"America is a post-racist society." When I first heard this assertion connected to the presidential ambitions of Barack Obama, I was reading a scandalously ignorant article by John O'Sullivan in the Feb. 11 issue of National Review. The fact that a black man may possibly win the Democratic primary means, according to Mr. O'Sullivan, that America has transcended the consequences of hundreds of years of racism, political oppression, violence and slavery. When Ruth Ann Dailey parroted the same opinion in her March 17 column praising "post-racist America's wide open doors" ("Black and White and Wrong All Over") her naivete was embarrassing.

Consider the following:

• All 43 presidents have been white men.

• Only four African Americans have been state governors.

• Almost 25 percent of American blacks live in poverty; less than 9 percent of whites do.

• Black adult males are incarcerated at six times the rate of white males.

Does that sound like a post-racist society? Will the first African-American presidency instantly reverse the remaining effects of centuries of discrimination? In her own column, Ms. Dailey acknowledges that Bob Jones University rescinded its ban on interracial dating only eight years ago!

Ms. Dailey's primary error is that she interprets the legitimate progress since Reconstruction as evidence that the struggle is over. This is why she can acknowledge Jeremiah Wright's "wounds" without authentic empathy. This is wrong. While some of his words may not be true, the trials and tribulations that feed his anger certainly are.

MIKE HOLOHAN
South Side

After hearing of the constants of Sen. Barack Obama's speech ("Obama Says Race a Work in Progress," March 19), as a 75-year-old white man I am so proud to be an American. I try to keep in mind that it is not what one says, but what I think about because of what they said, that is important.

These last few days I have been worried for the senator, but after his speech, I feel good about his position. I know he will be OK. And I'll be OK.

I so wish Pennsylvanians would realize what he can bring to us at this time in our world history. One wag on TV said it best: When he spoke, "I felt he spoke to me as an adult." And it felt so refreshing.

I could not agree more.

HAL MINER
Greensburg

I find it somewhat humorous that Gov. Ed Rendell stated a while ago that conservative and Republican white males wouldn't vote for Barack Obama because he was black.

The governor needs to look in the mirror and he will see himself along with other white Democratic males (i.e., Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and County Chief Executive Dan Onorato).

I'm not seeing a lot of white Democratic Pennsylvania political leaders backing Sen. Obama. Could it be the very racists he alluded to are in his own political party back yard? It sure looks that way.

I didn't see much diversity in that picture from the rally in Pittsburgh with them giving their endorsement to Hillary Clinton.

RICHARD A. LOSEGO
Valencia

Regarding the March 6 editorial "Ready for Battle": So now it comes down to we Pennsylvanians.

But no matter what the outcome of the April 22 primary, it is imperative that we voters not be distracted from the importance of the general election.

There is by now enough empirical evidence to show that the current dire state of the nation is largely due to the purblind and tone-deaf policies of a moribund Bush administration, a natural outgrowth of its ideological preferences over sound governance, with all of the concomitant damage done as well to prudent fiscal economic policy.

Seven and a half years (and counting) of distortions, mischaracterizations and out-and-out lies about every aspect of the national state of affairs have brought us to this sorrowful place.

And it didn't get this way because of George W. Bush's personality alone (some have gone so far as to call his particular obstinacy "moral clarity"!).

The aiders and abettors within the rubber-stamp Congress and the far right-wing retrograde media machine have contributed more than their fair share of harm to the body politic.

In the end, they all will have added to the decline of American progress, the diminution of a respectable conservative movement, and will have deserved their days languishing in their own private wilderness for years to come.

JIM HOHMAN
Shadyside

On the evening of March 12, a vacant house burned down on the Eleanor Street steps in the South Side Slopes. It is just the latest example of the danger that abandoned houses pose to our community. The age and construction of houses in the city, along with their density, makes it very easy for fire to spread from one building to the next.

What made this fire last week even more disheartening is that I, along with other neighbors, had been calling on the city for almost three months to secure this clear safety hazard. I was told by the city that the house was condemned and on the demolition list but the bids came back too high. The remediation would have to wait until next year -- possibly longer.

I applaud the city's efforts to address abandoned buildings, but more must be done. I shudder to think what would have happened if the fire had spread to other, occupied houses in that tightly packed section of the Slopes or if a firefighter had been injured protecting our community from a safety hazard that was identified months ago. Due to the response of the City of Pittsburgh Fire Bureau, the fire was contained to the vacant structure. Our public safety services should be commended because that house was on a very difficult site.

In order to create a safe community that will attract and retain residents, the danger that these vacant houses pose must not be minimized. Hundreds, if not thousands, of these houses exist throughout the city. The administration needs to understand and be reminded of the seriousness of this problem.

We were very lucky that night.

BRAD M. PALMISIANO
President
South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association
South Side Slopes

As an active and concerned resident of the South Side, I would like to thank Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, District 3 Councilman Bruce Kraus, Public Safety Director Mike Huss, police Chief Nate Harper, Pennsylvania Liquor Control Enforcement and all the officers who worked long hours to keep our neighborhood safe during the St Patrick's Day celebration.

Our streets were crowded with revelers most of the day and night, but law enforcement officers from many divisions and zones helped our Zone Three police prevent the situation from getting out of control. It was also good to see the extra security that most of the alcohol-serving establishments employed for the occasion. It makes one think that it just might be possible for residents, businesses and a reasonable number of bars to coexist peacefully in this diverse, incredible neighborhood.

SUSAN McCOY
Paolozzi Designs Inc.

South Side

David Brooks makes the case for federal intervention in the current financial crisis very cogently ("We're All Bailout Artists Now," March 19 Perspectives). The feds will have to step in for the common good and once again save laissez faire capitalism from itself.

The only false note in his commentary is that somehow we are all at fault for letting this happen. The monied interests, which fought so hard to deregulate the mortgage market, and the political interests, which sold out to those forces, are the ones who are to blame. On the upside of the bubble, those forces raked in money by selling $1.3 trillion of bad loans. Don't tell me they didn't know what they were doing. On the downside we the taxpaying public will have to eat the losses.

If there is a grand design to American capitalism this is it. Private interests take the gains, sell out and leave the public to assume the risks and take the losses. The basic assumption is this:

a) That the public is too stupid to know what is happening and will allow private interests to rule;

b) That the public is compliant enough to accept its role as guarantor with no strings attached.

Here is my plaintive comment, addressed to all the corrupt and ineffectual politicians out there who let this happen: Clean up this mess and re-regulate this industry so that it operates in the public interest as well as for the private greed of bankers. I'd like it to be a threat: "Clean it up or we will clean you out." But then not even I believe the public is smart enough to do that.

TOM AMMONS
Hampton