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Editor:

Once again, Blair Lee's got it all wrong. Instead of taking his own advice and not resorting to stereotypical ignorance, he mentions the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Can we have a conversation about black people that doesn't include them?

I think things are going well. We've made great strides, and although there are those that still haven't come along and accepted ethnic minorities as equals, a heck of a lot of people have.

And (U.S. Attorney General) Eric Holder is right. Those who remain silent and don't speak up are cowards. Get things out in the open, clear misconceptions or misunderstandings. You assert its fear of reprisals. Can't make progress without a little pain.

There are those out here ready to dialogue about race relations. Those who heard the stories of their parents being called the N-word. But understand, that was a different time. People can and have changed.

Just like those racists have changed, the black community has changed, too. It's time for new spokespeople for the black community to emerge. I want to be one of them. Are you and the media willing to listen to me? I'm calling and I'm serious.

Del. Craig Rice, (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown

Delegate Rice,

I've been in some "no-holds-barred" workshops where whites and blacks were supposed to bare their souls to achieve racial reconciliation. Doesn't work for two reasons.

First, today's rules of social discourse, promulgated by the cultural crossing guards, are fixed — whites are racists, blacks are victims, end of story.

Second, blacks and whites see things so differently that dialogue is almost impossible. Just look at last summer's Professor Gates/Officer Crowley conflict in Cambridge, Mass.

To blacks (including our president), it was another racist white cop bullying an innocent black man. To whites, it was another loud-mouthed black playing the race card against a duty-minded white cop. And, Craig, the White House "beer summit" didn't change a thing.

With complete sincerity and in total good faith, whites and blacks generally hold completely contrary views of O.J. Simpson, Confederate flags, the New Haven firefighters and the Obama "joker" poster. Whites see George Washington as a hero, blacks see him as a slaveholder. Whites think prisons are full of blacks because they committed crimes, blacks blame an unfair, racist criminal justice system.

Heck, we can't even agree on movies. Check out reviews of "The Blind Side," "Precious" and "Avatar." African-American critics see insidious messages of paternalism and white superiority, while white critics think the films are sympathetic to blacks. Go figure.

Last Halloween, Frederick city officials set up a scary town hall display including three hanging dummies. Crying "racial insensitivity," the local NAACP demanded their removal because they recalled Southern lynchings. The stunned mayor refused because the dummies were never intended to resemble lynchings but then, under media pressure, he capitulated.

Question: What did the Frederick NAACP accomplish other than imposing its will on people who now feel abused? Was this a victory for tolerance and dialogue or a "gotcha" power play? Instead of changing racial views, the media and the NAACP simply drove the bad feelings underground, just like whites did to blacks in the old days.

That's my take, what's yours?

— Blair

Hi Blair,

During the 2006 U.S. Senate race between Ben Cardin and Michael Steele black politicians, including Sen. Barack Obama, came to Maryland to tell the black community that party trumps race, to vote for liberal Cardin and not Steele because a white liberal is a better representative for the black community than a black conservative. There wasn't any accusation of racism then, when it was policy over race, but now when Americans disagree with a black president because of his policies, not race, they are branded racists.

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it, too?

Glenn Cunningham

Glenn,

Silencing dissenters by calling them "racists" is very effective because people branded "racists" are guilty until proven innocent, a near impossibility.

— Blair

Blair Lee,

I'm a 56-year-old female caring for my 81-year-old mother who was a Southern Democrat all her life until I read her Barack Obama's books. She saw right through him, registered independent and has started attending protests and town hall meetings with me.

My mom is not, nor ever has been, a racist. We both retired from the Defense Department. We have both had some good bosses and some bad bosses — most of the bad ones were white.

Color was never an issue in my house. As a matter of fact, my son is married to a beautiful Puerto Rican woman who describes herself as black. They gave me a beautiful granddaughter last year.

Pam Dixon, Albany, Ga.

Pam,

Your family is the past and the future of American race relations. By the way, how did you get my Gazette column down there in Georgia?

— Blair

Blair Lee is CEO of the Lee Development Group in Silver Spring and a regular commentator for WBAL radio. His column appears Fridays in The Gazette. His e-mail address is blair@leedg.com.