The New York Times Magazine - USA (2020-08-02)

Illustrations by Giacomo Gambineri 5

The Thread

Photograph by Rahim Fortune

‘We pride

ourselves on

this false rugged

individualism

more than lives.’

Readers respond to the 7.19.20 issue.

RE: WHY WE’RE LOSING THE BATTLE

WITH COVID-

Jeneen Interlandi wrote about the decades-

long underfunding of America’s public-

health system.

An important article. Why are we sur-

prised that America’s attitude toward

public health is more focused on cures

than prevention? It only mirrors the way

THE COVER, ON

INSTAGRAM

Incredible images

and layout.

@samuelpeitz

author. Our hands at our jobs are tied by

local, state and federal politicians.

I have a background in infection

control and bioterrorism. My word at

the table is constantly squashed by the

overhead of politicians making daily

decisions on what we do in our jobs and

how to protect the public. I do fi ve jobs

in one title because of the lack of staffi ng.

It’s a very frustrating duty when you want

to help prevent deaths and you see the

country crumbling at the hands of poli-

ticians. Saruh, N.J.

RE: ROBIN DIANGELO

Daniel Bergner wrote about the antiracism

trainer and author of ‘‘White Fragility.’’

I’m a Nigerian living in Senegal, and I

suppose living in a place where every-

one for the most part looks like me is

a privilege in itself. So perhaps my cri-

tique is colored by this privilege, but I

must admit that I’m deeply off ended by

some of the claims people made in the

article. Rationality and the written word

are ‘‘white values’’? Is anyone else seeing

how condescending and disempowering

it is to be told that our fate as Black peo-

ple rests on white people fi nally deciding

to change their ways?

Itunu, Senegal

I’m a software engineer at a large N.Y.C.

corporation. The majority of my co-work-

ers are people of color, but there are almost

no African-Americans. Finding a bug in

computer code is like detective work. You

gather the facts (data) and examine them

objectively and without bias to a particular

predecided root cause (rationality). I fi nd it

deeply troubling that the skill set needed

to do my job (objectivity, deep reliance on

we treat our personal health. Instead of

taking modest steps in order to prevent,

delay or mitigate ailments, we prefer to

take medication to manage the condition.

Howard Udis, Coconut Creek, Fla.

From a European perspective, a total-

ly bonkers situation in the (fi nancially)

biggest country in the world and the

(medically) costliest in the world. Apart

from the ruinous lack of public health,

there is the ‘‘no safety net’’ approach to

employment that means businesses have

to try and run and people have to work

when they should be staying at home.

Richard, U.K.

Fabulous article. The part about the

underfunding of public health and where

Americans don’t want to be told what to

do rang true. We pride ourselves on this

false rugged individualism more than

lives. There are millions of people in this

country who would prefer thousands

dying rather than wear a mask. We just

don’t have the will, fortitude, attitude or

empathy to defeat this virus, because we

in the U.S. are stubborn and stupid.

TRS, Boise, Idaho

As a public-health nurse in New Jersey,

I concur with this entire article and the

data, rationality) is, according to DiAngelo,

specifi cally white. What hope is there for

Black people to get high-paying computer

jobs if we accept this idea?

Nick, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Iceland had to legislate gender equity to

get real change. Perhaps we have to do the

same to address gender- and race-based

inequalities. If we really want to change

our system and not just corporate exec-

utive suites, we need to redistribute the

wealth in this country by taxing rich indi-

viduals and corporations. Reparations

and other forms of redistribution are

essential if we hope to do more than just

raise consciousness. Given that DiAngelo

earns, according to this article, tens of

thousands of dollars a month on speeches

alone (not to mention training sessions or

book sales), I’d say that she will be in the

category of paying more taxes to pay for

this redistribution. Is she ready to give up

some of her privilege of wealth?

Kate, Los Angeles

RE: COLIN POWELL

Robert Draper wrote about the former United

States Secretary of State and the lead-up to

the Iraq War.

As David Halberstam said of Robert

McNamara in regard to Vietnam, so the

same can be said of Colin Powell on Iraq:

‘‘He was, there is no kinder or gentler

word for it, a fool.’’ He allowed his good

name, his reputation and his wisdom to be

used by ideologues in a cause unworthy

of him or his offi ce, and the tragedy is he

knew better all along and did it anyway.

Jeff Hampton, Piner, Ky.

Send your thoughts to [email protected].