Color Blind

ohhhh, boy; here we go! i've been tempted many, many times, to write a letter to the editor of our local newspaper in response to one thing or another, and today i DID so! the editorial page is one of the very few favorites i have in the newspaper; the others being the daily crossword puzzle and a few cartoons. i only glance at the headlines with one eye because they strike me as the worst of the worst and i refuse to be pulled into it. it wrecks my JOY!

this morning, as i read a columnist's views on a recently published book, which was written by a friend of his, the last two sentences that he ended his article with, snagged me with the same "ouch!" you feel when you pull that little piece of skin next to your fingernail. so, with the snagged feeling fresh, i did write to the editor and faxed it to the newspaper. it's not like me to respond to a Washington Post Writers Group columnist, but i thought he did a great disservice to the author of the book on which he was reviewing. i actually didn't even care for the title he chose for his review, but that was the least of what bothered me. here's a copy of my letter...
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I was raised to be color-blind, and I’m thankful for that. Once when a co-worker asked me if the new applicant interviewed was white or black, I answered, I don’t know; I didn’t ask. That said, I have a problem with the closing two sentences in columnist, David Broder’s editorial [Tuesday, 2/24/09, Analyst skeptical Obama represents total change]: “As the boundaries expand, the issues facing black politicians become more complex, not easier, starting with the question of what special obligation, if any, they owe to their African-American constituents. All that, and more, [Gwen] Ifill illuminates in her fine first book.”

It would seem to me that owing ANY constituents “special obligation” is what got us into some of the mess that we are in presently. Our elected politicians should owe no constituents any thing, but to serve to the best of their ability in a moral and legal way, to the benefit of ALL peoples.

I recently read a quote that said the only time colors should be separated is when you’re doing laundry. Oh, that ALL people would stop speaking in black and white and switch our thinking to right and wrong.
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So. there it is.