Letters to the Editor

How exciting -- a conspicuous feature going on at length about a previously unknown African-American John McWhorter, who argues that African-Americans’ problems are their own darn fault -- while giving a short paragraph to one of America’s most celebrated writers, Ishmael Reed, even though he is a far more provocative character than McWhorter, and though he calls McWhorter a “hustler.”

I am eagerly anticipating more such articles -- showcasing a woman denouncing female suffrage (with a brief quote from Gloria Steinem or Elizabeth Dole), then a disabled person longing for the good old days locked in the attic, a Puerto Rican calling for more bombing of Vieques, and so on. Then, of course, will come the traditional closing article of the series, the editorial wondering why all those pesky minority (and majority) groups don’t trust the media any more. Sure, you can say it’s all been done before, and so it has, for at least two centuries -- but still, as clumsy and old-fashioned as it may be, this kind of journalism still apparently meets somebody’s needs. Gee, who could it be?

Sincerely,

Larry Yates