Franklyn Ajaye

Regarding “To Him, Rap’s No Laughing Matter” (July 14):

Franklyn Ajaye is to be commended for speaking out against the entertainment industry’s narrow depiction of blacks. I hope that other industry blacks are encouraged to speak out and that your articles on Ajaye and filmmaker Wendell Harris are digested by industry decision-makers in light of the events surrounding the opening of “Boyz N the Hood.”

While these incidents are likely to have a chilling effect on the industry’s preferred view of blacks, I hope that there is also not a cooling of their interest in black artists and that the industry might now be more receptive to other valid views of black life.

It’s significant to note that director James Cameron cast a black actor as the scientific genius in “Terminator 2,” making him a sincere, dedicated professional with a stable home life. Cameron, like Wes Craven and Larry Cohen, has consistently cast minorities in positive roles in the kind of genre films likely to be seen by people who wouldn’t be caught in the same multiplex as a Spike Lee film.

RICK MITCHELL

Los Angeles