Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

NEWSLETTER
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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Letters to the Editor

Lighten up, Part II

This is in response to the letter to the editor entitled “Limited originality” in the Feb. 5 edition of The GW Hatchet (p.4). It appeared the writer was trying to put down the cartoonist, Rob, and his cartoon, “GW Fashions,” from the Jan. 29 issue.

The writer claimed that upon seeing the cartoon he thought, “This sort of thing must be stopped, no one should get away with this garbage.” And then he went on to sarcastically insult Rob’s originality and give the tired stereotypes-keep-people-apart speech.

GW has diverse cultural groups and they tend to clump together. There is nothing wrong with the fact that we enjoy celebrating our differences. But there is nothing wrong with poking a little fun at our differences either. The writer should lighten up. If you really read Rob’s cartoon, you would notice that the large majority of his humor is directed at himself and toward his cultural group. This self-directed humor is the only humor that approaches being derogatory.

Rob suggested in his cartoon that Arabs on campus tend to wear black and drive more expensive cars than the rest of us. You admitted this stereotype exists and complained about the lack of originality in it, yet it is difficult to imagine how bitter your letter would have been if Rob had actually put the hours into observing, as you put it, “breakthrough campus stereotypes.”

And secondly, is this Arab stereotype bad? How does this stereotype keep us apart? I have never heard anybody say they do not want to meet someone because they wear black and drive an expensive car. In fact, I am aware of several women looking for men with those characteristics.

Whites from rural America tend to wear flannel and jeans. Blacks from the cities tend to wear baggier clothes. Of course there are numerous exceptions, but to pretend to be blind to ethnic trends is ridiculous. Some stereotypes are in fact malicious, but to get uptight about every single one is ignoring reality. There comes a point where political correctness starts separating us more than it brings us together.-Cynthia Cunningham senior

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