Marin IJ Readers’ Forum for Aug. 24, 2020

Looking for the best path of atonement

I would like to thank Zianah Griffin for her recent Marin Voice commentary (“Understand the movement before saying you support it,” Aug. 8).

Like many white people, I come to the issue of racial injustice from a place of goodwill, yes, but also from profound ignorance. Therefore, I am very grateful to Griffin for giving me a roadmap to be part of the solution.

However, for me, another challenge remains to overcome and heal my racism. When I look at the horror of what my race has done to other races, I am staggered by the enormity of it. From the first slave ships, to the ongoing, routine police murders of people of color today, healing would seem to go beyond redressing the many wrongs against African Americans. It includes voter suppression, the disproportionate number of people of color in prison and the rest of that long list of wrongs.

For me, the ongoing reality of racial injustice presents a question that seems almost unanswerable: How do I atone?

I am listening and looking for answers.

— Julie Manson, Novato

Cartoon: Lynching song has same language

On Aug. 16, the Marin IJ posted a cartoon which is brazenly racist. It depicts masks in a tree, with one bird saying to another , “Strange fruit, but popular.” “Strange Fruit” was a song recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939, written by Abel Meeropol and published in 1937. It protests the lynching of Black Americans, with lyrics that compare the victims to the fruit of trees.

The song has been called “a declaration of war” and “the beginning of the civil rights movement.”

Here are some of the lyrics:

“Southern trees bear strange fruit. Blood on the leaves and blood at the root. Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze. Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

“Pastoral scene of the gallant south. The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth. Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh. Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

“Here is fruit for the crows to pluck. For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck. For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop. Here is a strange and bitter crop”

That no one on the IJ editorial staff caught this is appalling. It’s not enough to take this cartoon down or issue an apology or invoke cancel culture. That doesn’t address the real issue, which is that it happened at all.

The IJ needs to take a good hard look at itself and with humility and deference, understand the harm it has caused not just by this cartoon but also its role in perpetuating white supremacy and racism in Marin.

— Lisa Bennett, Sausalito

Remove name, rebrand excellent sculpture

Recently, I visited the site of the now-absent statue identified as Sir Francis Drake near Larkspur Landing. It’s not really missed; we still have a lovely view of the bay, with windsurfers and ferries.

I’ve lived in Marin since 1971 so everything “Drake” is familiar to me feeling at home. He was a great navigator and a hero of the British in the Spanish Armada. He was the first to circumnavigate the globe, as Ferdinand Magellan didn’t survive his voyage. He wasn’t primarily known as a slaver, but he could be ruthless in his role as privateer for Queen Elizabeth, and particularly annoying to the Spanish.

That said, Drake wasn’t an American and did nothing for our country, as he died nearly two centuries before we became one. I’m all for trading his name for either Indigenous peoples or another more local figure of historical importance. As for the excellent sculpture, I’m fine with it being rebranded to represent Don Quixote, a man with a much more humane story.

— Tony Johnson, San Rafael

Post office needs support right now

As someone you may know as the Purple Lady, I submit a plea to preserve and support the survival of our post offices.

During this very challenging time, our postal workers continue to serve us with caring and kindness. We all know that the system is under serious financial stress, but we can all lend our direct support by buying sheets of vibrant and interesting stamps.

We may not need them now, but the postal service needs our assistance right now and the stamps last forever. We all need the postal service and we all want to have the right to vote by mail should we choose to do so. Our actions will surely have a positive impact in reaching our common goals.

Thanks to our postal workers for their dedication during these very difficult times. Let’s help the postal service survive. Please give your stamp of approval.

— Barbara J. Meislin, Belvedere