Anita Quintanilla on Graglia's September 1997 Remarks

Anita Quintanilla on UT Law Professor Lino Graglia's Public Statements from September 1997

A brief timeline and description of the context of Quintanilla's rebuttal:

At a September 10 news conference announcing the formation of a new campus group that opposes any race-based preferences in admissions criteria, Students for Equal Opportunity, Graglia said that black and Mexican-American students are "not academically competitive'' with white students at the nation's top universities. The minority students' inability to compete, Graglia said, "is the result primarily of cultural effects.'' "They have a culture that seems not to encourage achievement. Failure is not looked upon with disgrace.'' Graglia said in a telephone interview: "I said there is a cultural factor at work.'' "It appears to be the case that somehow some races see to it that their kids are more serious about school. They cut less and they study more.''
The Supreme Court last year allowed lower court rulings in the Hopwood case to stand, and minority enrollment at UT Law dropped sharply this year: There are 4 black and 26 Mexican-American students in the first-year law school class of 468 students, which is down from 31 black and 42 Mexican-American students last year.

Anita Quintanilla in Reponse: The following is my response to remarks by a University of Texas Law professor, who is also a staunch opponent of affirmative action. Professor Graglia said, "Blacks and Mexican Americans are not academically competitive with white students because they have a culture where failure is not looked upon in disgrace. I don't know that it's good for whites to be with the lower class people who usually behave less attractively and who tend towards greater violent behavior."

Talk about adding racial insult to Hopwood injury! Graglia is saying that whites are superior. Someone should remind him that such racism is against the law. I believe Graglia should be disciplined for his latest demeaning remarks, he really should have been fired before he received tenure years ago. If this was his "most congenial response" to the question of why minority students seem to not do as well as white students then I can't imagine what the real Graglia would actually say within his "good ol' boys club." Evidently, the dean of the law school is part of
this elitist club to allow Graglia to continue teaching all these years. If this is the case, then there's probably a lot of sexism in the school also.

I believe instructors in public institutions have a moral obligation to help make ALL students feel like full-fledged human beings (and to prepare them to live in a multi-cultural society). How arrogant to talk about minorities ("lower classes") the way he did. How can he possibly know how others think and feel when he's not one of them! An
inner competitive drive depends mostly on the individual (and parents). By the way, there are many whites who are not very competitive because of personal and other reasons and not necessarily because of their race. I can't help but think that the U.S. Constitution has very little to do with real life issues of today. Instead of passing policies out of good faith for the disadvantaged, those already in power often exploit and twist the law to favor themselves.

School grades or skin color does not reflect one's WORTH, but the amount of genuine goodness in ones heart and deeds; and this combined with past suffering should determine what they DESERVE. Us "lower classes" also know that the causes for social problems has less to do with ones culture but more to do with society's prejudicial attitudes such as Graglia's. The different cultures and neighborhoods here don't exist in a vacuum, we all live in and are influenced by the American culture. To say something negative about various cultures here is really insulting the entire country (and oneself)!

There's absolutely nothing Graglia can say now to make "minorities" feel welcomed at UT. They're not stupid. They know he has already told them they are NOT welcomed. As a major roadblock to diversity, "Jim Crow" Graglia seems to be bringing us back into the 20th century instead of forward into the 21st century. I can't help but wonder if he has a white robe and hood hidden in his closet. I went to UT from 1968-73 and never heard such insensitive remarks from any of the instructors even way back then! I'm glad I didn't take Graglia's class or I may have suffered such emotional distress as to cause me to drop out of school! I may live in California but my heart is in Texas and now my heart is aching knowing that such a cruel person is there hurting so many people and shaming UT and the entire state!!

Respectfully yours,

Anita Quintanilla
1304 Marin Avenue
Albany, CA 94706
(510) 528-0723

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Carl Gutierrez-Jones
Department of English
University of California, Santa Barbara
e-mail: carlgj@humanitas.ucsb.edu