Letters to the Editor
meanteeth
Published Letters: 15 Editor's Choice: 3
-
Angelina Jolie to play Mariane Pearl
[Read the article: The Fix]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Am I the only person in the world who finds it odd that Angelina Jolie is going to play a Black woman? And are we supposed to believe that she's been cast because . . . um . . . there aren't any talented Black or, like Mariane, mixed-race actresses that could give us a more acurate visual (Halle Berry, anyone? Thandie Newton?) without the aide of "makeup"?
Just wondering.
-
um, i can assure you that the "n" word was commonplace in the ch'ville of the 70's
[Read the article: Teammates: Allen used "N-word" in college]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]. . . and at Mr. Jefferson's University! When I was five years old, in 1976, my mother and I moved to Charlottesville for her to attend law school. A graduate of a Seven Sister with practically a 4.0 GPA and great LSATs, my mother was repeatedly subjected to questioning from her peers about the appropriateness of women in the school and of the large number of Black students in her class. This included jibes about affirmative action, and comments that included the "n" word in anonymous notes that appeared in her and her classmates lockers and seats.
I attended an elite private school where I was one of two black children in a Pre-k through 12 school. I was called the "n" word for the first of many times when a bunch of kids chased me around the school playground saying that they were looking for my tail. The school's major boast was that a great deal of the faculty from UVa sent their kids there.
Honestly, I would never, ever go out on a limb to say something as absolute as "he didn't learn racism in Charlottesville"-- where, in the mid-seventies when I lived there, the Black community didn't even have paved roads. Yeah, there is racism throughout America. The description of the climate at UVa in the early and mid-seventies brought back vivid memories of the three years of hell that I experienced while living there as a child. Coupled with the "macaca" comments, and his voting record, I'd say I have a clear picture of who Senator Allen is, and what his character is like.
-
Yvonne De Carlo
[Read the article: The Fix]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe if I hot foot it to the mall I can trade in the Old Testament for some Carol's Daughter Shea Butter Souffle at "Zipporah".
Seriously-- I'm beauty product addicted but "Sephora"? Are you absolutely certain about that one?
-
Not about "blackness"?
[Read the article: "A Mighty Heart"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First off, to the Anonymous of your "editor's choice" letter-- if you're a person who is black, or "of color", everything is about "blackness". . .it's an intrinsic aspect of your identity, that has everything to do with your life experiences.
The point to me is less that Marianne Pearl is black-- the United States is the only place that lets the archaic "one drop rule" stand, but that Jolie & Pitt bill themselves as humanitarians seeking to foster understanding and colorblind social equity. If that is so, it should be important to the mother and father of "colored" children that they help shape the opportunity for actors and actresses of color to work in an industry that has a decided anti-"colored" bent.
That, and, I'm firmly in the Huey Freeman camp-- in the opening episode of "The Boondocks" he is asked why he hasn't seen The Passion of the Christ. "Two words," he replies. "White Jesus."
I'm not interested in paying money to see a white actress put on brown contact lenses and skin paint, when as the partner of the producer of the film she could have helped to hire someone equally talented, with natural melanin, brown eyes and kinky hair to do so just as easily.