Op-Ed "Harvey, lay down your arms"

Op-Ed "Harvey, lay down your arms"

This Op-Ed was published in The Collegian in 1989 and written by student, Rick Mayes. In this article, Mayes responds to a past article written by student Harvey Whitney. In his piece, Mayes criticizes Whitney as being divisive and for promoting black supremacy. He compares Whitney to Malcolm X, and notes that the rhetoric that X had used was similar to that of Adolf Hitler. Mayes argues that "our society doesn't even flinch when people state such 'Black Panther' type accusations in the paper." Mayes also argues that if a white person had used the same rhetoric for white people, they would be expelled and arrested. Mayes argues that Whitney is not reaching toward a common goal of "color-blindness" and holds onto the past of slavery and "past racial climates." He capitalizes "past" to emphasize his point.

Mayes, Rick. "Harvey, lay down your arms." The University of Richmond Collegian 76, no. 05. (October 10, 1989): 6. http://collegian.richmond.edu/cgi-bin/richmond?a=d&d=COL19891005.2.24&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-

The Collegian, University of Richmond

1989-10-05

English

Collegian76.5.6-19891005.jpg

Richmond (Va.)