LETTERS

Tackling the Delicate Issue of Race

NEWSWEEK

From the magazine issue dated Jun 16, 2008

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'Obama, Race and Us': Readers mulled over the question of whether America is ready to elect a black president. One insisted, "The question is unnecessary and should not be asked." Another said, "Most voters, no matter what color, are not as concerned with people's skin color as they are with the high cost of food and gas, affordable health care and decent jobs." And one posited, "The question isn't 'Are we ready for a black president?' Rather, are we ready for a president with the intellect, the vision, the demeanor and diverse life experience of Barack Obama?"

Focusing on What Unites Us
If we stopped talking about race, maybe we could forget our divisions and remember that Barack Obama is as American as any of us ("A Memo to Senator Obama," June 2). Let's not focus on skin color or a raving ex-pastor, but on the real problems: war, the economy and the environment. We can choose to move forward or resort to politics as usual.
Arush Sarwar
Kenner, La.

Evan Thomas reiterates a comment made by Sen. Jim Webb that the Scots-Irish in the hills of Appalachia are like "tortured siblings of black Americans." Thomas adds, "If poor rural whites and African-Americans could sit down together, they would find they have much in common." Why do people continue to lump all African-Americans together? They are not one group. There are poor rural and urban blacks. You may suggest that "poor rural blacks have something in common with the folks in Appalachia," but I who am a middle-class black have nothing in common with them. You have to make the distinction between African-Americans, West Indians, Africans and others who are so culturally different from each other. Race is such a complex issue, and Richard Rodriguez, in "See the Brown in Us" (June 2), seems to have begun the conversation. He gets it.
Shirley Moulton
New York, N.Y.

Instead of all the ranting and raving of what race is or is not, the media's task ought to be to douse the fire that fans the embers of racial prejudice. Barack Obama's political gospel is transformative because it seeks to dispel old stereotypes while promoting Martin Luther King Jr.'s message that we judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Obama, by all accounts, is an extension of past messages of hope and healing that everyone must embrace, including those who reside in Appalachia.
George Onuorah
Corona, N.Y.

Unifying America ' s Evangelicals
Lisa Miller dubbed the "Evangelical Manifesto" "milquetoast" ("The Milquetoast Manifesto," June 2). But in today's culture of polarization, it is actually quite bold to refuse to be fractious. Even in the heat of the culture wars, the race does not always go to the swift nor the battle to the loud and noisy. If Abraham Lincoln's far greater "with malice toward none" was milquetoast in its time, we who publish "An Evangelical Manifesto" are content to speak out and wait. If evangelicals decide they have no need to reform, and Americans show no interest in an evangelical offer of civility, so be it. As the One we follow said many times, "Whoever has an ear to hear, let him hear." The choice and the consequences are anything but milquetoast. Democracy and faith will flourish only if we have the courage to reject polarization and embrace civility.
Os Guinness and David Neff
"An Evangelical Manifesto" Steering Committee
Washington, D.C.

Corrections
In "A Secret Side to the Secret Service" (June 2), we misidentified the first name of the special agent in charge of the James J. Rowley Training Center. She is Renee Triplett.

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Posted By: Susie121 @ 08/09/2008 12:09:28 AM

I don't think the question is if America is ready to elect an African American President b/c I think America definitely is. I think the question for most voters (me included) is are we ready to elect Barack Obama? It is not his race that people have a problem with.....it is his lack of experience, very questionable judgement regarding pastor, friends, business associates and his far left liberal ideology. I wish the MSM would stop making it all about his race and instead focus on people's true concerns. Personally, I have seen and heard alot more ageism (against McCain) than racial prejudice against ANY candidate. Why is it ok for all of the liberal bloggers to make really rude and inappropriate comments re: McCain's age but everyone piles on criticims if there is even a hint of racism? When did we stop valuing the knowledge, experience and wisdom that comes with age? All of us (if we are lucky) are going to be old someday....I think alot of the comments being made by the young are going to come back to haunt them in old age when they get a taste of their own medicine.
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Posted By: mvwil5 @ 06/18/2008 11:03:40 AM

I truly enjoyed reading Evan Thomas???s article, ???A Memo to Senator Obama.??? However, the best part about the article was its insights (both intended and accidental) on how we in the U.S. both view and respond to the issue of race. Despite evidence that we are moving towards a post racial U.S.A., we clearly have a little ways to go. Most Americans, regardless of their race and including Mr. Thomas, view our world in black and white, and we seem to be stuck in this dualistic framework. So it was just as refreshing to see Richard Rodriquez???s piece ???Brown in the U.S.A.??? - a continual appeal to us all that a post racial U.S. is not merely black and white. In a nutshell, Thomas???s article explored ways in which Obama should pander or somehow make himself palatable to white Americans. However accurate this may be, it falls into that same dualistic framework that presupposes a ???white??? point of view as the norm, and it is more often than not, saddled with the same pitfalls that Peggy McIntosh writes about in her seminal work on white privilege, ???Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.??? For instance, Thomas calls Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton ???race men,??? because he claims they use race as a political tool. What we in the U.S. fail to realize is that almost all of us, regardless of race, use race as a political tool. Those in the majority rarely see this because they are saddled with the invisible knapsack. To ignore race is just as much a political tool as speaking about race. Since the end of Reconstruction, anyone who sought to end racial injustice was tagged with the term ???race man.??? Many white Americans didn???t want people to ???stir up??? problems and hoped that the problem of injustice would simply be ignored. Many black Americans (especially down South where racism was at its harshest) didn???t want to deal with the consequences of white backlash if any ???race men??? came to talk about ways to bring about true freedom and democracy. The term quickly developed a negative connotation, because we prefer to ignore our problems in hope that they might disappear. Ignoring calls for racial justice at the end of Reconstruction was one of the political tools used to unite the North and South. Ignoring the issues of segregation and racial inequality during, between and after the two World Wars was a political tool used to maintain the status quo. Many Northerners hoped to ignore de facto segregation, and when people marched in northern cities such as Chicago, they were often met with hurling rocks ??? presumably for not adopting the political tool of ignoring race. There is certainly precedence in ignoring problems that inflict certain ???racial??? groups within the U.S. The truth is most Americans are ???race men??? whether we choose to ignore it or not. Our challenge is to honestly face our issues and recognize the complexities of all humans. Evan Thomas???s article is a good start.
Michael Williams
Mo
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Posted By: shrinivasantn @ 06/10/2008 4:42:21 PM

The issue of race is important but more cruel than racism is castism which is practised since more than 2500yrs in India.Brahmins who came from Urasia and destroyed the culture,economy of indigenous people in india,Mahatma Gandhi and his congress party of india made the life of dalits,Backwards and tribal more deadly after independence.Now in 2008 untouchability is practised in every village and city in india.The caste discrimination is also prevalent in Higher institutes like AIIMS,IITs, and medical engineering colleges.Dr Venugopal who is the Director of AIIMS has done several atrocities on SC and ST students and the Government of India alongwith Supreme court are protecting Dr Venugopal just because he is brahmin.Every day in india there is violation of human rights.Wiil the democratic people of americal look into this human rights vilation and caste systems in india?