilled the duties assigned to me at the beginning of this semester.

As an opinion columnist, you have the right to be biased. At the same time, I tried to be as straightforward as possible and leave little room for miscommunication or misunderstanding.

As fate would have it, some readers managed to overreact to each of my articles because they refused to take the time to read the column fully and carefully and to give it serious thought.

I am a confident individual, and therefore did not react negatively toward an e-mail — in response to my column on rap music — telling me that I am an ignorant racist who has disgraced the University and needs to go back to Africa.

In fact, I would like to thank those who wrote to me for giving me the motivation that I needed to continue with my articles.

As CNN reminds us, readers relinquish the full story for the convenient piecemeal observation. I respect a reader’s opinion, but only when they have bothered to examine the entire column.

Simply reading the headline or portions of a column with which you agree is not what I expect from enlightened University students.

I applied to be an opinion columnist to add some diversity to the Kansan, not to become the most controversial writer of the semester.

When a publication lacks diversity, then some issues are not given the multiple perspectives that they deserve.

I decided to spice things up a little bit by sharing my outlook on some issues that are important to me.

If I did not address issues that you thought were important and you thought that my articles were ludicrous, then you, too, can become an opinion columnist. Simply go the Kansan located in Stauffer-Flint and follow the road to writing guest columns — we need the diversity.

I had fun writing the columns, but I also learned a number of lessons.

As the recently released film Crash warns, “When we are moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other.”

More than ever, I am convinced that the University needs to take more concrete steps to better prepare us for those “collisions.” And because it is not only an institutional responsibility, we need to take individual steps as well.

In order for this campus community to grow and for us to prepare ourselves for the world that lies beyond “the Hill,” students must learn to respect each other’s opinions no matter how unusual they might be. The truth is, the University will be your home until you graduate or as long as you are here.

Therefore, it is up to you to make the most out of an exceedingly rare experience while you are here. These few years are unlike any that you will ever encounter.

Attending college is not entirely about gaining book knowledge; it is also about gaining life lessons through the people that we encounter.

So, be prepared for those collisions.

Scott is a Chicago junior in journalism.

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