An Inclusive Litany

6/26/97

Letter to the editor, the Orange County Register, February 24, 1997:
While I found the content of the article "Tackling hurt head-on" [News, Feb. 17] quite sensitive and compassionate, it contained a phrase that I feel is insensitive and offensive, That phrase is "sat Indian style."

What exactly does "say Indian style" mean? How does it happen that a whole race of people have the honor of having a way of sitting named after them? Are Native Americans the only people who sit with their legs crossed? I would think that the educated and learned reporters of the Orange County Register could come up with a more descriptive and appropriate way of describing how a person was sitting. Perhaps using the simple phrase "sitting cross legged" would be adequate....