Blackness

In “What is Blackness?” John McWhorter states that the spectacle of so many pundits wrongly concluding that Mr. Obama has the ability and skills to successfully perform as president reminds him of how ” … in so many musicals, a large-ish black person singing a song that starts quiet and ends loud drives white audiences to ecstasy” [Oped, “What is Blackness?” January 25, 2007]. However, since most of the time the “large-ish person” would be Paul Robeson, if a male, or Ethel Waters, if a woman, the ecstasy of the whites might have had more to do with their ability as singers than their color.

Dave O’Neill
New York, N.Y.

Mr. McWhorter replies:

I do not question Mr. Obama’s ability to be president, but his ability to rise above partisan politics. The latter is but one component of the former, and the tripwire sensitivity among many to my or others’ taking Mr. Obama’s name in vain is further suggestion that much of the fervor over him is visceral rather than reasoned. As to the black singers, if I am not mistaken, Mr. O’Neill thinks that I consider all white approval of black stage performances as condescension to hack work, a position that would qualify me for a lobotomy. I refer not to Robeson and Waters — could anyone truly believe I mean them? — but to the phenomenon well known among musicals fans of exactly what I described, examples being in “The Goodbye Girl,” “All Shook Up,” “Hairspray,” the revival of “How To Succeed,” and many others.

Landmarks

Edward Glaeser’s article “The Greenness of Cities” suggests that Manhattan should turn into another Shanghai, with giant towers everywhere, and that preservationists are somehow antienvironment for opposing a luxury residential building atop 980 Madison Avenue [Oped, “The Greenness of Cities,” January 30, 2007].

Mr. Glaeser must have missed the national “anti-sprawl” campaign preservationists have waged for years, arguing that re-using existing urban buildings, instead of building new suburbs, is environmentally sound. No high rise is as efficient in conserving land and saving energy as the row house. It’s the mainstay of our historic districts, which remain our most desirable neighborhoods.

Preservationists don’t oppose growth. We seek appropriate growth. New York is a better place to live when its rich layers of history are protected.

Peg Breen
President
The New York Landmarks Conservancy
New York, N.Y.

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