Web Letters: Philadelphia Rising

I find it absurd that Greg Benjamin would allow himself to be quoted in such a widely published way, saying "Before, all you heard talked about was how Kingsessing is an African-American neighborhood." Why? Because for years, all this man (and his associate, Tom Henry) has been telling the non-African-American residents in this neighborhood is how they "are not a part of this neighborhood" and demanding that they "step off" when it comes to participating in community events.

However, when the library issue developed earlier this year, both he and Henry were in no position to continue this racist behavior, as Henry had already been found guilty by the PA Human Relations Committee for discriminating against whites while he was president of the Kingsessing Recreational Center Advisory Council, and Benjamin's discrimination suit--based on activity related to the Henry case--was in the full throes of investigation. So, is it stupidity or a megamaniacal personality that leads a person to publicly admit the existence of what, in his defense in this lawsuit, he denies exists: an active and erroneous denial of the recognition of the diversity of the Kingsessing community?

He is suggesting in this statement, and as he has suggested for years prior, that the non-African-Americans did not exist here before this library issue, and that they just popped out of the woodwork this year. The truth is, that statement is not at all reflective of the historic demographics of the community served by the Kingsessing Library, or by the Kingsessing Recreational Center (which, by the way, are two buildings sharing the same architecture and the same plot of land). From my experience with him and Henry, it is self-appointed "community activists" like them that have "pissed" away the community's resources to the point of endangering ones like the library. The fact that our library was on the chopping block had more to do with their failures and overt racism than with the city's recent budget-cutting decisions.

I typically have the greatest respect for The Nation's reporting. But here, I have to raise some serious question as to your choice of a source of local info.

Louise Virago

Philadelphia, PA