(2 of 5)
Unless TIME is in a distinctive category with regard to the subject dilated upon in the below-attached clipping from the leading Negro newspaper of the world [the Pittsburgh Courier], TIME will be interested to read about itself in the following:
"It is nothing new to state that people are more interested in themselves than they are in anything else in the world. Tell a man that you saw his name in a newspaper or in a magazine, or that you heard his name mentioned by some public speaker, and his interest mounts instantly. Races, no less than individuals, are interested in themselves. . . .
"A few years ago it was thought
a sign of intelligence to have the — —
resting nearby on the table. . . . But what a change today. The Negro found that
the — — almost studiously avoided
digesting Negro opinion.
"It required another magazine, TIME, to show the Negro the difference between editorial attitudes. TIME digests Negro opinion, and today TIME is found on the table of the waiting room of almost every Negro professional, as well as in the reading-rooms of the Negro homes. And why? TIME talks about Negroes and their activities. TIME digests the opinions of Negro journalists, editors and authors. The Negro is interested in himself, and he buys TIME. Whether the policy of TIME is due to its more democratic attitude toward life, or the desire for a rational circulation, we leave to the judgment of the directing editors ; but we are gratified to note that TIME lends itself to a digest of the opinions of all races, groups and classes, and the Negro, like all other people, is interested in reading about himself."
I am not a Negro professional but many of mr friends are and what the Pittsburgh Courier has said is positively true.
CLINTON W. BURKE
Chicago, Ill.
TIME'S "attitude toward life" is neither democratic nor aristocratic, but impersonal, factual. To significant news and facts about all races, groups, classes, TIME gives appropriate space.—ED. Skin Deep
Sirs:
. . . May I accordingly tell you something of the woman whose picture you published on p. 17 of TIME, May 2, under the caption of "Uglies" ?
This unfortunate woman who sits in the sideshow of Ringling Brothers "between Fat Lady and Armless Wonder" and "affects white lace hats, woolen mittens and high laced shoes" has a story which is far from mirth-provoking. Could it have been written up for you by O. Henry, it would have provoked tears rather than laughter. The facts are as follows:
She is, as you say, a peasant of Kent and four times a mother. The father of these four children, a truck gardener, died some years ago and left her their sole support. She, previously a vigorous and goodlooking young woman, has become the victim of a disease known as acromegaly. This cruel and deforming malady not only completely transforms the outward appearance of those whom it afflicts but is attended with great suffering and often with loss of vision.