Judging a book by its cover

On March 21, the Indiana Daily Student ran an article about a student and janitor at IUPUI accused of harassing his black co-workers by reading an anti-Ku Klux Klan book called “Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan” in front of them. The book features two burning crosses on its cover. The man, Keith J. Sampson, claims he didn’t do anything besides read the book and that he is a very racially tolerant person who was just trying to learn what the book had to say. \nIt is almost hard to believe Sampson’s only offense was reading, but that’s exactly what he was reprimanded for in the letter he received from the Affirmative Action Office in November. According to the letter “repeatedly reading the book” in front of his co-workers “constitutes racial harassment.” Really? Based on Sampson’s public reaction to this incident, it seems clear that if his co-workers had asked him about the book, he would have responded that he wasn’t racist in the least and was just trying to learn about the racial history of the state of Indiana. \nEveryone should agree that it is important to learn about the histories of different minority groups. However, it is saddening that a member of the IU community, or anyone, for that matter, would be reprimanded for trying to do so. And the fact that the book was anti-Klan makes it even more clear that Sampson was actually practicing tolerance by reading the book. \nBecause this book was in the IU Library system, perhaps University officials should have considered its potential to offend people when they bought it. But since they didn’t, it isn’t Sampson’s fault. It is unfair for the Affirmative Action Office to reprimand him for reading a book that the University didn’t seem to take issue with when purchasing it.\nAre we getting to the point where we must always check with those sitting around us in public when we decide to open a book or magazine with a visible cover? After all, some people can get offended pretty easily. Is it our responsibility to make sure that nothing we read in public will offend anyone under any circumstances?\nAnother possibility could be to cover all our reading materials in blank book jackets. However, if we were going to do that we’d have to all agree on a uniform color in order to eliminate harassment. Red is definitely out. And blue ... let’s just put an “X” on any potential gang colors.\nKidding aside, determining the “right” way to go about studying racial history or practicing good race relations is extremely difficult. However, jumping to conclusions about someone is never a good idea, race issues or not. And in this case, the school’s Affirmative Action Office has jumped to the wrong conclusions about a member of its community. \nHopefully this won’t happen again. If it does, we should probably consider burning all the books in the IU Library system. You know, just to be fair.