IT’S “HO”

DEAR MERCURY—How unfortunate it is that Mr. [Eli]
Sanders didn’t talk to the Obama supporter who told me to take off
the pantsuit and close my legs [“Among the (White) People,” News, May
15, in which the author attends a rally for Hillary Clinton]. How
unfortunate he didn’t talk to the Obama supporter standing across
the street from an elementary school for hours with a sign that
said, “Bros Before Hoe’s” (sic? I’m not sure how to spell that
word that is slang for “whore”). Hmmm… Obama’s supporters
referring to Obama as a brother and Clinton as a whore, and somehow
it’s only Clinton whose supporters are intolerant. 

Anonymous

WHERE THE WHITE PEOPLE ROAM

TO THE EDITOR—Not to be overly picky about little things like
“fact” and “context,” but you were mindlessly simplistic when you
stated, with deep gravitas, that at a Clinton rally in Jackson County,
“almost every single person in the line is white” [“Among the (White)
People,” News, May 15]. What would [you] expect? Almost every human
being in Jackson County—93 percent—is white. African
Americans account for less than one percent of the population. Context
matters, and for demographics, the information is just a few clicks
away on the US Census website. I hope your writers will take advantage
of it.

Tim Bovee

THE MERCURY RESPONDS: As Eli clearly stated in the third
column, second paragraph of his article, Jackson County is “about 95
percent white according to the US Census Bureau.” Unfortunately, since
Tim’s limited attention span will undoubtedly prevent him from reading
this far, could someone inform him of his mistake?

PATRICK’S IRONY LOST ON MIYA

DEAR PATRICK ALAN COLEMAN—You ARE a snob [“Hard Times!” Food
Issue, May 15]. In fact, I’m pretty sure that your food issue
concept tipped the scales for me in Portland’s ongoing balancing act
between self-interested elitism and progressive community-mindedness.
Maybe if public voices like yours didn’t participate in the
stigmatization of community aid organizations, John Elizalde wouldn’t
have to work so hard at “eras[ing] the shame of being poor” [“The Worst
of Times,” Food Issue, May 15]. As long as we continue to endorse
the idea that poverty is someone else’s embarrassing problem, it will
continue to thrive. In a country where so many eat poorly, you
shouldn’t feel right about eating as richly as you do.

Miya Abbott

FARMING OUT THE YARD

DEAR MERCURY—Hello, I just wanted to give kudos to Amy
J. Ruiz’s article [“The Backyard Economy,” Food Issue, May 15]. Urban
farming makes so much sense, and will only continue to make more sense
as fuel and food prices continue to rise. We at Portland’s very own and
very new City Garden Farms (citygardenfarms.com) endeavor to
bring participation in the local food movement to Portlanders by
farming a diverse group of sub-acre lots and plots and yards in and
around the city, which we sell through a CSA-style subscription service
(Sorry!!! Sold out this year.) and at various farmers markets around
the city. In return we provide a free subscription to people we partner
with and whose land we use to grow on. We are always looking for
suitable lots, plots, and yards to utilize.

Martin Barrett

REJECTING NERD ACCEPTANCE

DEAR MERCURY—I’m so fucking sick of this reclamation of the
word “nerd” [“A Safe Space for Nerds,” Feature, May 8]. Your article on
the IPRC anniversary celebration was titled, “A Safe Space for Nerds,”
yet the first paragraph proclaimed the celebration having a “stellar
lineup of local musicians.” Nerds aren’t cool enough to know what good
music is. They have their heads in books. They get perfect grades, do
science-y shit, talk about things no one cares about, hike their pants
up to their tits, [and] repair their glasses with tape. All these
goddamned hipsters with intentional nerdiness aren’t nerds at all.
While it’s nice they’re giving a nod to the intelligent people of the
world, being a nerd isn’t cool because it’s just not possible, by
definition of the word. 

Ayleen Woodlawn

AAAND… CONGRATULATIONS TO Ayleen for winning the Mercury‘s letter of the week despite trampling over the good name of
the Independent Publishing Resource Center in order to do so (we don’t
think she meant to). Ayleen wins two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater
and lunch at No Fish! Go Fish!, where cool people masquerading as nerds
are probably still pretty cool.