TO THE EDITOR:
It was very unwelcome to read the thoughtless bile of Jalynn Harris’ “Your critiques are boring.”
The column reminded me of the pages of the Stalinist Daily Worker, or, more relevant, Fox and Friends. There was the same carelessness in both thought and language that one sees when a writer has no intention of making allies, only to preach outworn orthodoxies. It is clear that the writer doesn’t care too much about the message, only that she is saying it. These personal politics are harmful to the righteous causes she defends.
What is indefensible, though, is her deeming opinions as “violence.” This is an inherently totalitarian concept; making the false equivalency between words and violence is an excuse for censorship, and it cheapens actual violence. The hollowness of these statements are masked by pure aggression. But this militant posturing is not merely an affectation — it is the oppressed internalizing the habits of oppressors. And so we hear the racism in the remark, “white people should stop procreating.”
Harris would do well to take note from James Baldwin, a writer who expressed similar anger with far more grace and humanity. As for now, the column remains not only boring, but literal-minded and humorless.
Souli Boutis
First-year
Classics
