Readers React: ‘Diverse’ is just a euphemism for ‘nonwhite’ — even if those nonwhites make up an ethnic majority

To the editor: The article, “New blackface incident at Cal Poly prompts calls for state investigation,” asserts that Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is the “least diverse of the 23 California State University schools, with a student body that was 54.8% white in fall 2017.”

Least diverse? Actually, there are four Cal State schools — Bakersfield, Dominguez Hills, Los Angeles and San Bernardino — which possess percentages of Latinos higher than 54.8%.

This is not the first time this definition of “diversity” has been employed by the L.A. Times and various government authorities. Institutions that are monochromatically nonwhite are described as “diverse,” while any group more than half white (or even less) is defined as non-diverse.

It is now clear (if it never was before) that the sole criterion for success in diversity is fewer whites. Good to know.

Matthew Mickelson, Northridge

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To the editor: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is one of the most boring places one can visit, so what in the world are theses “vile” acts that must be investigated by the state?

The answer: Some kids painted their faces black.

This was certainly in bad taste, but it makes me wonder why the university’s president didn’t just haul these students into his office and give them a long heart-to-heart. That is what presidents and school administrators used to do.

Now, everything is treated like a federal crime.

William Baker, Yorba Linda

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