Racial Sensitivity in the Times

There was a story recently in the New York Times that talked about the best Christmas gifts for colored people. This story was published for a month before the author of this article came under fire for what she wrote. The African-American author was writing for a particular audience in her article. The criticism stated that the article was "offensive" and "out of touch."

For a world that celebrates diversity I don't see why this article would cause such an uproar. There are certain products geared towards certain races. That doesn't mean the companies are racist. They are just capitalizing on the wants and styles of that race. We don't have a problem that Sean Jean and Fubu have ads that show black people wearing there clothes most of the time. It is the same with Abercrombie and Fitch for white people. To point out that there are gifts that might be more appropriate for a certain race than others isn't racist. Do we really have to watch that closely what we say to not affend every culture, race, religion, and other sensitivities? That would be censorship. It is necessary to watch what we say but sometimes society gets ridiculous with these rules. When it comes to race there will always be a discrepancy between people.

Editors are supposed to choose which stories to publish and this story did pass. There was a reason why this story was published. It might have been to possibly extend its reader diversity or offer more diversity in the paper itself but that really isn't the point here. The editors thought it was appropriate for its audience but you can't make everyone happy. At the end of the day there is plenty more to be worried about in the news than a story about Christmas gifts. We have made plenty of advancements in the equality of everyone which is why a section for black people shouldn't be over analyzed as "offensive." Worrying about stuff like this takes our attention of the big issues right now which are government spending and the welfare of our nation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1028