Racism in America

The report was a disappointment. Repeated assertions about who is to blame rather than consideration of what is to be done simply prolong the problems. Emphasis on complaints of discrimination and segregation, with pleas for fairness, will do little for blacks when other minorities, less absorbed with their victim status but more focused on performance, make steadier gains.

The dominant (white) culture is properly concerned about the black dilemma, but it will ultimately impose its own standards for success on any culture that competes in its markets and society.

The minority claimant in this system must marshal his abilities to present a prospect of mutual advantage. This calls for inventive and thoughtful strategies, several of which were described in Ronald Brownstein’s L.A. Times Magazine feature “Beyond Quotas” (July 28), but sadly forgotten on Sept. 8. This summation of new thinking by black scholars and intellectuals offers ideas of synthesis and accommodation in which fault-free collaboration replaces confrontation as the most promising modality for progress in untangling this thus-far intractable torment.

ROBERT TARTAUL

La Jolla