Addressing the affirmative action story concerns
To whom it may concern,
It has come to the attention of TSP that there has been a lot of emotions, frustration and confusion surrounding the recently published article titled “Exploring the racial lens of affirmative action.” Due to the community response we have received, we want to address a couple of things to clarify the article and its purpose.
Firstly, we want to point out that this is an opinion piece that highlighted the writer’s point of view in favor of affirmative action, which was informed by a variety of different perspectives including other students. It was not our intention to assert the writer’s opinion as the truth, rather suggest a perspective on the issue.
Secondly, we understand that affirmative action is a complex and nuanced issue. What was highlighted in the article specifically explored a highly contested and debated aspect of it–not every nuanced lens that affirmative action entails.
We would also like to emphasize how important it is for TSP staff to write on heavy topics. The American Press Institute states that one of the essential elements of journalism is to “provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.” We acknowledge all the responses we’ve gotten thus far and are committed to encouraging healthy conversations at our school.
Students have differing opinions and we appreciate the feedback and the concerns we are receiving from students and staff. If you have any further concerns on this topic or this article and you would like to contact the editors-in-chief, Lexi Reinstein and Evan Kim, please feel free to send an email to the address [email protected].
Further information on affirmative action from other journalistic and academic sources:
https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/hiring/affirmativeact
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1060361
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affirmative%20action