I have never read such a well-researched story on the positive aspects of black life in America as your June 7 cover story (“The Good News About Black America,” National Affairs). Finally, an article about black America that informs me of the successes we have had after so many losses to the crack epidemic and hopelessness. As a 33-year-old black American and director of an academic and vocational after-school program at the Southeast Bronx Neighborhood Center, I have yearned for several months to find a way to work positive accomplishments of blacks into the curriculum. The material I’ve come across has been outdated and the participants in my program seem bored with the same old news. Now we have something up to date and well written that will undoubtedly instill a deeper sense of determination and a positive work ethic. Kudos to Ellis Cose and NEWSWEEK for one of the greatest public displays of the facts in a very long while. Simone R. Joye Bronx, N.Y.

Your article intimates that because white kids choose African-Americans as their heroes, and mainstream American culture is influenced by African-Americans, it is a good time to be black in America. Three of the five “heroes” were sports or music entertainers. This is not progress. Historically we have always been expected to perform and entertain in American culture, starting with the minstrel shows and blackface. While I respect the individuals listed, it will really be a triumph when the “heroes” are educators, politicians and businesspeople. I respect Jesse Jackson and Colin Powell more because they’ve broken out of the stereotype of African-Americans as entertainers, and they lend support to the notion that we have more to offer the world than “shuckin’ and jivin’.” Kafi Mashariki Carrasco Pasadena, Calif.

The biggest myth for Malik Burns, who is profiled in your article “Improvement Is a Myth,” is that you can succeed in the business world without some level of conformity. I would much rather have gone to work as the real me–braless, in jeans and a T shirt, with no makeup–but I wouldn’t have gotten past the interview, much less succeeded in my job. I had to don the uniform of the business world–not the white world. As a human-resources manager, I have chosen not to hire many bright, well-trained men and women, black and white, because they showed up for the interview looking like they just rolled out of bed for an 8 a.m. class. Their appearance signaled a complete lack of understanding of a professional workplace setting, and their “take me as I am” attitude was a red flag for potential problems of teamwork and interpersonal relations. If all that stands between Burns and a job for which he is trained is a haircut, then he has chosen ethnic pride over his family’s financial security, and he should take responsibility for that decision rather than blame racism. Katherine I. Bandujo Midlothian, Va.

Despite all the good news about black America, your telling photograph (elsewhere in the magazine) of the face of Justin Volpe, the New York cop who brutally attacked Abner Louima, reminds me that we still have much to fear. Carol A. Dorsey Durham, N.C.

Playground Wars

I always appreciated my mother’s observation that “it’s harder raising children today than it was when you were kids.” Now I see that it’s true for my generation as well (“Child’s Play - Or Something More?,” My Turn, June 7). We have all been horrified by recent examples of school mayhem, and more than a few parents are concerned about what seems to be a ubiquitous potential for violence, even at the safest schools. Mary Helen Berg has given us a glimpse into the germination of a mind-set and attitude that may eventually give birth to assaults of who-knows-what manifestations and proportions. I sincerely hope that parents and educators take the implications of Berg’s essay to heart. Her piece is one of the most chilling I have ever read. Susanna K. Horn Wadsworth, Ohio

Having just read Mary Helen Berg’s My Turn, I am disappointed that you would publish a column that further contributes to the characterization of men as aggressors and that also once again promulgates the false premise that only men batter their partners. I am heavy-hearted because this shameful and destructive gender-biased belief persists, despite the fact that 52 domestic-violence studies that have included both men and women as participants have found that women use violence in their relationships as often as, or more often than, men do. We seem to have a passion in our society for negative stereotyping. Now we have turned these instincts toward men. I ask you, on behalf of the 835,000 men (according to a November 1998 U.S. Justice Department report) who are battered annually, to stop contributing to their pain and to begin to make a positive contribution to society’s understanding of this issue. In so doing, you will help to save the lives of men, as well as women. David R. Burroughs, Chair Forum for Equity and Fairness in Family Issues North East, Md.

As a male teenager, I was offended by your June 7 My Turn that implied that a silly child’s game will result in violence later in life. Perhaps the author was overreacting because of her background of working with abused women. The column seemed to say that boys are always the aggressors, when I remember boys and girls joining equally in games similar to “Girl Trap.” I’m 13 now, and I know kids grow out of this phase. Casey Barks Prescott, Ariz.

Go Home, Hillary

On your June 7 Perspectives page, Hillary Clinton comments that “everything that happens in America happens in New York.” Excuse me? Things happen in Montana too. Thankfully Hillary isn’t happening here. Maybe she needs to return to her “village” in Arkansas. I believe all of America has had enough of her and her sidekick husband. Barbara B. Mackowski Kalispell, Mont.

The Reheated Supper

I’ve visited Italy in the past month and believe it’s safe to say that no two people on the street there agree on almost anything. So the extensive restoration of a revered masterpiece like “The Last Supper” is certain to set debate going for years to come (“One Leonardo, To Stay,” Arts & Entertainment, June 7). But despite the restorations, viewing the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, “The Birth of Venus” or “The Last Supper” will forever be a feast for the imagination, as well as the eye. All these magnificent works draw us in and make us ponder what was in the artists’ minds when they were first fashioned. They provide balm for the soul, and the crowds will undoubtedly keep coming–regardless of how they feel about the restoration controversy. Carol A. Lucas Portland, Ore.

The Duchess Is No Sucker

Regarding your June 7 Newsmakers item “Dear Sophie: Get Real”: I believe it was Fergie’s lover who was sucking her toes and not vice versa. I am deeply troubled that I know this bit of information. Russ Cardwell Summerville, S.C.

Far and Away

In your story on astronomers’ efforts to nail down the age of the cosmos (“That Genesis Moment,” Science & Technology, June 7), you say that Wendy Freedman’s group measured galaxies as far as 65 million light years away, “but that’s only 10 percent of the universe.” In fact, the most distant galaxy Freedman’s group measured is 108 million light years away, which is about 1 percent of a 10 billion-year-old universe. Robert Kirshner Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, Mass.

Clarification

Our May 17 story “The Selling of Star Wars” described the movie’s original merchandising rights. Twentieth Century Fox’s role in that merchandising also bears mention. George Lucas and Fox shared the rights for 1976-1979, with Fox administering them. Lucas took full control in 1979.