THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, December 8, 1994             TAG: 9412060013
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A22  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   39 lines

RACE-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS: NOT JUST BLACK AND WHITE

High-school junior Aaron Woodard's quotation as it appeared in the Daily Break section of your newspaper (``Base scholarships on achievement,'' Nov. 25) reveals a fundamental difficulty which enters into virtually all discussions of minority relations.

Woodard said, ``I think all scholarships should be opened to both races. It's unfair to award a scholarship just because of the color of somebody's skin.''

While I tend to agree with Woodard's reasoning, I would like to ask to which two races he referred. More quickly than Woodard could say ``Minorities-only scholarships,'' I could name several races which go beyond Woodard's dichotomous portrayal of minority relations.

At least in part because the recent press about race-based scholarships surrounds the University of Maryland's program offered only to African-American students, Woodard falls victim to a tragic pitfall of discussions of race: the tendency to marginalize minorities not of African-American descent.

Woodard, unfortunately, is not alone in the belief that controversial topics such as minority-based scholarships involve only two races, Caucasian and African American. Like Woodard, I believe that scholarships should be awarded on the basis of merit and financial need, not solely because of ``the color of somebody's skin.'' This does not, however, justify seeing the issue only in terms of black and white, while turning a colorblind eye to people of all other races.

MONICA L. NIXON

Virginia Beach, Nov. 25, 1994 by CNB