Letters to WW

Police killing of Aaron Steele

This email is to comment on the article written by Martha Grevatt about the numerous killings that were done by the Cleveland police in the beginning of this month [WW, “Cops kill three people in 3 days,” May 25].

Aaron Steele was a friend of mine and he is truly missed and to have the media and the Cleveland Police Department paint someone who was as gentle as a teddy bear as a hardened criminal thug type haunts me every day that I have to face without him. I am just thankful that someone has the sense and the heart to state what they believe is true and what they believe is not.

The one thing that hurts us all that know him is that the Aaron we know and love would not have pointed a gun at the police but out of all the witnesses that saw the shooting no one went on record to say that he did point a gun. The coroner ruled his death a homicide so I hope some kind of justice comes out of this.

—Charmagne Jordan
Cleveland

More on Barry Bonds

I liked the Mike Gimbel response to the Barry Bonds situation in your earlier issue [WW, Letters, May 31]. This past weekend the San Francisco Giants were here in Boston to play the Red Sox. Of course Barry Bonds was heavily jeered and booed by the local crowd (so-called Red Sox Nation).

Babe Ruth (famed ex-Red Soxer) was hardly a “choir boy” based on his notorious off-the-field behavior as noted by Gimbel. But the point that impressed me the most is that of Barry Bonds’ allegedly “bad attitude”—or that he is an “uppity negro.” The hypocrisy around the legal and illegal drug use in this country is another story.

As a man of color (Asian-American) I am well aware of the label of having a “bad attitude” in the world of race and race consciousness (this was reinforced by my experience as a Marine in Vietnam)—in this case then “good” means “go along to get along”—maintaining a servile, correct attitude in the face of authority.

Interestingly enough, recently a black MLB player (whose name and team escapes me at this moment)—stated that a lot of MLB players are black, but they have Spanish surnames—consequently these “temp/guest” workers are more easy to “handle” by the league bosses than say native-born African-American players.

I believe it was Malcolm X that said: “The Negro (black man) who is not angry should go see a psychiatrist.”

Thank you.

—Henry
Boston