Amalendu Chatterjee: Refuting professor’s rant

I as an Asian-American am not pleased at the remarks in the May 16 news article “Duke professor’s remarks bring ire” by Professor Jerry Hough of Duke. It is nice of him to praise one community but not at the cost of the other community. Such a general and blanket comment is unfortunate and cannot be validated with equitable and comparable data.

Facts have to be presented to neutralize his adverse comments on one community against the other:

▪ Shortening names are more for convenience and taking advantage of the system and the process rather than real integration.

▪ Such comparison among ethnic groups brings undesirable tension especially between the Asian and the black communities.

▪ Every individual is born with his or her own talent and skills and grows with a set of family values that lead to a success or a failure in life.

▪ Backgrounds and circumstances of these two groups are different and comparing them is like comparing an orange and an apple.

▪ I as a Hindu priest have conducted Asian-African-American wedding ceremonies, and dating between these groups is common but may be less visible than Asian-white-American

This story was originally published May 26, 2015 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Amalendu Chatterjee: Refuting professor’s rant."