I attended “Schoolhouse Rock, LIVE!” last Friday evening. The stage show and the individual efforts of the lead actors are to be applauded and reflect the great amount of work that went into this production. However, it is quite unfortunate that those efforts were not matched by those who determined show content. The event was advertised (www3.sdstate.edu) as “sure-fire entertainment that’s simply good, clean – and educational – fun.” The presentation of “Elbow Room” evinced a glaring racist theme in which brave white guys set out to conquer the North American wilderness during the so-called “west-ward expansion of our nation” (ignoring the vibrant native cultures that were practically exterminated by this process).

I have no doubt this overt racism was unintentional, and I am certainly the last person to be politically correct or to unnecessarily worry about the sensitivities of others. However, I would hope that the powers-that-be will extend a heart-felt apology to the group of Native American students who were in the audience that evening-many of whom got up and left. The song “Elbow Room”” was an affront to all educated members of the audience. Unintentional racism is racism nonetheless.

Scott C. PedersenPh.D., Department of Bio-Microbiology, SDSU