I find Joseph Motzko’s Dec. 6 column on political correctness to be entirely shortsighted… I find Joseph Motzko’s Dec. 6 column on political correctness to be entirely shortsighted and poorly thought-out. If Motzko had bothered to consult anyone but Ann Coulter for his sources, he would know that the men on that plane had one-way tickets because they were returning from a North American Imams Federation conference, a group dedicated to supporting imams in their roles as religious leaders. Furthermore, those men prayed in the airport in accordance with completely normal and routine conservative Muslim practices, which mandate praying at the correct time regardless of location. Most likely, passengers exaggerated the chants into shouts. Anyone who has ever taken a social psychology course at Pitt would know that eyewitness accounts are often exaggerated and unreliable. He said they sat separately, two in the back, two in the middle and two in the front. Funny that one man was blind and had to be escorted separately from the others; furthermore, I heard no mention of how crowded the plane was: When was the last time you were on a plane with a large group close to Thanksgiving, and still managed to sit together? I bet that if the men had sat together, someone would have considered that to be suspicious, too. When the men left the plane cooperatively, according to police reports, a bomb-sniffing dog found nothing.

If anything, Motzko’s column exemplifies exactly what is dividing this country, and it is not political correctness: It is complete and utter ignorance of alternate cultures, ethnicities and lifestyles. If those men had been white Roman Catholic priests, praying before boarding and sitting in the exact same seats, not a single passenger would raise an eyebrow at them.

Accordingly, Dartmouth is a secular college. It is under no obligation to pander to the Christian majority in this nation, and it is completely correct in its efforts to include all religions and people in holiday celebrations. If Christians can convert the Christmas tree from a Pagan symbol to a Christian one, then Dartmouth can convert it to an all-encompassing acknowledgement of all religious and cultural beliefs. The last time I checked, Christians still had not procured a patent on the tree.

The Ebonics newspaper? No one stopped its print. And no one stopped the protests against it. As distasteful as it was for the newspaper to stereotype and categorize African-Americans in that way, I fail to see how anyone hindered the paper’s constitutional right to say completely insensitive things. Just like no one stopped Motzko’s column, or this reply. Finally, Motzko’s statement that “people need to learn to coexist with people of different races, religions and beliefs instead of forcing everyone to conform to one politically correct group” undermines his entire argument. It is Motzko who wishes people to conform to the majority. True, people have the right to express their opinions and religious views, but keep in mind that co-existing peacefully means understanding and tolerating alternate cultures and beliefs. Putting a Christmas tree in the middle of a secular college sends a loud and clear message that the holidays are all about Christianity, and that co-occurring non-Christian celebrations have less importance. Singling out a group of men with brown skin for praying in an airport sends the message that people with brown skin are less trustworthy. Re-printing Africana course descriptions in Ebonics sends the message that black people have poor grammar. So think twice before you say that political correctness is killing free speech. If anything, it is the Joseph Motzkos of the world who are working to keep the minority as far down as possible.

Leighann Starkey [email protected]