Roberto De Vido '85 oversimplifies racism when he compares the African American anecdotes of Royston Taylor '82 with his own experience of prejudice ("Judging People," Mail Room, July/August). Yes, there are "good people and bad people" in the world, but the discrimination sometimes suffered by white people is nowhere near the same as the racism that people of color have to deal with all the time. What we're talking about here is nothing less than an ideology of white superiority that has made its way around the globe, skewing power relations into horrendously unfair configurations as it goes. It won't go away just because some of us don't want to believe that it exists. White people need to have the courage to be painfully honest with ourselves if we want to be of use in a struggle against racism.

Kerry E. Larkin '98
Eire, Ireland
activationkerry@hotmail.com