Letters to the Editor
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The banality of racism
This is not malicious racism. This is the banality of racism. It is malodorous but so prevalent as to be virtually undetectable, like the smell in a room one has been in for a while. Most Americans don't even smell it. They don't get it. It is not that Ferraro's words are offensive but rather that the person speaking them becomes offensive by virtue of a deficiency in insight, empathy, wisdom, humor. These are the words of a bitter person, a person who does not know how to be honest with herself, who lacks a capacity for self-critique, a person who uses patently false generalizations to shield herself from her own prejudice. It's like an autowreck, fascinating and gruesome at the same time!
The meaning of "Yes, we can!"
Ferraro - "No, you can't. It's only because you're black that we let you parade around on TV. You're just a token to make us feel better about ourselves and how fair and just we are as a nation. But really, you can't."
Obama - "Yes, we can!"