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NEW YORK Copy editor Christine Byington's column published Wednesday began: "Black people at Winthrop will probably be angry."
True, that.

The headline in the local The Herald newspaper about the episode blared: "Winthrop Campus in Uproar."

Byington's column in the Winthrop University student newspaper in Rock Hill, S.C., comparing today's racial climate for whites to the oppression blacks faced before the Civil Rights movement, has caused quite a stir, a rally, and angry letters to the editor.

"It was meant to be a call to action," Byington said. "If you have a problem, you can sit and complain about it or you can do something about it."

Byington, who is biracial, came out against minority scholarships and organizations devoted to blacks, arguing that equal treatment should be given to other races.

The column also compared the climate for whites today to that of blacks in the 1950s. "We no longer hose people in the streets," Byington wrote. "I'd say if you have the freedom to sit in a classroom and state those opinions, you've got it pretty well."

She ended her column writing about how whites are reluctant to talk about racial issues.

"I think it's sad when some whites feel they must stifle their opinions because of the color of their skin. That must be what life was like for blacks in the 1950s," Byington wrote.

Reaction to the column was so powerful, the university decided to hold a forum Thursday after previously scheduled talent show. About 400 students attended.

Editor-in-chief Rebekah Woodson said she knew the column would be controversial, but she thinks Byington should be allowed to express her opinion.

Byington, 20, told The Herald's Charles Perry: "I still believe what I said. My language was a little harsh."

The student newspaper plans an editorial explaining the difference between an opinion piece and a news story and will publish all eight letters it received about the column. An apology is not planned, Woodson said.

The column got plenty of students on campus talking. Willie Lyles III, chairman of the university's council of student leaders, said the column galvanized Winthrop's black students against the ideas in the piece.

Byington said students who generalize about the column are missing the point.

"I think a lot of people are misinterpreting what I said. People are making generalized statements about it. I said it wasn't meant to implicate all blacks," the psychology major said.