Seeing Stereotypes Within ‘Ragtime’

Bravo to Anthony Scully for his discerning analysis of the racial bias of the musical “Ragtime” (“Anti-Irish Bias Taints ‘Ragtime,’ ” Counterpunch, June 23). Amid the excitement generated by an extravaganza like “Ragtime,” it is easy to accept the racial stereotypes the musical presents as “typical” of the ethnicity under consideration. Such acceptance damages our efforts toward racial harmony, for it tends to weaken our vigilance to perceive each person as an individual, assessing both attributes and faults apart from heritage.

Like Scully, I was deeply disturbed by “Ragtime’s” racial bias in that the musical targeted some groups as being more responsible for our present racial problems than others. Such an approach, even when it is couched in selective slices of our nation’s history, is not conducive toward the healing we so desperately need at this time. Rather, we must acknowledge that we all have shared in the creation of the problem, and we must all undertake the responsibility of achieving the necessary healing. This difficult task can be effected only by individuals relating to individuals and refusing to buy into any perception that assigns character traits, especially flawed ones, to ethnicity.

STEWART GORDON

Rancho Palos Verdes

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When I first read E.L. Doctorow’s “Ragtime” some 20 years ago, I remember wondering why such a gifted storyteller found it necessary to scapegoat and stereotype an entire group of people. More important, I wondered why nobody ever called him on the carpet for it.

MICHAEL O’HARA

Woodland Hills