Acceptable Bias?

While I feel empathy for a 65-year-old woman of any color feeling "in total cultural shock," I was disturbed by the May 11 front-page article that outlined basic "reverse" racism ["Region's Fringes Draw a 'New White Flight'; Calvert's Black Residents Feel Pushed Out by Newcomers"].

In 1970 blacks were 37 percent of Calvert County's population; in 1980 that had fallen to 22 percent; now it stands at 12 percent. The black share of population has been dropping about 10 percentage points a decade, and somehow "whites" are to blame.

In 1970 Prince George's County was 84 percent white, and it is now 29 percent white. That's a decrease of about 27 percentage points a decade, yet there is no mention of a loss of white culture or of the shock of driving through Prince George's and not seeing any white people.

Would our society tolerate a demand for recruiting more white teachers as it does a demand for recruiting more black teachers in Calvert?

Is a lack of affordable housing in Calvert really a fear of attracting blacks, as was suggested in the article? A recent Post article detailed how teachers or police officers (of any color) working in D.C. suburbs could not afford to live where they worked ["Pr. William Homes Slip Beyond Reach," Metro, May 4]. Is that the fault of white people, too, and is it necessary to print the suggestion that it is in Calvert?

We live in a melting pot. My children's school has students representing far more than 50 nationalities, and I've taught them that living in diversity can bring an open mind and an open heart.

Reading articles such as the one printed May 11 fingering the "whites" for the troubles of the "blacks" closes minds, hardens hearts and dignifies racism, which has no place in our society.

-- Amy Hogan

Burke