The Latino Student Union has good reason to be offended by Chris Yonker's supposedly satirical hate rant and I agree that he should be fired. Not solely because his column was offensive ' offensive is not enough to get a writer fired ' but because his writing/thinking does not meet the standards that should be expected from one of the top journalism schools in the country.
For very good reasons, such as maintaining a healthy marketplace of ideas, newspapers are strongly defended from any sort of censorship by the government, or in this case, Ohio University. If the editor of The Post doesn't feel the need to fire Yonker, there is really nothing you or I can do about it short of from now on referring to The Post as a rag, refusing to pick up a copy, and pressuring advertisers. If The Post wants to be a lightning rod for bigotry and stupidity, then that is its prerogative; I'll just be reading The Athens News or The Athens Messenger.
However, just because Yonker has the right to write political satire with the maturity of a middle schooler in a chat room, does not mean that it meets the intellectual standards of a college-level publication.
Not all opinions are equal despite the fact that they all have a right to be expressed. The person really at fault here is the editor for not being more discriminating when choosing his or her editorial staff.
There is a limited amount of page space in any publication and readers have a limited amount of time that they are willing to dedicate to deciding who is right or wrong. This is why the job of the editor is so important. The editor must use careful judgment to decide which pieces truly put forth well-reasoned and socially constructive arguments, and which pieces belong in the comments section on the Leave Britney Alone! video on Youtube.
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Letter to the Editor
