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Letters to publishers from Project RACE
Date: June 21, 2000
June 11, 2000
Mike Pate
Publisher
Tallahassee Democrat
Via e-mail: Mpate@taldem.com
Dear Mr. Pate:
"Improving the racial climate" (Sunday, June 11) insults multiracial children
and interracial families. Once again, your newspaper becomes part of the
problem instead of contributing to the solution. I spoke to Gerald Ensley
last week at the request of a member of the Multicultural Group at the
Unitarian-Universalist Church. She was concerned that Mr. Ensley was getting
the wrong spin on the group. He kept referring to it as a "support group,"
which it is not.
I also tried to explain to your reporter that the group gets together to be
with people with similar interests, in the same way you go to the church of
your choice, join a tennis team, book club or bridge club. This is what
Ensley wrote:
"For some, it's a support group. But its main purpose is to
provide a social setting for people whose differences often set them apart."
People whose differences often set them apart? Give me a break. Ensley also
insisted on calling multiracial children "mixed race kids." The proper
terminology is "multiracial." I gave Ensley our Web site to look at, which
clearly explains the necessity of proper terminology. In her January 16th
editorial "Multiracial Americans deserve a voice, too" Erika Peterman
correctly gave our children the respectable title they deserve.
Things have certainly changed under John Miller. At the end of this letter is
a letter to the editor I sent several weeks ago. It was never printed. I
personally know of several people who also wrote letters and/or called Karla
Scoon Reid and also complained about that story. All of our letters have been
ignored. I don't think it's a coincidence.
What do we need to do to ensure that the interracial and multiracial
communities receive the same respect given to other racial and ethnic groups
by the Tallahassee Democrat?
Sincerely,
Susan Graham
Executive Director
Project RACE, Inc.
E-mail: ProjRACE@aol.com
Web site: www.projectrace.com
cc: Gerald Ensley
Webmaster, Project RACE
Tallahassee Multicultural Group
Letter to the Editor dated May 27, 2000
Via E-mail: tdedit@taldem.com
Dear Editor:
I am disappointed in Democrat writer Karla Scoon Reid for her report on one
child's "coming to terms with his racial identity" in the story "Grads beat
life's tough tests" (May 27). No doubt, SAIL student Rusdy White Jr. had to
adjust to his parent's divorce and a move from Philadelphia to Tallahassee.
He was shy and wouldn't wear his glasses. Was the fact that he was biracial
really to blame for all of his troubles? Ms. Reid chose this quote for her
story, "At least, nobody could call me white anymore (in Tallahassee)." Huh?
Would the Democrat had printed this kind of quote if he said, "At least,
nobody could call me black anymore." Let's stop the stereotyping of biracial
children as not being able to choose between their races. The beauty, for
most of them, is that they can happily move between all of their races and
embrace all of their heritage.
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