SLANGED, DISSED AND DOGGED

I opened the magazine to read what I thought was a simple little article on teen-age slang (“Slanged, Dissed and Dogged,” by Elizabeth Venant, Aug. 7). And it would have been simple had it not been for one glaring fact. Of the four teen-age boys profiled, only the black youth could be perceived as a “negative element.” How did that happen since the article is supposedly about jargon and style?

In her article, Venant joined the rank and file of irresponsible journalists and reporters who have been glorifying the gang life by putting members on television and writing personalized stories, complete with photos, and plastering them in every newspaper and magazine available.

If the terrible practice of gang glorification and exploitation continues, a can of worms will be opened that will take a war to close. There’s going to come a time when these ethnic gangs, who’ve gotten so much attention from merely hurting members of their own race, are going to go after bigger fish. What are you going to do then? Give them their own television program?

HARRIETA. DICKEY

Los Angeles