Like thousands of others, I am watching the current racial issue at Penn State. I am not a student or alumnus, but because I'm a taxpayer and resident of Pennsylvania, I figure I have a right to at least express a viewpoint. I don't disagree for a minute that there is racism and hatred alive and well in this country and on your campus. The problem comes down to how it is dealt with. Racism is not just a disease that infects the white population. It crosses all ethnic lines.

Unfortunately, for reasons of political correctness, white folks seem to get most of the blame both in the media and in the eyes of young idealists who have not yet spent time in the real world. Please understand this, young folks.

Minority folks can be as ugly, hateful and racist as white people. If we are ever to have racial harmony, all people who commit racist acts must be handled equally. You can't hold white folks to one standard while giving a pass to minorities who act equally as bad. This seems to be for politically correct reasons, a current trend in America. Just be sure while you are marching and holding rallies that the recent threats are real. Don't be foolish enough to rule out the possibility that they may have been manufactured by persons unknown to advance an agenda and cause the very turmoil that has occurred.

Remember the Tawana Brawley case in New York and the backlash on that when the charges against those law enforcement people were proven false? A lot of knee-jerk types looked real stupid after that one.

Yes, letters have been sent and threats made, but who did it and why? Being a little older and maybe wiser, I know there are individuals who would have no problem taking advantage of the good intentions of young college students. If the letters and threats are real, they need to be acted on. Just don't overreact only to find out later that the whole thing was faked to advance some self-serving person's agenda. Just remember there are those, both white and minority, who have profited well from racial disharmony.