To the editor:

Late last night, I was awakened in my downtown Lawrence apartment by the voices of men on Massachusetts Street who were shouting racial epithets and, as some might construe them, threats. They shouted, among other things, “We are the n—– haters! N—–s!”

I thought back to a conversation I’d had recently in a downtown coffee shop about the recent Jena Six protests; my friend argued that such protests only inflamed racism, but I countered that such protests also bring to the surface the fact that racism is still very much a problem in America.

After hearing these young men shouting about their hatred for blacks, I wondered if my friend has a point. But the more important point is that we, as human beings and Americans, must continue to address racism where we experience it, whether that be in Jena, La., or Lawrence, Kan. As I was in bed, I cannot say whether or not anyone on Massachusetts Street tried to put a stop to this overt hatred. But if we are to learn anything from Jena, La., it must be that we cannot close our eyes and expect that the problems of hatred will never bother us.

Erin Williams,

Lawrence