Powell’s Retrial in Beating Case

Officer Powell just doesn’t get it (Commentary, May 20). His argument is as follows: Because he and his family have opened their hearts and their homes to children of different ethnic backgrounds, he can’t possibly be racist. Well, Mr. Powell, that is analogous to a man saying that because he is married to a woman he can’t possibly be sexist! It is this kind of subtle prejudice that is the most insidious and dangerous because it takes longer to identify.

To what extent has Powell educated himself as to the cultures of these children and his Hispanic girlfriend? To what extent has he bothered to listen to the experiences of the victims of racism, and sought to understand what it is that they regard as racist?

It is easy to care for children who are dependent, vulnerable and impressionable. But I am not impressed with this paternalism. How will he react when these children become young adults with minds and wills of their own? To extend my analogy above: It is easy to treat a woman who is passive benignly, but much more difficult to do so when she is provocative or perceived to be so.

Rodney King was no child, but an adult African-American male. For that, his rights were ignored by Powell as the rights of so many like him are ignored by the Powells of our society.

CAMILLE ATKINSON, Department of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University