Letters to the Editor
Washington Post

Dear People,

February 20. Another typical day at the Post. In the Style section, there is a long article about how there are no nice places in Washington for people to dress up and go out and dance. Buried in it is the fact that Foxtrappe is a nice place to dress up and go out and dance in Washington that is “huge, packed with people.” But most of the people there are African-American, so it doesn’t count. Not in the Prosperous White People Having Fun section.

Then there’s the Business section (AKA Prosperous White People Making Money section). Internet scams and other telecommunications news, trade gaps, labor productivity -- the global market buzzes away. But, in a city we are constantly told is in crisis, where can small businesses get financing to hang on? How can they cooperate to survive? Better look elsewhere for that information, and not just today.

Then there’s the front section (AKA Things that Important White People Are Doing or Have to React To). In it we find out a lot about South Carolinian reactions to the Confederate flag, including the obligatory African-American who isn’t bothered by it. We also find out that 1865 ended “what people here call ‘the war of northern aggression’.” Which people?

We also find out that in China, the deceased Deng Xiaoping ran a system that combined a hot business climate with tight control by an elite. Can you imagine a country based on such a “central paradox?” China has “problems of inequality, corruption, bankrupt state enterprises, rural poverty and ideological drift.” Can you imagine an elite getting out of touch with its people and letting things like those happen? Can you say “look in the damn mirror?”

As the Style story said, here in Washington, “We work too much and arrange dates by voice mail. We meet, we marry, we mortgage. We eat out at restaurants...” And who are “We”? We are politicians, lawyers and lobbyists. And We are white, professional, suburban, on the Internet, and own stock. And We are unable to imagine any perspective but our own, whether across town or across the ocean. Welcome to Our newspaper.

Sincerely,

Larry Yates