I received a lot of response to my Sept. 11 column, “Don’t play that card” – not surprising, given the subject matter. Thanks to any and all who took time to read it.
The responses were varied, as you might imagine. They ranged from like-minded to outraged, from righteously indignant to well thought-out.
Some questioned my skill set (come try this, please.) Other letters included gems like, “You people” (can’t be taken seriously.) A few detailed why they disagreed in a sensible, intelligent fashion (much appreciated).
Anyway, if I had to counter the negative respondents simultaneously, using one sentence, it would be: You missed the point.
The point was to highlight the folly in another’s thought process; to highlight that the author made her column about race when she didn’t have to. Her work was too preposterous to be taken seriously. It didn’t provoke debate, it provoked incredulousness.
What if I had walked through Indianapolis’ most “diverse” neighborhood and penned a column bemoaning what I saw?
“It’s 85 percent black here. This just won’t do. We need more Volkswagen Jettas and a Starbucks on that corner.”
I’d be vilified, is the answer. You can’t have it both ways. People are who they are – and that’s okay! One side doesn’t necessarily need to understand the other, but it certainly needs to respect its counterpart. People find it much easier to coexist without pieces like that one ramming the idea down their throats.
That’s where the column in question missed the mark. The moment the author typed ‘white’ and ’85 percent,’ the piece’s tone changed. Absent that, what she wrote was perfectly defensible.
I’ll close with this:
My son is five, and beginning to notice skin color. When he mentions it, I casually tell him all people’s skin is different, if you look closely. Sometimes I’ll put my arm next to his and say, “See?”
I do this because soon, some idiot is going to tell him black people are different, and his world is never going to be the same. Right now, he’s curious but incredibly innocent – something we all should aspire to be. In some Utopian way that’s my idea for the world, and that column reminded me we’re nowhere near Utopia.