Such head-spinning display of contrasts in the April 24 Wednesday Journal. I was feeling somewhat hopeful (an uncommon occurrence in the last 2½ years) after reading the great write-up on Race Conscious Dialogues (a program in which both my husband and I have participated).
Then I found John Hubbuch’s “Confessions of a Lapsed Liberal” [Viewpoints] a few pages later and I almost lost my lunch. Wow, another old white guy thinks the achievement (I prefer “opportunity”) gap is “unfixable” — shocker — probably because he just doesn’t care. I personally am glad that our schools haven’t given up even though past efforts haven’t been successful.
He’s also so offended that an Oak Park school updated their art display with more diverse depictions of community life. What exactly is the problem? No art was destroyed. I do like his idea of removing some of the honorary photos of past white citizens from public buildings; my guess is that had more people of color been on the committees (or in positions of power) deciding who should get honored, we’d see different and more colorful faces.
An added bonus he serves up at the end is, “I am very conflicted about abortion.” Ummm, who cares? You’ve never had to think about personally making that choice. Be conflicted all you want, but trust women to make their own choice!
In this column, Hubbuch proves he knows nothing about racism and how it works; he could make some headway if he were to participate in Race Conscious Dialogues. Unfortunately, I think he’s too far gone and has no interest.
I’ll take your bait, Mr. Hubbuch. You are racist and misogynistic. You prove it again and again on the pages of this paper.
Deb Wolkstein
River Forest