'Mafioso' Use Racist

To The Editors of The Crimson:

As a former Crimson editor on the Editorial Board, I well remember the qualities sought in the selection and editing of op-ed pieces. Among these were the use of humor and irony in the advancement of a message.

As I read Kit Troyer's review of "Black Rain," I learned that this tradition continues. It was the height of irony to find that in the same review of a movie denounced for "reinforc[ing] some long-standing racial stereotypes," the author describes one character as a "Japanese mafioso." Does the Editorial Board (which offered no disclaimer) express the belief that criminals worldwide owe their existence to an illicit network originating on Sicily at the turn of this century? Or is your belief that Italians are in general archetypal criminals?

The use of the word "mafioso" to describe a member of a criminal organization displays the very kind of bias your review purports to loathe. It perpetuates the insulting and degrading view of Italian-Americans as godfathers and hit-men. And while I do not deny that a small minority of Italians belonged to violent criminals organizations, I challenge Mr. Troyer to name one ethnic group which has not produced a criminal.

If we must classify by ethnicity, The New York Times reported recently that some of the most active criminal networks in New York involve immigrants from South America, Central America, and the Soviet Union. Italians did not merit mention on the list. Then what but prejudice could have prompted Mr. Troyer to use an Italian word for "mobster" where no ethnic designation was appropriate?

In your own words, Mr. Troyer, your language "veers between stupid and racist." Cynthia M. Monaco