Letters to the Editor
calgodot
Published Letters: 256 Editor's Choice: 6
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Typical White People
[Read the article: Obama "outraged" by Wright]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"bringbackmalcolm" offers an honest, heartfelt story of the personal effect this campaign is having on her and her family. It is a touching story, very visual, a very easy-to-relate kind of tale (frustrated apartment hunting, dilemma of how to reveal truths of world to innocent children).
But white people hang on her emotional statement: "Everybody hates black folks."
I'm white but I know what Bringback means: given the amount of discomfort (at the least), suspicion (upon average), and venom (lesser, but still too common) displayed toward blacks by the majority of whites and other races, it sometimes seems that, with a few wonderful exceptions, everybody does have a problem with black people.
I mean, when THOUSANDS of Americans soldiers are killed in an unpopular war (along with perhaps MILLIONS of others), when gas price are at a historic peak (with no sign of falling), when the price of food and other necessities is climbing, when the entire country seems off-course, and the only thing the media, along with millions of Americans (so-called "liberal" Americans, no less), can talk about is how much a BLACK preacher scares them (even though WHITE preachers have been on TV for decades claiming God sends hurricanes to kill homosexuals, punish America for tolerating sin, etc.) (Yes, even your beloved Rev. Billy Graham, who spewed fire and brimstone in his day), when the very BIBLE that so many claim to honor and believe utilizes much the same language as Wright, and the most famous SERMON in the Bible (the one on the Mount, remember?) exhibits a similar opinion about divine justice (but in 16th century English, and not 21st century vernacular, which makes its more palatable to white folks)
Well, how can you conclude anything other than the notion that what really bothers so many Americans about Wright is not what he said, but the fact that a black man dared criticize white America?
I mean, this woman is showing part of her heart to you people - and your main drag is that she told her ADULT DAUGHTER, "Everybody hates black people" -- and admitting her fear that her sentiment broke not only her daughter's heart but her own... expressing deeper tremblings about the future of her grandchildren... and this is what you get stuck on?
Let me tell you something, White America: your hand-wringing and crocodile tears about "why black people hate us" is about as convincing and useful as your post-9/11 wonderment about the same hatred and resentment coming from the Middle East. You know why black people have negative feelings toward whites. The real mystery (and if you have any soul, the true source of your confusion) is "WHY DO WHITE PEOPLE HATE BLACK PEOPLE SO MUCH?" (It's a mystery, similar to "WHY DO SO MANY GENTILES HATE JEWS?" The explanations from the haters are similarly confused.)
When you have enslaved, oppressed, murdered, and otherwise shit on a group of people for CENTURIES, you have no right to expect them to trust you, love you, or even want to sit at the same table with you.
For white people, racism and discrimination seem to be a "thing of the past" because they never endured it. It was never "present" for white people in the first place. It's alien to them.
For black people, it is present today - on the street, at work, even here on Salon.
What white people really ought to wonder is: After our ancestors practiced racial genocide and built our national and family fortunes on the blood of enslaved peoples, why are black people so nice to us?
Now that's a fuckin' mystery.
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I think you should work for the Clinton Campaign
[Read the article: Can Clinton heal the racial divide?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh wait...
You already are!
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People don't care about prostitutes
[Read the article: Death and the D.C. Madam ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's true. Palfrey could well have been murdered - the circumstances of her death are at least 'suspicious.' The law enforcement presumption from the moment of the 911 call has been "suicide" - a conclusion reached before any forensic examination of the crime scene. Because of this presumption, the local police have not investigated the scene as if it were a possible homicide. The questioning by local police has all been oriented toward finding evidence of "suicidal intent." At this point, the only evidence of such "intent" comes from statements made by Palfrey, a woman known for, shall we say, hyperbolic rhetorical tendencies. Examine the numerous statements she's made in her years and you'll find as many statements against "suicidal intent" (insisting she is stronger than that). Law enforcement personnel, operating from this presumption, do not have to be bribed, coerced, or otherwise controlled: they will simply fail to investigate other possibilities. There are few recent actions on her part which suggest suicidal ideation. Generally, "actions speak louder than words" - unless you're a dead hooker with a list of important clients.
But no one cares. Aside from other "sex workers" and a few people who will be labeled as "conspiracy nuts," no one cares about Palfrey's death. Americans are more interested in debating the morality and utility of prostitution; to many, Palfrey got what she deserved, suicide or not. (Arguably, even those pushing for more investigation care more about abstract notions of justice than persecuted prostitutes.) Even Salon, whose editor is on record as stating she wants the site to be known for its "investigative journalism," concurs without he conclusion of suicide, without analysis of the so-called evidence.
News outlets which hammer us for months over white sorority girls who go missing exhibit no desire to push for an investigation into this mysterious death. Just another dead whore to journalists (including apparently Salon). And after all, some of their favored politicians might be on those phone lists - not to mention valued sources and (gasp!) perhaps other journalists!
No one cares if you're not white, blond, and sexy - and even then, if you're a hooker, well... Go ahead and die by strangulation in a hot tin shed behind your mama's house. No one in America is going to push for investigation into your mysterious death - not if you're a prostitute.