Editor:

I am writing to reply to Mr. Chesney’s article, "CI Article Meets with Skepticism at Pomona" (TSL Nov. 2, p.6). He quotes me liberally, but misrepresents my views.

Any useful work done in Queer Studies will be primarily anthropological, based on hard science. Mr. Chesney seems to think one anthropology course can cover what takes 10.5 courses at Pitzer. Hard science weaknesses lead to junk scholarship. (Incidentally, the term "hard science," as recognized by Webster’s, doesn’t need quotation marks around "hard," as Mr. Chesney used. "Hard science" refers to such disciplines as physics, chemistry, and biology; "soft science," psychology, sociology, anthropology.) Anthropologists without a firm background in biology mistake inborn behavior for social constructions. Such slipshod work must end.

I never asserted that Marxism "should not be taught." Free-market economics should be the core curriculum, but Marxism provides historical perspective. Marxist ideals inspired the Soviet Union and China to commit history’s largest mass murders. We should study Marxism to understand its deadly seduction. The free market, while imperfect, is the best way to change society. Companies learn that they attract clients and skilled workers when they don’t discriminate, so they cease discrimination. It’s slow, but radical, forced change causes backlash.

"Hysteria" is an accurate term for the hoopla following Matthew Shepard’s death. When people act foolishly, they often die. It’s sad, but it doesn’t justify candlelight vigils as much as, say, a war does. With rights come responsibilities. If we gay men want to pursue our sex lives as we see fit, we must also take responsibility for our blunders. Thus, we cannot blame President Reagan for the AIDS crisis; we must accept that the reckless behavior of many individuals led to disaster.

Let me clarify why leftists are partly responsible for the African AIDS catastrophe. Some idiotic gay radicals claim that retroviral drugs cause, rather than treat, AIDS. President Mbeki of South Africa adopted this scientifically baseless idea; he now tries to deny medication to the dying.

Mr. Chesney is right: my ideas challenge the premise of Chicano, Black, and Asian American Studies. For undergraduates, these majors overspecialize ridiculously. These departments should be merged into a single group, Ethnic Studies, that should be a concentration within the broader context of an anthropology major. The lack of space in my Claremont Independent article–and in this letter–prevent me from discussing these ideas further.

Sincerely

Mike Hubbard, CMC ‘02