EDITORS: They say that when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Obviously Kudzai and Charles Mudede have only one big mallet labeled "racism," and it completely colors everything they see ["The Uses of Negro Knowledge," Film Supplement, July 5]. Trying to apply this mallet the way they did to Shrek is an amazing demonstration of the lengths some people will go to [in order to] see offense where there is none.

In their monochrome vision, green [equals] white, and gray fur is black skin. They make this judgment because the Donkey's voice actor is Eddie Murphy, a black man--and this makes the character black. I wonder how the dozens of white characters voiced by the lovely and black actress Cree Summer fit into the Mudedes' worldview. I've always seen animation as a great equalizer, since an actor's appearance is utterly irrelevant.

Their objection, when applied to The Legend of Bagger Vance, is similarly unrealistic, and is offered with no viable preferred alternative. In all practical terms, what could they expect--Vance as a post-WWI Tiger Woods? In that era, Vance would be lucky to be allowed into a country club. But let's not make the mistake of equating the portrayal and acknowledgment of racism with actually being racist.

The only source of racism is the Mudedes' selective vision.

Richard Chandler, Lake Stevens

CHARLES MUDEDE: Why in the world would you think Martha Stewart "probably has no idea who the hell Proust is" ["A New Good Thing," Charles Mudede, July 5]? She went to Barnard College--somebody must have mentioned Proust. You may not be an "anti-comics snob," but there are a few other odd ideas you hold that bear examining.

Anonymous, via e-mail

EDITORS: Grant Cogswell's article, "Fleeing Phoenix" [July 12], contains enough factual errors to be fiction. Had Cogswell or his editor held themselves to the basic, most rudimentary standards of reporting, it would be clear that many assertions made in the article were completely false. "Every New Year's Eve, several people die from the return of bullets fired at random into the air." This does not happen. The article also claims that a meth lab is busted or burned to the ground every day in Phoenix. Were that true, I'm sure the Phoenix [Police Department] would gladly claim credit, but it's not. Contrary to Cogswell's reporting, there are street lights and buses and even paved roads west of 35th Avenue.

The real shame of this article is not in its complete lack of journalistic credibility, but in the fact that such apocalyptic fiction trivializes the very real problems Phoenix has with violence, drugs, corruption, overdevelopment, etc.

Amy Graham, Native of the "Desert Shithole"

TO THE STRANGER: This is in response to Leslie Watkins [Letters to the Editor, July 12], the recovering coke addict who responded to my letter regarding Ella Sonnenberg's project offering $200 to addicted women who go on Norplant ["Peddling Birth Control," Phil Campbell, June 14]. Watkins finds it "hilarious" that a "chick from Bellevue" might think she can talk about the "real world."

Leslie, I've been a teen mom. I've been on WIC to feed my child, and I've been in a physically abusive relationship. You claim you got addicted to coke to "survive [your] boyfriend beating you up every day." Bullshit. That's an excuse--every addict has one--and if you haven't learned that much in your recovery program, you still have a long way to go.

"If Sonnenberg wants to offer FREE Norplant, then fine," you write. Um, guess what? She IS offering it for free--she's just also offering a cash incentive for addicts to get it. Any of them who want to just get the free Norplant and forego the $200 cash are certainly free to do so. Nobody forces them to accept the cash.

Personal responsibility is hard, Ms. Watkins. It's difficult to pull yourself out of a life that you've fucked up with bad choices, but it's not impossible. If a woman wants to abuse drugs, it's her choice. But when she then chooses to fuck up another life by abusing drugs while she's pregnant, thus ensuring that her unborn child starts out with a fucked-up life, too, it's no longer just about her body and her life. And guess who pays for the foster-care system, the medical- and social-support system? Those pesky taxpayers from Bellevue.

You wrote, "If the problem is hard, then the solution will be hard, too." Take your own advice. Stop taking sloppy shortcuts with other people's lives, and then expecting taxpayers to foot the bill for your fuck-ups.

Kimberly Voynar, Bellevue

EDITORS: In response to your June 7 In Other News article, "Jumbo Junk" [Grant Cogswell]: All of us here at 2nd Time Around were shocked to read the scathing review of our new video sign recently installed outside our U-District store.

We see our new billboard as an opportunity to promote and rebuild our once-proud strip of asphalt. Take a 15-minute tour: At least a dozen shops are boarded up, and shoppers are bombarded by panhandlers, drug dealers, and angst-filled homeless teens bent on driving away what little dignity we have left. WHO WILL SAVE THE AVE? We at 2nd Time Around want Seattle to know that WE WILL NOT ALLOW THE AVE TO FADE AWAY. Surely your staff and readers can see there is much, much more at stake here than a flashing sign with Ani DiFranco videos on it. Instead of picking on the few businesses here that are still viable, perhaps you can aim your pen at someone who deserves it.

Eddie Chase, 2nd Time Around Music, University District