Here's a letter ash sent to the local alternative weekly, for which she once worked. Perhaps that is why she decided to submit it under a pseudonym.
August 21, l986
An interesting incident occurred in the main branch of Lincoln Library a few weeks ago. Several young black males paused by the new non-fiction section and picked out a book titled Sex and the American Teenager. They took it to a nearby cluster of chairs and sat down. One of them opened it an giggled, and immediately the guard on duty shot across the room and told them to leave. "You're disturbing other patrons" was all he offered as an explanation.
As anyone who follows the news is aware, crime in the Springfield community has been running rampant. Furthermore, it seems that a disproportionate number of black teenagers are implicated in these crimes. How this relates to the incident I observed may not be easily proven but, I believe, is strongly suggested. I do know that these youths provoked their ousting to no greater extent than the many patrons who often talk loudly in the library and are rarely asked to tone it down and never asked to leave. I know that whatever the guard may have anticipated the boys would do (ie, that their behavior would escalate into legitimately objectionable activity), he was not justified in banishing them before the fact. And I also know that if I were to receive the same treatment for no reason other than someone's expectations based on ethnic, gender, or age stereotyping, I would become indignant, while a lifetime of similar experiences would definitely predispose me to commit crimes (though other forces might deter me) as a form of retaliation.
The point is this: please, let's think twice before promoting a self-fulfilling prophecy.