I hate to stir up an increasingly muddled debate, but perhaps the vigor of that debate compels my contribution.

The debate is diversity, spurred on by the record budget request and receipt of the Multicultural Student Coalition and Diversity Education Specialists.

I refer to both because I know MCSC and DES used to be part of the same group, but are now required to submit separate budgets for technical reasons. I know these things because I am the elusive well-informed student, at least when it comes to the budgets in question.

The most-heard reply to criticism of the MCSC-DES budget is, “Where were you when there were four meetings that lasted well past 1 a.m.?” I am able to answer, “Sitting at the Student Services Finance Committee meeting.”

Sure, it was my job, but at least it granted me a more complete perspective on this debate, a perspective I hope will enable a fresh contribution to this important discussion.

But before I begin I must offer another caveat — I am white.

But what if I were not? Would my words be perceived in a different light?

A few weeks back a student referred to a Herald Editorial as “yellow journalism.” I wondered if I, being part Asian and a member of the editorial board, should be offended.

Actually, it was less wonder than amusement — to be offended would be absurd. And truth be told, I consider myself white, but I see that as a physical characteristic, not a definer of my philosophy.

And why should it not be the same for people of all races? I was startled to read a web feedback about one of my colleague’s column’s inquiring if he had “ever hung out with a black American or does he just read about them in his sociology textbooks ? a black person might unnecessarily have to ‘culture shock’ him since he pays little attention to the values, aesthetics and beliefs that minorities have.”

The article being replied to declared diversity to be more than skin deep, but what the feedback author failed to realize was the article’s author was African-American.

The feedback author blindly assumed that African-Americans were incapable of holding such opinions. In short, the author was attaching attitudes and qualities to a person based solely on the color of his skin.

Similar sentiments were laid out in an opinion piece published last week in another student newspaper here on campus. Suddenly being “liberal” meant nothing more than diversity based solely on skin color. “Free speech and policy opposition” were depicted as constant attacks on students of color.

And once again, every single student of color on campus was lumped into one group, responsible for “educating” us white students because the administration is not doing its job.

Moreover, the article kidnapped the term “liberal.” Webster’s defines a liberal as “one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional or established forms or ways.” Yet this opinion was ingrained with the observance of orthodox and established beliefs (on this campus) regarding the attitude of students of color.

Returning to my caveat on being white, I freely admit I will never know what it means to be an African-American, and I will not pretend I can. But at the least I have felt the sting of having my beliefs stereotyped solely because of my skin color.

My freshman year I was told I was a racist. Not because I had made a racial slur or written something controversial. Rather, it was because I was white, and all whites are racist.

This year, I was personally accused of writing an article that allegedly all but said: “Welcome students of color, now go back where you came from.” The topic of my article was free speech as an answer to hate speech, but according to my detractor, it was “ridiculous — although not surprising — ? for a white, male Herald columnist to suggest ending hate speech with more free speech.”

So is it okay for an African-American female columnist to do the same? Does my gender and skin color — uncontrollable physical characteristics — render my otherwise-valid opinions racist?

An opinion in the Herald last week echoed a question personally asked me by a person of color: “What responsibilities do you have for being white?”

My reply is the same for people of all races: my responsibility is to not stereotype any person’s thoughts and opinions on the basis of his skin color. Rather I should engage him in conversation, where the correctness of his beliefs can be determined by the power of his argument, not by the color of his skin. The effects of race may be an important factor in his argument, but race should never be the “primary determinant of human traits and capacities.”

By the way, that’s Webster’s definition of racism.

Benjamin Thompson ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.