Racial, ethnic and gender stereotypes are everywhere - some are perpetuated through ignorance, while others are blatant attacks.

The recent Martin Luther King Jr. meal celebration in Owen Hall that served fried okra, catfish, yams, fried shrimp, and macaroni and cheese offended some residents because they didn't want people to think that all black people eat these types of food.

The Residence Life staff was not attacking black people, nor was it trying to label them consciously. Their dinner was not meant to be malicious like Fuzzy Zeoller's comments were in 1997, when he asked if Tiger Woods' Masters celebration dinner would serve fried chicken and collard greens. However, pleading ignorance while promoting racial stereotypes isn't a viable excuse.

Future dinners through Residence Life should be organized with more care and try to avoid possible stereotypical undertones. In today's society, it seems like any action can offend and sometimes it is hard to deal with all the "political correctness." But Residence Life is responsible for setting a campus wide example and maybe they should have consulted with a black minority group first in order to set the best one.

Appropriately, Nikki O'Brien, assistant director for staff development and diversity for Residence Life, said the department is taking responsibility for the meal. And Brad Ledingham, complex director of Owen Hall, said he is hoping this will come as a learning experience. We applaud these two for taking action to fix the mistakes and claim responsibility for this dinner. It is a step in trying to eliminate some of the stereotypes that abound in today's society.

It's important that incidents like the MLK dinner are brought to the public's attention, because acceptance and tolerance comes through knowledge and understanding. Residence Life is right to accept responsibility for its actions and needs to make conscious steps in the future to keep harmful racial stereotypes out of MSU.