Need more racial tolerance at UA

Editor:

I would like to thank Timothy Walker for his letter to the editor in the Oct. 20 issue of the Wildcat. I too am a Korean-American and I do not use the term to be "politically correct." My nationality is Korean and I am an American citizen. I have been thinking about expressing my views on experiences such as the ones that he has encountered for a while and his letter gave me the confidence to do so.

After getting married and transferring to this university, I have had ice thrown at me, been spit on, and have had rocks thrown at me while driving. I have been chased by people yelling at me,"Don't run away chink we just want to kill you!" I even dislike grocery shopping because I am told by students that I smell like dog manure and the smell is rotting the food and to shop with my own kind.

I realize that not everyone acts in these manners and I am not asking the university to do anything about incidents like these. I do not need an apology from any of the people involved. I just am asking to be left alone. When I go to study in the library or when I walk around campus, I do not want to hear how ugly my black hair is or how flat and deformed my face looks because I do not have Caucasian features. And to those girls that were walking next to me yesterday, I do speak English (and French). So even though you made remarks about "how could I see where I was going with my slitty eyes and that my face was flat and ugly and it looked like I had been run over by a truck," I could understand every single word, contrary to your statement that I do not know English.

I am at this institution to get an education. Do not blame me for having to take a multicultural class. Do not blame me for taking money away from "good, white students" by getting a scholarship for "just being a chink" because I work to pay my way through school. I do not want everyone to like and accept the fact that I am Asian because I think it is wrong to force people to think a certain way. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I just wish we could all be more tolerant. I do not ever reply to any of the slurs because I do not want to argue with hostile people. Like I stated earlier, for those of you who feel it is necessary to be rude toward me, please keep it to yourself. I already know from your glares that you do not like me. Thanks for letting me vent and sorry my letter is so long.

Kimberly McDaniel

Classics and Latin Junior

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