Ted, Whoopi and the Roast

I have read, in utter disbelief, about the brouhaha over the Whoopi Goldberg roast at the Friars Club (“Was Ted Letting Off Steam?,” Liz Smith, Oct. 12).

OK, so Ted Danson put on blackface and made a few racial jokes. Apparently, no one paid attention when Goldberg told the media that she wrote the material and hired Danson’s makeup artist.

No, instead everyone rallied around those “politically correct” party poopers, Montel Williams and New York Mayor David Dinkins, both of whom know a good publicity stunt when they see one.

This whole episode is symptomatic of the current, often-mindless obsession many Americans have with being politically correct. There’s nothing wrong with being sensitive to a problem as serious as racism. But it’s a whole other thing to wear political correctness on your sleeve like a badge of honor.

JOHN McELLIGOTT JR.

Fullerton

I am not a member of the Friars Club. I am a member of the African-American community. Putting on blackface and repeatedly using the N-word may make Goldberg giggle, but for those of us who have been subjected to the oppression that that word represents, we find it anything but funny.

ALEXANDER HALE

Cerritos

Well, it would appear that Sam Malone wasn’t totally a job of acting after all.

PAUL KNEIPP

Los Angeles