The Tripod

To the Editors of the Tripod and Ninna Gaensler-Debs, regarding the Feature article, "Tales from Abroad: Premature BINGO Will Get You Spanked"

In extolling the benefits of study abroad in Amsterdam, Ms. Gaensler-Debs writes, "…instead of looking down on the grandeur of Frog Hollow from my window, outside here I see sparkling canals and beautiful blonde Dutch people…" Given the context, it's safe to assume the term "grandeur" is used sarcastically with reference to Frog Hollow, and readers would be correct in substituting a word such as "squalor." This juxtaposition of a squalid Frog Hollow with a place full of "beautiful blonde Dutch people" has deeply disturbing racial and classist implications. It implies that residents of Frog Hollow are neither blond nor beautiful and that being surrounded by beautiful blonde Dutch people is preferable to being surrounded by folks who don't meet that description.

Whatever Ms. Gaensler-Debs intended with her words, they mean that Frog Hollow lacks the beautiful physical environment of Amsterdam and unlike Amsterdam has too few beautiful blonde (white?) residents. The relative poverty of our Frog Hollow neighborhood does limit the resources that can be devoted to beautification of its environment but beauty does exist in our neighborhood if one is open to seeing it and appreciating it. And, while beautiful blonde (white?) people probably do constitute a rather small segment of Frog Hollow residents, many of its residents are beautiful people in body, mind and spirit, without being blonde (white?). This beauty too is apparent if one is open to seeing and appreciating it.

We cannot help but wonder what an intelligent person could have had in mind with this reference to "beautiful blonde Dutch people." Perhaps we are utterly mistaken but it seems to be too pointed a reference to be simply an instance of carelessness or ineptitude in expression. Equally puzzling, no Tripod editor felt strongly enough about the wording of the article to call the phrase into question.

We do not have any idea whether Ms. Gaensler-Debs is a racist but we would presume she is not. However, we respond here to what she wrote, which in our view has a racist meaning, whatever she intended by it. We believe that racist statements, even when made with the most innocent of motives, ought to be challenged and, when such statements are made in a public forum, they ought to be challenged in a public forum. The anticipated "I didn't mean it that way" defense carries some weight but it ought not be treated as completely exculpatory.

The article does mention Amsterdam's diversity, albeit in the same paragraph as it cites the city's red light district and "the delicacies found in the many coffee shops." What about the diversity of Hartford and Frog Hollow? Or is diversity only worth celebrating in exotic study-away locations? We endorse exploration, pushing one's limits and trying new things, but we are deeply troubled by the baggage Ms. Gaensler-Debs seems to have carried with her to Amsterdam; including attitudes towards the LGBT community that we won't get into at this point.

Much can be gained from study abroad and, while we encourage students who have studied abroad to communicate those benefits to the Trinity community, study abroad should never be used to denigrate and insult our Frog Hollow neighborhood or its residents.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Bayliss

Xiangming Chen

David Cruz-Uribe

Pablo Delano

Luis Figueroa

Dan Román

Clare Rossini

Maurice Wade

Anne Lambright

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