As I read the article by Olivia James in the March 20 edition of The Reveille, I was very disappointed that she chose to lump all white people as privileged and all black and brown people as disadvantaged. This mindset is a partial reason for the racial problems that plague our country. My parents were the first in their families to go to college. They earned their degrees and worked all their lives. My siblings and myself have earned our college degrees and will work all our lives. It has not always been easy, but we work hard, we mildly complain and move forward. My personal background is European/American Indian (North Carolina Cherokee). 
When my middle daughter was in middle school, she used to watch a TV show about glamorous teen Sweet Sixteen birthday parties. The show had its share of diversity, with plenty of privileged girls of all races. The parents of this diverse group could easily buy into whatever they wanted. And when discussing college scandals, James omitted the problems within higher education and Asian students applying to schools in California and the Ivy League. These schools created a “personality” quotient for college entrance. Seems that Asian students are more reserved than others, therefore they have low scores. This would prevent Asian students from entrance to these universities in favor of white and black students.
James parallels the convicted crimes of two black women and the current group of white women from Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Most of us do not know the significant details of the criminal cases against Kelley Williams-Bolar or Tanya McDowell, which led to their arrest and conviction, but the cases in the current college scandal are open investigations and have yet to reach the point of a trial. At this point in time, these two cases are not comparable. Journalists should not try a case in public, only present all of the information available, pro or con, so that the public may make an educated conclusion for themselves.
There was a case in Baton Rouge a few decades ago when students were brought here from “bad” areas in other states so that they may get a good education. What that school was really doing was to create a fantastic basketball team. The school got into trouble.
Journalists have one of the most important jobs in our country — in the world. Sadly, the education level in the United States is lowering. Journalists need to inform and educate people in an honest and simple way. And, people are easily manipulated. There is an old quote that rings so true today: “If you lie to people all of the time, eventually they will come to believe it.” It is the job of journalists to keep everyone informed, to keep everyone honest.