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Amid the turmoil of the Birmingham, Ala., civil rights campaign, Kennedy had met briefly with James Baldwin in McLean. Kennedy asked that Baldwin gather several civil rights leaders for another meeting the following day, May 24, in New York City. There were about 15 people present at that meeting, including Belafonte, Lorraine Hansberry, Lena Horne, actor Rip Torn and young activist Jerome Smith.
Kennedy expected these leaders would praise the administration for its actions on civil rights, but they were very critical, especially Smith and Hansberry. Kenneth Clark, who was present, called the session “the most intense, traumatic meeting in which I’ve ever taken part … the most unrestrained interchange among adults, head-to-head, no holds barred … the most dramatic experience I have ever had.” Everyone left the meeting angry, including Kennedy.
But it was an important meeting; the issues that were raised and the manner in which they were presented affected the attorney general. Eighteen days later, President John F. Kennedy delivered his noted Civil Rights Address; Robert F. Kennedy was the only JKF adviser to support this televised, 14-minute speech.
Joseph A. Esposito, Springfield
Peter Marks should give his disregards to Broadway
I read with interest Peter Marks’s April 14 Style review of Aaron Sorkin’s version of the musical “Camelot,” “Sorkin’s ‘Camelot’: No crowning achievement.” Marks noted that Sorkin attempted (and didn’t succeed) “to rectify what always has been ‘Camelot’s’ Achilles’ heel”: the musical’s book. Other critics also note that, in Marks’s words, “At the best of times, ‘Camelot’ can be a tuneful slog.”
I vividly remember the production of “Camelot” by Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company in May 2018. In fact, I was moved to take a look at the reviews of that production. One resonated with me: “If you’re able to maintain your composure during the finale of ‘Camelot’ at Sidney Harman Hall, I commend you for your overdeveloped sense of restraint. … [When] King Arthur sings to a child who wants to join his illustrious Round Table, well, I kind of lost it” [“A shining moment for the heart,” Peter Marks, May 30, 2018]. Yessir. I still lose it.
I’m not writing to point out inconsistencies. Creating art and thinking about art can be a slog. I do, however, wish Marks had referenced a legendary production of “Camelot.” And I wish he, as our hometown paper’s chief drama critic, could spend a bit more time with our local theater community. For instance, Arlington’s Avant Bard theater company had a brilliantly experimental take on Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” that was not covered by The Post. And I have not seen Marks review any work by D.C.’s local Inseries company, which continues to produce wonderful work. It would be great to read his considered critique of a few of these productions.
As the arts community continues to recover from the pandemic, local theater has a bit more need for Marks than New York and Sorkin.
Waiting on the world to change
When I turned to Page 10 of the April 14 A section and saw the article “With Russia dug in, Ukraine looks for openings,” I was, as is so often the case, drawn up short by the appearance in the secondary headline of this grammar bomb: “Short on ammo and waiting on weapons, Kyiv’s forces are probing enemy positions for weaknesses that could aid a spring push.” My immediate thought was to wonder whether Kyiv’s forces were getting those weapons something from the bar? Refilling their coffee cup? Taking their food order?
Then, I realized that the photo above the headline explained it all.
There they were, Ukrainians, literally waiting on weapons. Thanks, law of averages, for helping The Post get it right.
Stephen S. Ripley, Arlington
The eternal threat of forever wars
“Did America do anything right in the Middle East?,” Andrew Exum’s April 23 Book World review of Steven Simon’s “Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East,” brought to mind many things. I offer three of them.
In the mid-1780s, Thomas Jefferson, then our ambassador to France, was negotiating with the Barbary pirates for the release of their American prisoners. He wrote to John Adams, who held the corresponding job in London, suggesting that perhaps we should go to war with the pirates. Adams responded that we should not go to war with them unless we were determined to fight them forever.
In 1968, John Badeau, who had been our ambassador in Egypt from 1961 to 1964, published a book titled “The American Approach to the Arab World.” Early on, he wrote that, from the end of World War II until the writing of his book, the United States had had one guiding principle for dealing with that area of the world, to wit: We will deal with any government in the region, no matter how bad, because we know with certainty that if it is replaced, it will be replaced with something worse.
An acquaintance was a colonel in U.S. Army Special Forces. After 9/11, he and some buddies grew beards and roamed Afghanistan and, with the help of numerous warlords, got rid of bad guys. He told me that, when finished, he and his buddies were much-liked and much-admired. His last words to me on that subject were “And then the Army came.”
For those in positions of leadership, much depends on what you know, to whom you listen and how well you understand what they tell you.
Phil Gallery, Augusta, W.Va.
An explosion of euphemisms
Regarding the demise of the SpaceX Starship on April 20, the Post headline got it right: “Starship lifts off successfully, but explodes in first flight” [news, April 21].
Imagine a 1937 headline using SpaceX’s language to describe the Hindenburg explosion: “Dirigible suffers rapid unscheduled disassembly, killing 36.” Or a 1986 headline referring to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster: “Astronauts lost, shuttle disintegrates after rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
Public relations professionals might serve a purpose. But, come on, this one’s ridiculous.
The April 24 Education article “HBCUs grapple with low enrollment of male students” provided an alarming portrait of higher education in the United States: Only one-third of enrolled undergraduates at historically Black colleges are men. Yes, the nation’s capital is home to Howard University — and to the United Negro College Fund, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. But, as the article explained, other metro regions are also home to HBCUs, including Atlanta and New Orleans. These cities are home to their own African American museums and civil rights memorials as well.
