Should Writing Be So Difficult For An Editor?

Has anyone read the latest Madison Observer? I perused it last night and read "What does my title really mean?", a piece by the Opinion Editor, Armena Ketchum. (A link to it can be found here.) If you've read it, can you please tell me what the fuck she's saying? By the end of it, I was almost completely flummoxed. Firstly, there were typos scattered throughout. E.g. - "As African-Americans we have to live pass these structured entities that already predefine out lives." And this comes from an editor of the publication?! Then comes the atrocious style. The sentence, "This separation and representation of racial bondage is what that bothers me the most." is repeated in a manner that doesn't reference it's initial appearance leading me to believe that it was either inserted incorrectly or Ms. Ketchum is lacking in writing style. More than once, she uses the phrase "obscure from me". Should it not read "obscured from me"? Or how about this phrase: "The exclusion is accounted right in the title". What does this mean? Did she mean "The exclusion is accounted for right in the title"?

"Every type of group is excluded from American society, except privileged white men." I am hoping that Ms. Ketchum could explain this odd statement. There are unprivileged people of both genders and all colors around me. They go to work, they pay taxes, they shop, they go to their chosen houses of worship, they vote - how are they excluded from society, exactly? Lay a little Socratic method on my ass and define terms.

Oh, and I love how she blames racism around the world on America: "I am placed in a category complete with the prejudices attached to every other black person in the world - America does have its influence on the entire world." If you're going to make such a tendentious statement and blame white men for spreading racism around the globe, perhaps a little evidence would be in order. You know, explain the mechanism that accomplishes this.

Now how about this ditty: "In addition to not being an individual, I also have to be categorized into a title that is obscure from me." There's that dang "obscure from me" again. And doesn't being categorized into a title sound extremely awkward? And I think she uses the word "structure" about one hundred times as if she's oblivious to a book available at the library or online for free - the thesaurus.

Maybe it's because I'm a white male that reading the sentence "This separation and representation of racial bondage is what that bothers me the most." bothers me so much. I'm sure Ms. Ketchum has some worthwhile ideas and opinions to share with the community but, unless she or someone at the Madison Observer can get them into print via clear and understandable language, I'm afraid we'll never know what they are.