While we are thankful concerning The Daily Tar Heel's coverage of the important Black Student Movement forum held on Wednesday, I am writing to clarify several misstatements about Justin Young and his plans for using his diverse experiences on this campus to fight the old stereotypes and discrimination that so often try to divide us.
In your article, the plan for a statewide race relations conference is attributed to the wrong candidate. Justin Young has proposed a statewide race relations conference coordinated by student government, student organizations and University departments to confront the tough issues of race that continue to confront us. But talking is just the beginning. From this conference, Justin Young wants to emerge with a concrete set of actions that he will pursue with determination.
Justin Young is the only candidate with the diverse experiences and interactions necessary to succeed in bringing our community together. During his three years at the University, he has formed working relationships, partnerships and friendships with people across all lines of race, gender, religion and sexual orientation. Justin Young has lived diversity, living over the past several years with a Latino student, a Jewish student, a couple of white guys and a gay student. He has often been the lone voice for diversity and tolerance in student government. As the only black student on Nic Heinke's Cabinet, Justin Young constantly stood up for the needs of blacks and all minorities when they would have otherwise been ignored or overlooked. He is now proving his commitment to all students by pledging to reject the thousands of dollars of salary of the student body president and return the money to us through a new program he calls the Student Empowerment Endowment.
His admirable commitment to diversity can be seen in his experience, friendships and life.
Matt Jones
Students for Justin Young
Senior
Political Science and African-American Studies
