Letters: The story of racism has always been about whites

Much has been written about black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s arrest by a white police officer. Can we stop the bull and the overly childlike, deferential behavior and get down to the nitty gritty?

One, there is no such thing as being philosophically or socially color-blind; it's a physical condition. Two, even if one were color-blind, the ultimate historical racial division of black and white in this country would actually be even more pronounced. Three, one need only ask white antiracist writer Tim Wise and he will make the convincing argument that the only significant racism is white racism.

All this other anti-affirmative action and reverse racism stuff is nothing but linguistic hocus-pocus intended to maintain white privilege and white supremacy, and to soften the dialogue, once again, to make white people comfortable. There is only white racism - yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If African Americans had not been a resilient, determined, and courageous people, most would be dead. And, please, no more spreading the blame by trotting out the African chiefs who sold their own people. No one could have possibly known what Africans were in store for once they reached the United States.

It makes no difference if one's ancestors never owned slaves, were discriminated against for a brief period because of their own ethnicity, or were never guilty of a single racist gesture. Once all white ethnics were welcomed into whiteness, their lives and every opportunity granted them came at the expense of African Americans.

Len Mfuasi

Philadelphia