week of 4/3/02
 
 
 

Be careful when branding someone racist
To the editor:
I just finished reading the piece that Mr. Phillips (SMN, March 20) wrote, and I must say that I applaud him. Some of you may be asking for what, but I applaud him for having the guts to say what he feels, to say what he believes, and for saying what many people in the country also believe. I also applaud him because he opened himself up to be judged and to be criticized in order to have his say.

I’ve already heard the word “racist” bandied around. I’ve heard him called a fool because he believes in his heritage. But I know some things about this man who is being called a racist that many people don’t.

Mr. Phillips is cousins with an African-American family. Not one that he married into, either, but one that he was born into. I know that in the early 60s, when he was born, at a time when African-Americans still couldn’t enter a white family’s house through the front door, his parents asked a wonderful African-American family to be his godparents. I know that he is the grandfather of an inter-racial grandchild that he loves beyond all reason. And as I write this he is attempting to adopt an African-American youth. Does this sound like a racist? A narrow-minded bigot?

I believe that Mr. Phillips could have attempted to justify himself using all this information, but he did not. He spoke concisely, used some research, and poured his heart and soul into what he believed in.

I, like Mr. Phillips, believe in my heritage. What is my heritage? I’m from New York. And while the Confederate flag has no significance to me, I agree that the descendants of those who fought under it should be proud of their ancestors’ need to be independent. I agree that the removal of all symbols that offend another is foolish, and that we cannot remove all symbols. I agree that groups like the NAACP can do good, but in some respects have gone overboard and are as controversial as the Ku Klux Klan. I agree that daily we are asked to give up our rights in order to placate others. I agree that we are no longer thinking for ourselves.

I also agree that it’s time that we did!

Lisa Ann Benedict
Sylva