A Letter to a Government Official

I sent this letter to Charlotte, NC mayor Pat McCrory after he had this to say about black youth:

"too many of our youth, primarily African American, are imitating and/or participating in a gangster type of dress, attitude, behavior and action."

Here's my letter:

Mayor McCrory,

I'm not in the regular practice of writing e-mails to government officials. I usually don't consider it necessary. I don't even live in North Carolina, but I've been keeping up more with politics because I feel that it is important to do so. Needless to say, I came across your comment in regards to black youth and took note of your attitude towards apologizing. I think that what you had to say about my generation of black youth was despicable. Your treatment of Hiphop culture is offensive, and I would like to establish a brief dialog with you in hopes that perhaps I can convince you of your wrongdoing.

I'll be the first to admit that under normal conditions I would be far more...aggressive in my expressions of discontent, but whereas I am trying to establish dialog--and it is better to attract bees with honey--I'll restrain my typically militant tendencies, and merely speak to you as I would anyone that I honestly believed was worthy of my attentions.

As an example of what I would like to note about your statement, I want to explain what your indictment sounded like to me: your characterization of Hiphop style and culture as cultural gangsterism hearkens back to the long-standing characterizations of black men as "brutes" and "bucks." The approach you have taken to Hiphop culture is extremely reminisceient of the writings and speeches of American Nazi party founder George Lincoln Rockwell. Similar statements about black people, men specifically, have been made by racists throughout America's political history. The statement you have made aligns you with people like Rockwell and Trent Lott in the minds of black people--and any white person who heard what I heard behind your statement when I read it. There is such a thing as latent racism, and I can more than see it in you by your statement.

It is my firm belief that most politicians desire to cleanse their spirits of racism. I would hope that you would like to. For that to happen, it becomes imperative that you see what you have done wrong. And whether you apologize to the black constituency in North Carolina or not becomes irrelevant to me as long as you learn from your mistake and learn to articulate what you truly mean in a way that does not demean an entire populace.

You're better than that Pat McCrory, and only by choosing to be above sweeping indictments and mild forms of racism can you help to bring about the kind of racial harmony that was once America's dream. I hope you're listening.

Sincerely,

Chris De La Cruz

The angrier version of my comments appears in my personal blog. But I thought that the Black Tuesday crowd might be interested in my little side project. I expect to receive a half-hearted e-mail from his secretary telling me that he meant no offense and blah, blah, blah, he's not apologizing and doesn't feel that he's wrong. Regardless, this should be interesting. I've never tried to discuss anything with a government official. I'm not fond of politicians, but I hope there's more to them than bs. There's flesh in there somewhere.

Oh, and I do not have any intention of posting his e-mails (if I get any) on here. That would be wrong, even if he is a public figure. But if he pisses me off...