It was recently brought to the attention of the student population at Ohio State that some dorm residents have received “racist mailings,” according to an e-mail sent by Vice President of Student Affairs Richard Hollingsworth.

In the e-mail, Hollingsworth said 354 envelopes were sent out to occupants in seven different residence halls.

The Lantern decided not to follow up with the information that was given to all students, for fear of perpetuating such racism. It is a mistake to think that random letters to random people should be taken seriously, or that any of the content in the letters was true.

As a student-run newspaper, we sometimes struggle with the decision of how to report on such sensitive issues as racism. By taking the time to write a story, interview people who received a letter and print it on the front page, we would be giving the sender of the letters exactly what he or she wanted: to spread the thought of white superiority.

So why then, did The Lantern print a story about an incident between students at Drackett Hall? It was our decision to write the story for a few reasons, one being because the incident included violence.

Although we do not agree, it is a fact, however, that racism is present in our culture. It has been around since the beginning of this country, and although different minority groups have fought and won basic freedoms, some people are just ignorant enough to think that, because of the color of their skin, they are better than someone else.

The only way to combat this issue of random mailings being sent to students is to acknowledge that the information is wrong and move on. By printing an article or discussing the issue, we are only increasing the number of people who receive the message sent by an anonymous, ignorant person.

Maybe the sender was trying to get a laugh, or maybe they were serious with the contents. Either way, the students who received the letters should not take the information to heart. They should realize the ignorance of others shouldn’t be taken seriously.