It's sad to think racism is an evil difficult to eliminate completely. There will always be those among us who are ignorant enough to believe if someone belongs to a different race or ethnicity he or she is a lesser human being. But while hate is a part of human nature, hate speech has no place at MSU.

Last week, a graduate student reported racially charged remarks written on a bulletin board on the fourth floor of Owen Graduate Hall. Although the student didn't comment on what exactly was written, the remarks were anti-Semitic and anti-Arab in nature.

Even with the inherent difficulty in ridding the world of racism, the university should be commended for holding a forum to discuss what is wrong about offensive language on campus.

The university has a recent history of dealing with race-related incidences in a responsible way. On Jan. 11, a racist flier was found in Shaw Hall advertising a "White Caucus" event.

Within two weeks a forum was held to discuss that incident as well. MSU President M. Peter McPherson described the flier as "reprehensible, cruel and degrading." He was right on the money.

But for as good as the university's intentions are, discussion forums can only do so much. It's pretty easy to assume the person responsible for the bigoted message didn't attend the forum. The person who posted the Shaw Hall flier probably didn't attend that forum either.

No matter how intolerant of racism this campus or this society can get, curing the world of ignorance will be a long and daunting task to undertake.

Though university discussion forums can miss the students that need to attend them the most, the university should continue to hold the meetings.

If the university keeps educating its population about the evils of racism, it will take the first step toward ending it.

Hopefully someday soon racial and ethnic minorities will be treated equally, and those who refuse to do so will continue to be a minority themselves.