To the Editor:
Helen McDonald's '14 column ("Who cares about Trayvon Martin?" April 12) about the apparent lack of outrage on campus about the Trayvon Martin tragedy disturbed me. She suggests there is a lack of empathy at Brown for the African-American experience with racism in our country. If that were true, it would be a sad commentary on our student body. As an alum once deeply involved in the civil rights movement of the '60s, I would have assumed that the social consciousness that characterizes Brown students today is strong and pursues social justice with a passion. McDonald is throwing a gauntlet down. The Herald, with its investigative talent, needs to take up the challenge to find out more about our students' awareness of and determination to do something about American racism. Has it changed at all in the 45 years since the campus National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which I was a part of, confronted the scourge that it was on campus, in Providence and in the country?
Tom Bale '63
