Letters to the Editor
BettyBoop
Published Letters: 102 Editor's Choice: 9
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This assumes that there has always been a neat separation of races
[Read the article: We're prejudiced, now what?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It hasn't always been the case that different races existed. First, we all came out of Africa when, presumably, humans were all black. Was this not also the time our brains were being programmed toward racial prejudice? Eventually as migration occurred, humans became white, Asian, and aboriginal, in that order, as they spread across the globe. But weren't we already human by then, with our basic human brains? Did our brains develop prejudice only after the development of agrarian societies, when we stopped hunter/gatherer behaviors?
Also, what about gradations of color? Aren't the vast majority of people on this earth Asian, native American, Hispanic in appearance? Who do they prefer? Can we always tell an Eskimo from a Korean by looking at their faces? What about me? I'm blond-haired and blue-eyed. My father's grandfather was born "negro" but managed to pass as white for most of his life. Who did he prefer? Whites? Blacks? It gets confusing. How can we assume everyone is one single race. We can't. We aren't. None of us is. Or, actually, we're all the same race.
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What we are used to looking at
[Read the article: We're prejudiced, now what?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Are we really saying that there is a trigger in our brains that knows what our race and it gets pulled when we see someone of another race? Makes no sense, since scientists have long established that there is no such thing as race.
I think we prefer what we look at most. My children, for instance, have Chinese dad and a Caucasian mom. All of their school crushes have been on very blond children. My hair is very blond. I (perhaps flattering myself) think my kids are used to looking at blond, and associate this with safety and normalcy. My kids are young, and safety is probably what they prefer in a crush at this point.
I agree that this piece is an argument in favor of racism. None too brilliant.
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That all races have racist members
[Read the article: We're prejudiced, now what?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We cannot conclude that because racism exists it is innate to the human species. Especially since race, under the skin, is a human construct.
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Sure we all identify as members of a group
[Read the article: We're prejudiced, now what?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]but that the group must be defined by race makes no sense. It certainly can be defined by race. But it doesn't have to be. There is a difference.
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Yes, Yes, Yes!
[Read the article: Sexiest Man Living 2007]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Jon Hamm is the man. I thought he was my delicious little secret. Could he be more manly? No. He could not.
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Carol Lloyd, get your kid out of that fussy preschool
[Read the article: Mama made me racist!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]if you don't want to churn out a racist. I agree with the poster who said that, in your zeal to engender friendships with "non-whites" you are making race the issue. My son went to a preschool in San Francisco too. But the parents were beyond all that PC crap, and the issue of skin-color absolutely never came up when it came to "excluding." The place was very diverse. But, dare I say it, it was full of real liberals who walked the walk. There was no classism. The place was a down-and-dirty, wonderful, co-op. There were no faux-liberal types you find at the more chi-chi pre-schools that are chock-a-block with striving, ambitious parents.
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Is it necessary to say goodbye
[Read the article: Childhood's end]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I often wonder, as the mother of an 8- and 5-year-old, why it is critical, in America, for our children to grow up and move away from us? If they don't, we act like they're developmentally retarded. But moving away is really very counter-human. Moving away is totally American. In more traditional cultures, indeed, since the dawn of humanity, families stayed together. Kids relied on their parents to help rear their own children so that they could go out and earn money or work in the fields. Now, we move away and that is considered good. Meanwhile, we decry the breakdown of community. We sob over vandalism and crime. But this has everything to do with how we rear our children: go away, don't feel connected, strike out on your own, make your own way. It's bizarre. It's not how I plan to do it. My kids will go to the local university if I can help it. They will work close to home. I will rear their children. I will not expect them to move off, never to hear from them again. They will help me in my old age. This is the way humans are meant to be.
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Let's be clear about Obama
[Read the article: Slamming Obama and Winfrey to praise Clinton]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]None of Obama's ancestors lived under American slavery. He is a man of privilege, through and through. Let's not get all carried away by his having an African father and white mother.
As for white women: I'm a white woman and I do, in fact, have ancestors who were black slaves in America. My point is that we can't take credit for what our ancestors lived through unless we really directly face the legacy of it. Obama hasn't really had to deal with the legacy of slavery in America. I haven't either, because I'm white.
I don't understand the crazed passion for Obama. I'm impressed by the man. He's handsome and intelligent, but seems a little light weight with all of his new agey "hope" talk. But I'll vote for him if he gets the nomination.
Oprah is not my hero. She's a woman of very average human insight. Yeah, she's rich. But anyone who Oprah endorses fall under suspicion in my book.
For someone who really speaks what I want to hear, I like Edwards above and beyond both Hillary and Obama.