The Other Press Mailbag The following emails appear exactly as they were sent to us; they have not been edited for content or style. We here at The Other Press encourage you to keep writing in to our Mailbag, how else are we going to know who we’ve pissed off? Warm fuzzies and prickly pears can be delivered to othereditor@yahoo.ca Email to The Other Press from Mr. L****: The other press is rag run by a bunch of white-bred rich suburbanite crackers (Got your attention) As a student of colour, I am insulted that my school paper has not even mentioned black history month. The civil rights movement has been one of the greatest events in human history. The many leaders and people who worked together to advance freedom and eliminate racial pred- jadism (in our parents lifetime) have not even recieved the slightest mention in your last two issues. Shame on you for taking your hard fought for freedom and liber- ty for granted. Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance Stupidity. -Martin Luther King Jr- PS. Any brothers or sisters on the staff, You ought to know better! Dear Mra eras Thank you for your email. I assume that your insults toward us were intentional, but I can assure you that any insult you felt directed from our behalf was not. You are right, the Other Press is “your’school paper, so if there is something you want to see in it, please write about it and send it to us. We are always happy to receive submissions from students, and appreciate the opportunity to broaden the perspectives contained in our publication. After all, us “white-bred rich suburbanite crackers” are far too busy counting our money and insulting our fellow stu- dents to do everything by ourselves. We appreciate the fact that you are reading our rag though (how else would you have known what we haven't been writing about?), and thank you for letting us know what you would like to see in future issues. If more people would express their interests like you, we could do a much better job of representing our readers. We will include your letter in our next issue, and again, I urge you to submit an article on civil rights, we would love to print it. — Amanda Aikman Managing Editor, The Other Press p.s. I agree that ignorance is a dangerous thing, so, just as a tip, if you do choose to write something for us, please be advised that the correct word is “prejudice” not “pred- jadism.” Wed hate for someone to send you a nasty email accusing you of being ignorant. We know how much that sucks. Email to The Other Press from Mr. L****: I eat pigs feet not Turkish delight. I do this becuase I am poor. I refuse to buy into the white devils system of oppression by taking out a student loan. I will seriously consider writing an article on the modern civil rights movement. The fact that you have no awareness of this is evident because you have made no mention of it. It is not as if Black history month is a big secret, you ought to know. Or is it to touchy a subject for a bunch of whitebread suburbanite crackers. Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere -Martin Luther King Jr- Hebe Dear Mr. L****, Wow, I had a feeling that the student-loans collector who called me the other day wasn't the pleasant middle-aged bureaucrat she presented herself to be—but I didn’t realize she was a “white devil” oppressor. Thank you for informing me, no way am I going to give her any money now. I appreciate the time you have taken to address your concerns with our editorial con- tent, however, it is offensive and presumptuous of you to claim as “fact” that I have “no awareness” of Black History Month simply because it has not been written about in The Other Press. I can assure you, this is not the case. The content of The Other Press is printed on a submis- sion basis, if someone submits something—we print it (provided it is coherent and is not racist, sexist, or homo- phobic in nature). Our editors, contrary to what you may believe, are not a bunch of “white devil” oppressors who can force people to write on specific topics. If there is a specific topic that a reader would like to see addressed in The Other Press, we fully encourage them to address it. If readers do not feel capable of writing the article themselves, they are welcome to contact the appropriate section editor (section editor addresses appear on page two of every issue) and dis- cuss alternative options (such as the section editor writing the story, or attempting to find another contributor inter- ested in writing the story). I look forward to reading your article on civil rights, if you choose to write one. However, you should be “aware” of our mandate against printing racist materials. Please refrain from referencing “white devils” and “whitebread suburbanite crackers” in your submission if you wish for it to be printed. Thank you, Amanda Aikman, Managing Editor, The Other Press p.s. You can afford pig’ feet on a student’s budget? Now that’s impressive. Back in my day we had to settle for “Mr. Noodles” and free gallery-opening grub. n Fis |Ssue FEBRUARY 23/2005 www.theotherpress.ca | 3