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Read other letters about this article
Dear Everyone.
Joan wrote "I have loved Erin Aubry Kaplan's writing since before I joined Salon, and I'm proud of this piece. If having a black president and first lady is going to narrow what we talk about, wow, that would be sad. But I promise it won't -- at least not on Salon."
Some points:
1. Yes....I noticed how Joan is immediately presenting herself as some sort of Defender-of-Free-Speech...... as though anyone-who-had-a-problem-with-this-piece is a racist (i.e., "black people are in the room, so we can't TALK about that?"...). that wasn't in THE LEAST what anyone had written...
2. It's interesting....would you giddily publish an article
by a white woman on Hilary Clinton's ass? I think not.
3. More to the point....the article is just poorly written, utterly unimaginative, disingenuously "in-your-face!" (shades of "Broadsheet" grrrrl-power!), shoddily edited, and laden with just about every easily-available cliche ("shout from the rooftops", etc...start counting from the first paragraph)....
and (4)?......isn't Salon supposed to be a publication for adults?
Kaplan's article reads like a weekly-journal entry from a sophomore in college....and don't tell me there aren't PLENTY of very smart, equally funny, and good, black, female writers out there.
Sitting here in durham NC, I can without hesitation come up with the names of at least four.....surely, with your resources, you could come up with something better than Angry Dickerson and Inept Kaplan?
all of this is fairly dispiriting, particulary given your regularly-voiced declaration that you have ALWAYS been a fierce combatant regarding "civil rights", etc....blah-blah
My point would be that, when it comes to choosing black-female-"voices" for your publication, you increasingly seem to have a "concept" which is just about as hidebound as that of a 1930's MGM casting-director.
"All-Riled-up!" and/or "Sassy!" seem to be the operative modes Salon publishes, when it comes to prominently featuring articles by black female authors.
Oh well....
David terry