Urban and rural communities nationwide are affected by the trends described in the article. Numerous reports suggest that closing the racial gap for college degrees would have far-reaching and massive economic benefits. Educating the next generation of Americans is critical to our nation’s future. Calvin Hall of North Carolina was quoted as saying that young Black men “seem to be falling through the cracks.”
Placing stories such as this one on the front page would help ensure that this topic doesn’t fall through the cracks.
Schooling the public on teaching
I found a particularly interesting book through “Three educators and the brutal challenges of teaching,” Melanie McCabe’s March 12 Book World review of Alexandra Robbins’s “The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Vulnerable, Important Profession.” Anyone wondering or concerned about the current lack of qualified teachers should read the book.
As a retired teacher in Anne Arundel County, I naturally identified with many of the book’s precepts. This book validated a lot of my own teaching experiences. Parents of school-age children would do well to read this book. It will give you an inside look into what is entailed in teaching.
Teachers deserve respect and support. We entered this profession because of our desire to teach and help nurture children. However, there are many obstacles in this profession of which many people are not aware. At times, teachers have been and felt unsupported, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic.
I am grateful to Book World for bringing my attention to this book, which will raise awareness of what this profession encompasses and maybe engender a whole new appreciation for teachers.
What a difference a comma — or lack of it — can make. I was startled from my initial glance at the April 21 news headline “N.C. man accused of shooting 6-year-old, her father is arrested.” Wait, why would the girl’s father be arrested for that and not the N.C. man accused of the shooting?
A simple edit, of course, and making a world of difference, would have been to insert a comma additionally after “her father,” making clear what the article’s co-authors actually meant to convey: an arrest of a man from North Carolina accused of shooting a 6-year-old girl and her father.
Gary Greenfield, Chevy Chase
Talk about burying the lede: The point of the April 24 Politics & the Nation article “Author’s civil suit against Trump goes to trial this week” was buried in the fourth paragraph. The history of the other cases against Donald Trump might be relevant somewhere further down in the story, but the first paragraph should reflect the start of the civil trial against Trump. History is relevant, but it is not the news.
Hollis Raphael Weisman, Marriottsville
Barely squeezing in the Lemon firing
Am I the only one who saw something incongruous in The Post’s treatment of the firings of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon? Carlson’s firing was front-page news [“Carlson fired by Fox News”], but Lemon’s firing was in the Style section [“Don Lemon, longtime host and anchor for CNN, is fired”]. What is the difference?
I get it: It is because The Post declares itself an independent newspaper.
Don’t be so liberal with political labels
The April 19 Politics & the Nation article “Justices warm to a compromise” was like all others that report on the Supreme Court, labeling justices as either “conservative” or “liberal.” This is misleading and harmful and perpetuates the problem of a perceived politicization of the judicial branch.
Based on their testimonies during confirmation hearings, each is a highly skilled professional who respects the rule of law in the American project and who understands that their positions and work must not be political. They deserve to be taken at their word. The Post could do its readers, the Supreme Court, its justices and the country a great service by dropping the political labels. This could then have positive ripple effects.
Chris Stevenson, Purcellville
Heavy-handed evenhandedness
The April 23 news article insisting President Biden is responsible and should take action to prevent the threatened debt ceiling default, “Biden is running out of time to avoid dire debt ceiling outcomes,” was an example of the typical Post moral relativism and whataboutism put forward on a daily basis.
Why is The Post continuing to insist that we treat the radical Republicans as equal partners in leadership and government when it is clear they are interested only in holding the president hostage and destroying our democratic institutions? Threatening to destroy the economy is a disgusting, disgraceful strategy and should be labeled as such. Enough false equivalencies.
Big data on big questions, please
The Post’s coverage of major national issues is most often comprehensive and thorough, allowing me to look at many sides of a question and who is holding which position. As it was with the April 17 news article “Meet ‘the five families’ that wield power in McCarthy’s House majority.”
But I think The Post would render a great service to its readers if its data department listed all the members of the House and indicated their positions on background checks, the banning of AR-style rifles and each’s indebtedness to the National Rifle Association for any contributions over the past four years.
Similarly, a more thorough database on the demographics of abortion — for example, age, social and economic status, married or out-of-wedlock pregnancy, stated motivation for elective abortions, history of public support/non-support, before and after Roe v. Wade, etc. — should be given more publicity than it has so far. Pending, often questionable legislation of red and blue states on the reproductive rights and responsibilities of women vs. the rights of the unborn might then be viewed in a broader context and allow us, the public at large, a more enlightened discussion.
Normand Tousignant, Annandale
We’ve succumbed to cartophobia, we’re afraid
Is there a map-phobic editor lurking in the halls of The Post? At a time when we read more about the world than ever before, maps are strikingly absent.
In the April 24 edition, the A section had stories on shrinking Indigenous groups in the Amazon [“Are Yanomami deaths a genocide?”; Russia’s influence in Africa [“Russia’s influence surges in Africa”]; shootings in the southern United States [“Blue cities try to sway red states on gun control”]; the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine [“In Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops cling to a destroyed city”]; a Navy dive search in the Pacific Ocean [“Navy divers comb a Pacific graveyard, seeking lost World War II airmen”]; and fighting in Sudan [“Envoys exit, but Sudan is still full of foreigners”]. How many maps were included? Zero.
Maps are visual anchors. They empower readers. They are a vital journalistic tool. Please: maps, maps and more maps.
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