We’ve all heard about the recent bias incident, correct? Well, if you’re in the dark, let me shine some light on the subject. According to an e-mail sent to the school, there was a recent sorority social with a “T” theme. One of the sorority members entered the party clad in a towel turban with the word “terrorist” written on her shirt. The sorority sent an apology letter to the editor in the last edition of The Gustavian Weekly, so it’s all good now. Right?

Except it isn’t. It’s inexcusable. Regardless of your intentions for doing it, you hurt someone’s feelings. Maybe an entire group of people’s feelings, or the feelings of the entirety of the Gustavus campus. No one should have the right or power to do that. Regardless of the intensity of the act of hate, an apology isn’t going to fix everything.

Here’s a lesson in etymology: A hate crime is a crime committed against a group of people or one person that is illegal or criminal. For instance, if someone was hanged because of a bias against their race, that would be considered a hate crime. Vandalism or assaults are considered hate crimes. Basically, anything rooted in hate that is against the law classifies as a hate crime. A hate crime is just that – hate. The motivation for a hate crime isn’t knowledge or education. It’s hate. The motivation is lack of education and people thinking it’s not going to offend anyone.

On the other hand, a bias incident is basically the same thing, except it is not considered illegal, an example being wearing a turban and a shirt with “terrorist” written on it. Although a bias incident is not illegal, it still stems from hate, and that is what makes it an “incident” as opposed to just an event.

The incident at our school is no different. Although it’s not illegal, it’s still wrong. An act of hatred was committed against an entire group of people and a four-paragraph apology letter isn’t going to fix anything. It might quell the storm of backlash, but it really doesn’t make anything better.

I don’t understand how people can just go into a party thinking that a costume, based off of a hurtful label on a stereotype that isn’t even accurate, about a group of people they probably don’t know anything about. The stereotype that all Middle Eastern people or anyone who wears a turban is a terrorist is outdated, and doesn’t make any sense. That’s like saying every American is obese because of the one guy who had fried chicken delivered by a pulley system to his window every day so he wouldn’t have to leave his bed to eat. We’re not all the same, and neither are other groups.

I’d love to think that feeling sorry for your actions and sending a public letter apologizing would fix everything and take away all the pain that was caused, but it won’t. And I’m sure that’s not all the sorority members have planned to repair the damage that was caused, but that’s not the point. The point is no one should have to apologize for his or her actions; it should not have happened in the first place.

If you have to wonder, “is this offensive? Could it be seen as offensive?” don’t do it. Just use your noggin. Trust your gut. If something seems offensive or wrong, odds are it definitely is. Think before you act. That way you won’t have to apologize for anything, because you wouldn’t have been inconsiderate in the first place. It is definitely not better to apologize than to ask for permission because if you had asked for permission in the first place, you wouldn’t have to apologize.