Readers Discuss What Ally Leaves Unspoken

Cheers to David E. Kelley and the writers of “Ally McBeal” for portraying an interracial relationship and friendship as though racial differences were not a relevant factor (“Colorblind or Just Plain Blind?” by Greg Braxton, Feb. 9).

As a black female whose best friend is white and who has been involved in an interracial relationship, I can tell you that racial differences do not always become an issue. People are people first. If only the rest of the world could just accept that.

Also, television programs and films are not necessarily doing a disservice by not dealing with issues in their story lines. Sometimes we just want to be entertained and not have to deal with all the negativity in our society. Jeers to those who think otherwise.

TERESA SAMPSON

Los Angeles

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I was thinking all along that “Ally McBeal” was a fun little comedy that occasionally bordered on the absurd, and revolved around a fictitious law firm with fictitious characters.

Thank goodness there are social experts like Lorraine Toussaint and Callie Crossley to remind me that it is actually a reality-based show. How dare Kelley write his show his way! Isn’t it awful that an artist has a particular idea in his head and has the audacity to share it?

I am not so naive as to think that race doesn’t matter in our society, but I do share in Kelley’s wish that it didn’t.

JON NICHOLS

Sunland

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Lorraine Toussaint’s quote, “Whenever white people get so liberal that they think race doesn’t matter, then everyone is in a lot of trouble,” alternately broke my heart and enraged me.

She is so hopelessly bound to a past of hate that when confronted with the idea of innocence and peace, she can’t even deal with it. She is a tragic example of how the sins of the fathers can corrupt the minds of the children. Toussaint wears her thorny crown of racial divisiveness a little too fondly, preferring that everyone share in her pain rather than joining hands.

Kelley is the kind of person we need for our tomorrows. Yes, those who forget the past are bound to repeat it, but those who live in the past will never reach the future. The world is what we make it. Kelley is making it a better place. Let’s hope he doesn’t let the naysayers who are stuck in the past stop him.

C.C. WILDE

Santa Clarita

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Thank God for Lorraine Toussaint, the voice of reason! White liberals don’t want racism to be an issue, because if it is relegated to Black History Month and PBS specials, not only will they not have to do anything about it, they get to pat themselves on the back about how valiantly just and incredibly forward-thinking they are.

You can bet your bottom dollar that when the casting call went out for an actress to play Ally McBeal, the breakdown sheet didn’t say, “Oh, just send the best person for the job.”

Until the day we realize the complexities and quirks of all people, race will matter.

LISA LANGFORD

Los Angeles

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I’m not sure I fully agree with Braxton’s label of Boston as one of the country’s “most racially torn cities.” It’s true that Boston has had its setbacks with the busing problems and the Celtics in the ‘80s, but so has L.A. with its race riots, O.J. Simpson cases, and incidents of police mistreatment of minorities.

One must remember that Boston was the stronghold of William Lloyd Garrison and the abolitionists in the 19th century, and that many of our most racially progressive leaders, such as John F. Kennedy, were products of the Bostonian environment.

Bedding down more students per square-civic-inch than any other metropolis in the world, with 50 colleges and universities in the area, Boston is also a city that is deeply influenced by its students’ open-minded ideas and mixed ethnicity. Many of these liberal-minded students eventually constitute the permanent inhabitants of the area.

CHRISTOPHER SUH

Los Angeles

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If Kelley thinks, for one second, that a black man dating a white woman in Boston wouldn’t have any tensions, he should just place a call to all the black athletes who’ve played for Boston over the years and take a little survey.

Likewise, if he thinks Ally could survive a half-day at work without hearing a sneering remark from one of those pasty, short, over-aggressive male colleagues of hers, he truly is living in a fanciful and whimsical world.

I realize I’m pulling the whimsy rug right out from under Kelley’s feet right there. I just find it deflating to see my experience as part of an interracial couple reduced to “all people are one under the sun.” To hear that a television producer has failed to address this issue in anything remotely resembling a meaningful way is not surprising. What bums me out is hearing Kelley say that.

Mr. Kelley, the one way to really ensure we will never “all be one person under the sun” is to keep acting like we already are. Now, get Ally and Greg talking.

STEPHEN HUNT

Santa Monca

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I’ve been involved in a black/white relationship for years now and don’t recall a single problem over it, not with friends, family or strangers. Maybe I’ve been lucky, but I think if you don’t get all paranoid and defensive and give others the benefit of the doubt, you’ll be surprised how relaxed educated people are about this nowadays.

Is there still ignorance and racism in the world? Of course. Stupidity never dies. But it isn’t everywhere or in everyone.

I’m cheered by Kelley’s idealism: modeling a world where there are many cultures and points of view, but only one race--the human race.

STEPHEN OLES

Venice

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I am a black male and of the group most often criticized by their own for engaging in romantic relationships with nonblack mates.

Personally, I find it refreshing that Kelley has chosen not to make race the issue with the “Ally McBeal” romance. It’s ridiculous to ignore that racial tension exists in the world; however, it’s equally if not more absurd to insist that it be made an issue in every situation.

How is America expected to move beyond race when we are determined to be bound by it?

CHRISTOPHER L. MALCOLM

Beverly Hills

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As a conservative 62-year-old Anglo-American male, I realize that I do not fit the demographic audience of “Ally McBeal,” but both my wife and I find the show to be the most creative and entertaining weekly show on television.

Actually, the ludicrous comments of people like Lorraine Toussaint are typical of the content of the legal cases that make the show humorous while being very real-world. I have no problem with Jesse L. Martin other than his character, Dr. Butters, is so bland that there is no outrageous humor when he is involved.

This show is in the tradition of “Picket Fences” and “Northern Exposure,” which occasionally bloom in the wasteland of TV sitcoms.

D.F. REEVES

Rancho Palos Verdes

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Ultimately, aren’t we trying to say that race in this world should not be an issue? Why are people jumping on Kelley’s case for trying to say that!

There is room for aggressive and passive education in race relations. Kelley has taken the passive subliminal road and in the end we may find that that works better then ramming it down people’s throats.

JOHN AQUILA

Northridge

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Race is not an issue in Ally McBeal’s new romance, though media discussion of it could be a clever distraction to add impact when Ally discovers the guy is gay.

SHERRY BARBER

Whittier