Combat racism in Swarthmore and the nation
Calls for racial justice continue nationwide, and hopefully Swarthmore residents will keep discussing the issue within the community, and with our leaders, as we struggle toward more recognition and real change. I’m appreciative of the efforts of Swarthmore’s Human Relations Commission and the commitment of many Swarthmore residents working towards this cause. But each of us, surely, can do more.
White fragility at home
A letter in the June 12 issue of the Swarthmorean, obliquely referencing the recent racist incident at Strath Haven High School and its aftermath, managed to discuss the topic at length without ever acknowledging the victims — the minorities in our community who continue to be deeply wounded by these events. What does the larger white community owe to them? Sociologist Robin Diangelo’s “White Fragility” is among the books on race being recommended following the killing of George Floyd.
Hedge obstructs sightline
While it may be true the line of hedges at the corner of Yale and Cornell meets the code in terms of height, it still represents a tremendous blind spot in crossing at that intersection.
‘Is’ to ‘Was’
Like others, I woke Tuesday morning to the news that author Toni Morrison had died. Stumbling upon it online, I must have caught sight of the headline just as the story was breaking. In an effort to be a responsible consumer of the news, I searched the internet for other sources reporting the same thing and came upon Morrison’s Wikipedia page, which began with the opening description, “Toni Morrison is an American novelist, essayist, editor...” “Is.” The present tense was reassuring: maybe this was yet another example of falsely reporting the death of a celebrity. I checked back to Morrison’s Wikipedia page within the hour and, sure enough, “is” had been changed to “was.” I had an odd feeling, as though I had just witnessed her death in real time. News and information are rapidly available in the internet age, including death.