It is said in the African-American community that whenever someone from the media needs a photo, or is taking a survey of African-Americans, they always pick the most ignorant, downtrodden and oblivious person to represent the community. For the article “A Year in the Life” [Dec. 31], that is exactly what Yvette Marie Dostatni did with the Lewis “Bubble” Tucker photo. Smoke wafting from a pseudo-cigarette, puffed on by a glassy-eyed zombie in a soon-to-be gentrified area picked from hundreds of Chicago topics proves once again media bias and stereotyping.
Every other photo, with the exception of Lloyd DeGrane’s “Jade’s Dungeon,” depicts Chicagoans, especially Caucasians, in a positive light: families displaying values, the obligatory successful yuppie taking godlike strides through the financial part of town with a cell phone, and an “innovative,” “carefree” underwater married couple blowing bubbles to their no-doubt bright future.
DeGrane’s “Jade’s Dungeon” displays Asian and Latino women in the obligatory Western fantasy–as post-colonialized sex objects. Compare those women to his saintly sisters of Our Lady of Victory School. Are these the best representations of ethnic Chicago that they could find?
These photos are socially unbalanced, false representations that are absolutely not semblances of Chicago no matter how “arty” they may seem.
— Sean M. Carr, University Park
What a stunningly glamorous picture of two young nuns, clad in their white Dominican habits, in the Dec. 31 Magazine. I refer to the full-page picture of Sister Mary Sarah and Sister Mary Cecilia with an article supposedly featuring fashions and uniforms.
These two sisters from Our Lady of Victory School made me feel proud of them and of the attractive image of consecrated life they are giving hundreds of thousands of Tribune readers through this picture, especially when contrasted with the two pictures on the following pages of several “barely” clad females at Hooters and at Jade’s Dungeon.
These Hooters and Dungeon girls were wearing uniforms? Give me a break. Those females were showing only flesh, while the two sisters were showing peace and serenity and love of God.
These young sisters were revealing what true feminine beauty is.
— Rev. Gino Dalpiaz, Director, Italian Cultural Center, Stone Park
WALKING THE WALKS
Just want to say how much I enjoy “Sidewalks.” Every week the column reveals a part of the city that is rich in history, but taken for granted by many. The column makes the reader want to visit this ordinary yet wonderful place and see it firsthand.
Rick Kogan’s writing is simple and evocative, often poetic. Charles Osgood’s pictures have the same effect. Together they create a warm connection to an unfamiliar place and the people who live there.
Thank you for allowing Osgood and Kogan to wander around the lesser-known parts of the city. “Sidewalks” has become my favorite part of the Sunday Tribune.
— Bill Utz, Geneva
———-
The Magazine welcomes letters. Send mail to The Editor, Chicago Tribune Magazine, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, or to our Internet address, tribmag@tribune.com.
All correspondence, including e-mail, must include the writer’s name, home address and phone number. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.
