As publisher, I was delighted when Ralph Schwartz said yes to becoming a writer for NWCitizen.  He left the Herald last November and I immediately contacted him as his reporting was the best of anyone at the Herald in several years and I had linked to his articles from here more than once.  So when he said he wanted his first article to be more of a pesonal subject, I said sure, whatever he wanted.  

His post - In White Skin - is a very different type of  article than we have posted in our 20 years.  When I read the draft, it seemed obvious this was the time for such a perspective.  In the past couple years all of us who are not black have become shockingly more aware of our inherent racism.  Even if we thought ourselves sensitive and aware before.  Ralph's article is by a white guy and to white people.  That is 99% of Bellingham.  We feel we are a liberal or progressive city, but we have a lot of unconscious racism in our community.

Unconscions.  Not intended, but there. Today's Bellingham Herald entertainment section, the Take 5, has a cover illustration of the two Super Bowl quarterbacks - Cam Newton and Peyton Manning.  The very black Cam is shown at least 2 inches shorter than Peyton.  Our culture ascribes better with taller.  In truth, both players are 6 feet 5 inches tall - exactly the same height.  One can say 'oh get over it, it is nothing' or that Cam had to be shorter to allow room for the section title.  And that response would in the past go unchallenged.  It should not go unchallenged any longer.  

So - if you think this is about nothing, let me suggest that if Peyton were shown 2 inches shorter than Cam then we would hear from many about the error and obvious ignorance of the artist and the editors.  We are sensitive via very sophisticated psychological filters.  This is not a criticism of the Herald nor the artist - as indeed the artist probably was told to leave room for the section title. And the Herald's corporate parent, McClatchy, sent this illustration to the Herald.  Most of us would have accepted this without a second thought in the past.  We should change. 

There is a new young black writer we might read.  Ta-Nehisi Coates.  He writes well and makes sense.  He could educate all of us on the racism in our country.  He also had a book published a few months ago - Between the World and Me.  If we are seriously concerned about making progress against racism, then it is a very valuable book to us.  While this is Black History Month, we might just use this month as a start towards reducing racism.  We will try here.