The co-editors-in-chief and the adviser of The Oracle distributed the letter of apology found in this issue to the student body on Friday, February 9. The first two of the four letters published below were written before the distribution of that letter. The latter two of the four letters were written following the distribution of the letter.

Readers express disappointment over front-page photograph

We are disappointed with your front-page article that you published about stealing food. The article was interesting because stealing food is an issue that affects the whole school. But you should have used another picture. The picture that you used showed a group of students in a lunch line, and most of the students were Hispanic. Using this picture stereotypes Hispanic students at GBS. We hear a lot of negative comments about Hispanic people, and publishing a picture like this increases the possibility that Hispanic students won’t be trusted. Even though we are sure that you didn’t mean to be racist, the effect of the picture was to portray Hispanics as dishonest.

Also, the people who appear in the picture feel embarrassed because they believe that they were identified as thieves. How would you like to have your picture on the front page of the newspaper in an article about stealing? We are asking for some respect and an apology.

-Lucia Perez, Aurea Mujica

* Attached to the above letter was a sheet of signatures of the following individuals:

Omar Guerrero, Myriam Duran, Raquel Ayala, Irvin Alvarado, Juan Zato, Jose Avila, Joselin Mondragon, Marina Ayala, Jose Nunez, Martha Haro, Chris Zavaleta, Jesus Molina, Silvia Ramirez, Lesly Mondragón, Brenda Guerrero, José Ramirez, Marisol Del Rio, Ismael Flores, Roel Hernandez, Paula Volungeviciute, Hector Guerra, Mina Kim, Marco Farfan, Javier Avila, Daniel Hernandez, Marissa Sanchez, Jessica Cabera, Sergio Alejandro Torres, Sandra Calvillo, Diana Rodriguez, Emmanuel Guerra, Valente Vazquez, Elizabeth Martinez, Adriana Montoya, Vivi Marban, Carlos Delgadillo, Amina Galsanbaatar, Sandy Sabu, Erika Buin-Erdene, Gabriela Montoya, J. Cruz Montoya, Alisa Joseph, Da In Lee, Sohyoung Kim, Ieva Pucinskaite, Lyane Guiracocha, Victor Zavaleta, Liana Bran, Gonzalo Galvez, Kenia Aguilar, Lupe Aguilar, Adrian Aguilar, Kristin Skordalos, Lissette Lopez, Andy ParkMax Tuten, James Hackett, Sarah Weiss, Spencer Herbert, Alex Benitez, Jorge Rivera, Eric Barbosa, Alex Tosha, Jane Kang, Kasia Mrugala, Sang Jun Park, Jin Youn, Dennis Moon, Ji Hoon Kang, Nisha Mathew, Dzevdet Vejseli, Ms. Susan Flickinger, Seňora Ana Wolfinsohn, Desiree Robinson, Beatriz Rodriguez, and Junhee Choe

—–

We were bothered by the photograph on the front cover of January 26th’s Oracle. Even though the caption said that no suspects were pictured, the location of the photograph under the title “Lunchroom Theft” gave the impression that the Latino community is identified with these thefts. This is the first time this school year that Latinos have appeared on the front cover of the newspaper and we are offended that it portrays us in a negative way. Perhaps you did not mean to offend anyone, but you also didn’t think about how we might feel or would react. The photograph made a lasting negative impression that the written content of the story didn’t address.

Sincerely,

Fernando Artellano, Nadia Avila, Alex Benítez, Tania Cardoso, David Deloya, Yesenia Del Río, Yesenia Flores, José Guerrero, Alex Jarava, Stephanie Millán, Betsy Outly, Brenda Pérez, Leslie Piñeda, Marisol Valle, Adriana Vargas, Karina Vagas, Valente Vázquez

Readers see apology as unnecessary

Shortly after reading your apology letter I became a little perturbed. I completely understand why you felt compelled to issue an apology after individuals found the photo featured on the front page to be offensive.

What I don’t understand is why the individual found the photo to be offensive in the first place. When people start to become too worried about offending others in general, their paranoid tendencies perpetuate even more suspicion between different groups.

I’m completely for political correctness, but there’s a difference between being politically correct and being overly sensitive. It’s the times when we’re overly sensitive that we create a rift between social/racial/socioeconomic classes.

- Liam Conlon

——-

I personally feel that the apology from The Oracle is completely absurd. The fact that people are still focusing on racial stereotypes is ridiculous. I’m sure that those that felt insulted by the said photo are few and far between. I’m sick of organizations catering to the wants of a vocal few. I also find it unnecessary to waste class time going over something that doesn’t need to be said. The caption was put there for that very reason.  People need to get over stupid things. This is one them.

- Ethan Pearson