The Pope & the Pill

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Sir: Here in Down Under we loved your bit on our national game, cricket [Aug. 2]. One thing though, mate. It's not "yonkers" but "yorkers," a difficult type of ball to play, particularly if it's fast. It lands right up in the batsman's (not batter's) blockhole—the point his bat rests on in front of the wickets.

Right now we're at the close of another Test series with England; we've just drawn the fourth Test (five are played in a series) and retained the Ashes, an entirely mythical trophy that began this wise: In 1882, on August 29, a team of Australian cricketers defeated England for the first time. It so shocked English cricket lovers (egad! the impertinence of those demmed colonials, sir!) that the Sporting Times the next day ran the following notice:

"In affectionate memory of English Cricket, which died at The Oval on the 29th of August, 1882. Deeply lamented by a loyal circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P. (N.B. The body will be cremated, and the ashes taken to Australia!)" So we get the Ashes and we've been playing for them ever since. Who else but the Poms (God love them!) would play international sport for a trophy that doesn't exist—a tradition that arose from their own defeat?

R. CARSON GOLD

Brisbane

Disservice or Service?

Sir: Your quotation of Ebony Publisher John Johnson about the Negro's right to be a professional golfer as well as U.S. President [Aug. 2] is indeed supra-inspirational—to the point of being pure fantasy. With only one Negro on the professional golf circuit and election to high political office requiring almost quixotic efforts, any readers who give substance to such a statement perpetuate the myth of Negro progress.

Discrimination, rejection and deprivation rather than progress and prosperity form the stark reality of the black presence in America. A distinct disservice is done by mythical treatment of such an important matter as race relations when candid, realistic treatment is desperately needed. Unfortunately, we don't generally get it from the white press. Now it turns out that the biggest of the black press feeds the myth too.

THAD SPRATLEN

Berkeley, Calif.

Sir: A salute of thanks for your article on Ebony Publisher Johnson and his journalistic endeavors. Most Negroes are proud and pleased with Ebony and its presentations. At this point of individual resolve and conflict, the magazine continues to give a balanced picture of black Americans. Unfortunately, you are accurate when you project that the bulk of Ebony's circulation is among Negroes; a law should be passed requiring readership by whites. Perhaps regular reading of Ebony would help to offset white America's ofttimes mistaken ideas as to the varied feelings of a larger majority of this country's black populace. Ebony successfully fills a void that the white press seemingly ignores: functioning Negroes in a hard, cold, bitter white world.

HURLEY GREEN

Chicago

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