To the Editor:
In his column "The Liberal Reaction to Racism" (The Dartmouth, Jan. 15), written in response to my article "Lott is not Alone" (The Dartmouth, Jan. 9), Mark Yohalem accuses liberals such as myself of an immoral "trinity" when it comes to dealing with racism. That trinity, he writes, is over-inclusiveness, false equivalence and racial unilateralism.
Mr. Yohalem argues that I am guilty of "over-inclusiveness" by using two isolated racist comments by conservatives to justify the statement that Lott is not the exception in the Republican Party. However, the crux of my article was that every victorious Republican presidential campaign since Nixon has involved race-baiting of some kind. I don't consider that to be miniscule, and yes, I think it says something about the GOP as a whole that those tactics have been condoned internally. Linwood Holton, the former Republican governor of Virginia, recently condemned his own party's willingness to race-bait in the South. If more of his colleagues stood with him, I would not have been able to write what I did.
In disagreeing with my alleged "false equivalence," Mr. Yohalem argues that there is a large difference between Trent Lott's comments and Cass Ballenger's admission of "segregationist feelings." With all due respect, no such difference exists. What Ballenger said, plain and simple, is that he disliked one black person and therefore he had segregationist feelings. In other words, he was willing to punish an entire race because he didn't like one black person. This is typical. In American society, a black person is often forced to represent all black people for good or bad. Whites do not share this burden.
Finally, I am accused of racial unilateralism. Mr. Yohalem says that liberal "racialists" believe that racism can only flow from whites to minorities. Obviously, racism can flow in any direction. However, what Mr. Yohalem misses is the fact that racism is an empty vessel unless wielded in tandem with either violence or power. For two centuries of American government, whites have used both to harm minorities. Harry Belafonte could get on CNN tonight and call Bill Frist a "no-good cracker" and that would be wrong. But Harry Belafonte has no power. Nothing will change. As a white person, I'll still be able to eat in any restaurant I want. I'll still be able to vote. Harry Belafonte does not have the power to harm whites the way blacks have been harmed by institutionalized racism.
