To the Editor:
While reading Ms. Threatte's column regarding her singlehanded crusade to put an end to all charity auctions, I couldn't help but applaud. It takes a bold visionary like Ms. Threatte to reshape our world-as-we-know-it into a neat little ball of boring sensitivity. It seems these days that we are facing ever increasing pressure from all sides to guard every thought in our head so as not to offend anyone else on the planet and take offense at anything that might offend us or anyone around us.
It seems to me that this type of dogma only creates a vicious cycle of offense, or the aforementioned "ball of blandness." As everyone's hero Dennis Miller proclaimed in one of his brilliant rants, "Whatever happened to the genteel art of sitting back and letting someone go on and on thinking he's right while you bask securely in the power of the knowledge that he or she is completely full of [doggy doo]?"
I admit that I am violating Mr. Miller's principle with this letter to the editor, but I can't help but try to put a stop to all this business before it's too late. I'll make a deal with you, Ms. Threatte: If you promise to celebrate Black History Month by reading a book or discussing it with some friends instead of holding an awe-inspiring candlelight vigil, I'll take the time to think about the legitimate strife, hardships, and ridicule that black, white, Asian, Hispanic, and French people have all had to go through. Is berating a charity drive the right reaction?
After all, isn't the simple act of making someone think about race relations what Black History Month is all about? It's easy to take offense at everything under the sun by making some remote link to an atrocity in the past, but perhaps it is a better idea to talk about more relevant issues such as current discrimination against minorities before you start orchestrating a mass boycott of Ebay and all other auctions. I'm sure that Sotheby's is quaking in their boots. So, Ms. Threatte, do we have a deal?
