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Read other letters about this article
GBT is right on this:
--Erin's opinion reflects her low self esteem and need to be validated by white liberals not a surprise really given her history as a writer..--
The really pathetic part is that this type of self-sterotyping causes whites to think even more poorly of blacks than many already do.
The reason the white liberal readers of Salon are up in arms about this pathetic "article," is because whites know all too well how close to the surface their racism is.
In protesting, they are saying: *Erin - it's okay if you have nothing intelligent to offer the world, but don't go around representing the best that black journalists have to offer. You only taint Michelle Obama with your self-hatred masquerading as "you go, girl"!*
This reminds me of that inane Debra Dickerson article that Joan Walsh ran last year. The premise of that similarly misguided piece was that: Obama isn't black enough.
As one would expect, the article - which also drew hundreds of angry letters in salon - was irrelevant to the public discourse.
Joan Walsh is practicing the absolute worst kind of affirmative action. Instead of running thought-provoking, truly insightful, funny articles by intelligent journalists who happen to be black, she is choosing lower-caliber, "look-at-me-I'm-black" writers to write about bubble butts and Obama's speech patterns and skin tone.
This is an insidious form of racism.
One black woman said she thought the whites' over-reaction was amusing.
If she had white skin, she would understand what we know as whites, which is this:
Black self-hatred perpetuates racism among whites.
GBT, who is black and who made the statement above, knows that this you-have-a-big-butt-like-mine bullshit is Kaplan's low self-esteem in action.
Very few white readers take Debra Dickerson or Erin Kaplan seriously - as evidenced by the hundreds of letters from whites, expressing their disgust that these women only seem capable of having shallow, little thoughts about minutia rather than substantive thoughts about topics that matter.
If that's black progress, more power to you Erin. But just remember, Joan Walsh is not your friend. She is your enemy and I believe she is racist. Your friends are the white people who are up in arms and who are profoundly and deeply embarrassed for you.
It's wonderful for you that Michelle's butt makes you feel better about your own, but that's not an article; it's a diary entry.
This piece personifies why whites (rightly or wrongly) have a deep discomfort with affirmative action.
Joan Walsh commissioned an affirmative action piece, and the white readers are squirming.
The American public showed their great distate for affirmative action by actually voting for the best candidate.
