Duke to Visit CSUN
* I must tell you how absurd it was to read that the Cal State Northridge Student Senate had invited David Duke to debate the pro side of Prop. 209 (Sept. 4). The invitation of the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan is a clear attempt to drive off any moderate voter who would even consider the proposition and less an attempt at thoughtful, idea-exchanging debate.
JASON R. GOMPERZ
Arleta
* So Ward Connerly doesn’t like being on the same side of the issue as David Duke (Sept. 6). Well, Prop. 209 supports racism so it attracts advocates of that view- point.
MIKE TAYLOR
North Hills
* Treating Duke as an expert on affirmative action is like calling in Josef Stalin to speak about the ACLU.
BIX TORSHIRE
Canoga Park
* Re “Protection for the Haters Too,” editorial, Sept. 8:
So The Times is playing along with CSUN’s little campaign against Prop. 209, the “California civil rights initiative”! Hire the devil himself (Duke) to come defend it. How transparent can you get? This is not a 1st Amendment issue that CSUN President Blenda Wilson is defending over the objections of Connerly. It is exactly the opposite--do an end run around a discussion of the issues by having a cross-burner provide its defense.
I have come to support the CCRI not because of the injury that the current policies do to white males (which in overall numbers is minimal) but because of the damage done to pre-collegiate black and Hispanic public school children (which in overall numbers is god-awful). Instead of sending the correct two-part message, “You can learn well and, if you do, many doors of opportunity will be opened to you,” the overt message is, “If you stay in school, many doors of opportunity will be opened to you.” The message that is less direct but still comes through is, “You can’t learn like whites or Asians but there is a place for you, too; just not in any intellectually challenging discipline, certainly not in one that requires traditional mathematical competence.” It is an insidious message that must stop before progress can be made.
WAYNE BISHOP
Math and Computer Science Dept.
Cal State Los Angeles