I am writing regarding a picture that appeared with a commentary written by President Barack Obama ("Prescription to help the middle class," July 27).
I read with interest the agenda that the president wants to implement. However, it was the prominently placed picture that really caught my attention in a negative way. I believe the Times Union selected the picture to show people in a variety of occupations representative of the middle class. However, nobody in the picture looked like me. I did not see a person of color, male or female, represented in a middle-class occupation.
As a retired teacher and president of the Black Women's Association of Albany, I feel compelled to write in protest of the picture. I showed the article and picture to some of our members, and they were also upset by the omission. The BWAA is made up of college-educated, professional black women who are involved in various community service projects here in the Capital Region. We noticed right away that people of color — Black, Latino or Asian — were not included in the picture. This type of omission gives the public the false impression that people of color are not part of the "middle class." If we are to have an honest dialogue on racism in America, then the national and local media must recognize that many black and brown people have moved upward into the middle class. We share the same values and concerns as the white majority, and our contributions to society should not be overlooked.
I call upon the Times Union to publicly respond to our concern about this picture. I hope that moving forward you will be more conscious of the way in which omission reinforces stereotypes.
Yvonne B. Abunaw
Latham