To the Editor:
As concerned minority leaders, we are appalled at The Daily Free Press’s lack of responsibility in seeking out and accurately reporting minority news. We represent the executive boards of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Black Student Union (UMOJA).
Affairs affecting minorities at Boston University are not met with the same intensity and diligence as are other campus issues. As a responsible reporting agency, considered to be the voice of BU, the visible lack of interest in minority affairs reported in The Daily Free Press has a detrimental effect on the community.
In regards to inaccurate reporting, the Sept. 24 issue stated that the Commuting Student Association would be sponsoring, as part of Commuters Week, a jazz concert with Lonnie Liston Smith. This concert is actually an attempt by UMOJA to develop a sense of cohesiveness among both members of minorities and non-minorities at BU.
Your article violated the respect warranted by the Black Student Union who were the developers of this innovative concept of University-wide musical acceptance.
By inaccurately researching the workings of this concept, you fueled the fires of segregated
attitudes among students at BU. UMOJA is the principle founder, developer, organizer and financer of this initial attempt at “inter-racial togetherness.” Your newspaper failed to report this.
For example, your lack of coverage of the Black Student Union’s first mass meeting, attended by over 100 students, was not even covered.
Affairs affecting minorities on this campus are not met with the same intensity as are other issues reported in The Daily Free Press.
Events of this magnitude are essential to black constituents who were unable to attend the meeting due to academic responsibilities. The Daily Free Press has a duty to report such events for the benefit of the entire student body. We feel that a paper of such magnitude should show a visible concern for minority issues which, as of now, has not been apparent.
We suggest that The Daily Free Press appoint people to help in reporting minority affairs. We also suggest the utilization of Third World Expressions, a minority communications organization at the School of Public Communication, to also assist you in the ongoing relationship between minorities and the press.
The ignorance of minority concerns displayed by The Daily Free Press is but one step away from the total disregard and disrespect of minorities as a whole at BU.
As concerned minority leaders, we will not sit back and allow this racist attitude of totally ignoring minority issues to continue. We challenge The Daily Free Press to display itself as the voice of BU without alienating the minority students.
Jeffrey L. Smith, president, UMOJA
Andre Bustamante, president, NAACP
Van Allen, second vice-president, NAACP
Thomas E. Hopkins, Jr., treasurer, NAACP
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