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A COMPLEX HISTORY
I read with interest your article on the black experience in Santa Fe [Cover story, Jan. 10: "
"] and was, once again, awed by the graciousness, extraordinary patience and dignity of spirit that black people possess. We spend most days juggling two or more worlds with the knowledge that we will be constantly misunderstood and treated with disdain and suspicion. Still, we persevere. We laugh, we love, we hurt, we worry and we pray for the safety and well-being of loved ones and country…just like everyone else.
I lived in Washington, DC, for 12 years, spent several years in Europe and have traveled in Africa and South America. Santa Fe has been my home for six years, where I have been treated with kindness and generosity, for the most part. However, there have been numerous instances when that has not been the case. In fact, Santa Fe is the only city in which I have been aggressively instructed to "go back to Africa," ironically, by someone who spoke heavily accented English. It would have been laughable had it not been such a pathetic statement about the comfort level this person must have felt in order to so freely express such a hateful sentiment.
Though the prison statistics reflect otherwise, African-American males are no more or less criminally inclined than males of other races. They are simply more likely to be incarcerated for longer periods of time due to the failings of our judicial system. We live in a country that glorifies violence and places more importance on gun ownership than, say, universal health care for its citizens.
Cultivating an image of cultural diversity, tolerance and elevated spirituality, Santa Fe has the reputation for being somehow miraculously above the racism that defines the rest of American cities. While this notion attracts tourists, anyone who lives here knows that nothing could be further from the truth. As an African-American, I observe an overwhelming level of denial about the reality of bigotry and racism here. Granted, it is mixed with cultural and economic elitism and the ever-pervasive "entitlement dysfunction," but issues of race are nonetheless alive and thriving in the City Not-So-Different.
Sadly, America will continue to stumble on the world stage until it comes to terms with its sordid past of oppression and exploitation of other people and cultures, a history that continues to inform and shape our national identity-no matter how much we deny it.
L Fortune
Santa Fe
ARTISTIC DISSENT
When I read your review of Theaterwork's latest play,
Mariela in the Desert
(Theater, Jan. 17: "
")-having already seen the play, and having also attended a Q&A with the playwright, Karen Zacarías-I was surprised and dismayed. While Peter Breslin's review ultimately approves the play's emotional effectiveness, I felt that there were some statements made that were simplistic, misguided and misguiding and-dare I say-downright offensive.
What struck me first was the vitriolic condemnation of "artists," a condemnation that Breslin seems to assume is felt by Zacarías herself and expressed through the play, although Zacarías is herself an artist and defines herself as one, upholds the importance of art (or so I gathered from hearing her talk) and believes in the possibility of being both an artist and a truly good person. I find it difficult therefore to believe Zacarías would agree with Breslin that "any shred of admiration one might have for 'creative types' has been largely immolated" by the play; and I think any artist would be shaken by his later statement: "Artists are liars, megalomaniacs and pathological nutjobs. Artists make lousy human beings." As I am myself an artist, this rubbed me the wrong way-but even more, I was astounded that this conclusion could be drawn from a play that affected me so differently.
To me, the central idea explored by the play was not that artists are any worse than other people; rather, the play explores the artist's struggle to balance "real," immediate life with artistic self-expression. Both Mariela and Jose suffer because they cannot find this balance. Contrary to Breslin's assertion that Jose is a "tyrannical patriarch who set it all up and it's the wife and kids who suffer," Jose and Mariela both are troubled people who are much more complicated (and much more human) than this review gives them credit for. Everyone in the play suffers; everything is not "Jose's fault," as Breslin claims, and if anyone set up the disasters that overwhelm their family, it was not Jose, but rather Mariela herself, whose apparent self-sacrifice serves only to embitter her.
The characters in
Mariela in the Desert
are real, complex people who make tragic mistakes. The play does not judge them. If audience members judge them, that is their prerogative, but perhaps we viewers should not be so harsh in our judgements of these people-these people are, after all, inside us; their failings are our own (potential or realized) failings, be it Jose's insecurity or Blanca's vicariousness or Mariela's emotional self-suppression; and for me and, I suspect, for many of my fellow viewers, the power of
Mariela
lies in the fact that to judge its characters is ultimately to judge ourselves.
Hilary Miller
Santa Fe
ACTOR-LEGISLATORS
The article regarding the state Legislature by Nathan Dinsdale was informative and well-served [Cover story, Jan. 17: "
"]; however, I would like to point out that the legislative process is probably more unpleasant than people might think. Simply put, the whole political process of a state Legislature trying to mandate laws and regulations is less about democracy and more about ignorance and special interest groups.
I attended recent Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) hearings in October and November of 2006, and at each meeting, I witnessed a sense of indifference and ignorance exhibited by most of the legislators on the LFC. It's not that I dislike each person personally-it's just that most of the time, legislators seemed to either be talking over one another while a constituent spoke; or were asleep and snoring; or meandering through the room like they had one personal issue after another to deal with on their private cell phones.
In short, these are not professionals in the sense of the word. Rather, they're amateurs acting like amateurs. Heck, they don't even get paid enough to warrant being called a professional.
One day, I hope that the New Mexico public will be better served by media who can report on how poorly many legislators really understand the needs of their constituents, and why so many legislators need to have capsules of information that are compartmentalized and do nothing but serve legislators' conveniences.
Maybe it's not such a surprise that New Mexico consistently lags behind in nearly every aspect of American life, with the notable (and sad) exceptions of drunk driving, meth labs and law enforcement rivalries that make the UNM/NMSU rivalry look like a lunchtime pissing contest.
Gee. Welcome to New Mexico.
Joshua Dawson
Albuquerque
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