Letters

The U.S.'s 25 Most Influential Hispanics While a few melting-pot purists registered resentment at the idea of honoring any particular ethnic group's contributions to American society, readers of Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin alike welcomed our tribute to leading Latinos and wished we could have included even more

Thank you for shining a light on the growing influence of the Latino-Hispanic community in the U.S. [Aug. 22]. Hispanic businesses are a vital part of the economic revitalization of many towns. In Illinois alone, Hispanic businesses are driving the economic rebirth of previously stagnant cities like Aurora, Waukegan and Rockford. The contributions by Hispanics should be recognized, celebrated, embraced and fully supported.

ROBERTO A. CORNELIO, COO ILLINOIS HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Chicago

Your inspiring profiles of influential Hispanics provided a compelling impetus for a national U.S. holiday to honor farmworkers' advocate Cesar Chavez. He was a social-justice paragon akin to Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi. Chavez empowered disenfranchised and politically oppressed people. He emulated Gandhi's pacifism and reverence for life. All Americans should commemorate his birthday, March 31.

BRIEN COMERFORD Glenview, Ill.

As informative and timely as your report on influential Hispanics was, it highlighted a lack of basic knowledge common among most Americans. You referred to Jennifer Lopez as the daughter of "Puerto Rican immigrants." Since when are Puerto Ricans--U.S. citizens by birth--immigrants? And the people who responded to your poll identified Puerto Rico as a "country" of ancestry when in fact the island is a commonwealth and part of the U.S.

JOSE A. VELAZQUEZ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LATINO MEMPHIS Memphis, Tenn.

There has been an amazing transformation in how Hispanics are viewed by the public. It's great to celebrate Hispanic leaders. Gone are the days when the phrase "influential Hispanic" seemed to be an oxymoron. Perhaps the most potent indicator of our group's ascension is the emergence of new national leaders. Until recently Hispanic culture was largely relegated to the barrio and backwoods. Today's mainstream reception of Hispanics is a promising sign that the U.S. may soon recognize and honor individual Hispanic subcultures and the astounding diversity that exists within the Latino community.

WAYNE TRUJILLO Lakewood, Colo

I take pride in my Italian heritage and cherish the culture and traditions passed down to me by my parents and grandparents. But I have always considered myself an American, with no need to add an ethnic prefix for further identification. As part of a great melting pot, we should accept our differences, not emphasize them or place dividing lines where none need exist. That said, I eagerly anticipate your forthcoming report on the U.S.'s 25 most influential Italians.

THOMAS C. RIZZO JR. Largo, Fla.

I was most impressed with your profiles of leading Hispanics. Well done! I am not Hispanic, but I always enjoy reading about other cultures, especially those that have so vigorously influenced the great melting pot that is America.

SUE ANN VAJDA New York City

TIME's selection showed that Hispanics are a diverse and vibrant group. But listing 25 influential Latinas and Latinos who are still proving their worth involved much guesswork. Perhaps it would have been better to name prominent people who already have a lifelong record of accomplishment. Latinas and Latinos have an established tradition of community building in the U.S. We have been here longer than most other Americans realize.

DENNIS R. HIDALGO ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY ADELPHI UNIVERSITY Garden City, N.Y.

A Mother vs. the President

Although I am not related to anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan [Aug. 22], I am ashamed that she shares my family name. Of course, I support her right to voice her opinions, but I seriously question her motives. I too am a parent who lost a son serving in our military. Also, I'm a U.S. military veteran. But I certainly do not believe President George W. Bush should speak to me personally to justify his decisions about the Iraq war. I believe Sheehan was anti-Republican and anti-Bush long before her son chose to join the service. In fact, I think that her son's death is being used to further her personal beliefs and, perhaps, to achieve her 15 minutes of fame.

TOM SHEEHAN Houston

Kudos to Sheehan for her bravery. The U.S. has just two choices in this war: pull out now and have Iraq immediately dissolve into civil war, or withdraw later on and have Iraq immediately dissolve into civil war.

ANN M. BLACK Cincinnati, Ohio

When my brother died in Iraq, we accepted his death with grace and reverence for his service. Sheehan's conduct is embarrassing and dishonorable. The media portray her as a hero, a David vs. a Goliath. I see a weak woman who has sacrificed her son's honor in favor of indulging her pain and furthering her own political agenda. When Sheehan accuses the President of killing her son while she gives a pass to the Iraqi insurgent who actually ambushed him, she disgraces those of us who have carried on with honor. What a shame that Sheehan has become famous for doing so.

TIM LYNCH Mechanicsburg, Pa.

How does Bush, who calls himself a "compassionate conservative," ignore a grieving mother who has made the ultimate sacrifice for a cause the President has championed? I cannot picture Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton treating Cindy Sheehan that way if she had lost a son in a conflict on his watch. We deserve better in a Commander in Chief during wartime. Cindy Sheehan deserves better. And U.S. serviceman Casey Sheehan deserved better.

JOHN PURIFOY Knoxville, Tenn.

I was horrified to read the statement of California widow Jennifer Harting that Sheehan is "dishonoring her son by depicting America so negatively." That kind of thinking gives the government carte blanche to do whatever it wants, knowing that people will follow like sheep. "My country, right or wrong" is a great idea--if you're running a totalitarian regime. In a pluralistic democracy, we need the Cindy Sheehans to speak up and honor their fallen children by telling the truth as they see it.

TAMAR WYSCHOGROD Morristown, N.J.

Iraq's Nervous Neighbor

As your report "Inside Iran's Secret War for Iraq" made clear, the Iranians are attempting to gain influence in Iraq [Aug. 22]. I don't blame them. The U.S. saw fit to invade and occupy a country because of a nonexistent threat. The occupying forces have nothing (religion, language or culture) in common with the Iraqis. Iraq imposed a war on Iran that lasted eight years and killed more than 300,000 Iranians. The future of Iraq is not yet certain. So why shouldn't Iran be concerned about its troublesome neighbor? Anything else would be irresponsible and fail to ensure the security of Iran.

SHAHROKH SHAHROKHI San Diego

Dismantling the Settlements

Your report captured both sides of the controversy over the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and provided details about what the settlers are going through [Aug. 22]. I am a supporter of Gaza disengagement and find it difficult to believe the settlers did not realize they were on borrowed time from the minute they began living on occupied land after the 1967 war. For a true peace, Israel and its settlers must realize that a Palestinian nation has to be created. The sad part is that Jews and Arabs had lived together in the region peacefully for centuries, but now it seems that the only way to achieve a lasting peace for the region is to separate their cultures. MARK MINTER Worcester, Mass.

Your article about Gaza portrayed a rosy image of Zionism. That picture, however, is painted with the blood and tears of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, people who were forcibly evicted from their homes by Zionist settlers. You should have had more balanced reporting.

WAQAR HAQUE Houston

Read other stories about Israeli-Palestinian relations and conflict in the Middle East in TIME's archives at timearchive.com

Music Without Labels

I found the views of Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates off base and offensive in his piece about his disenchantment with black music, "Black Guy, White Music" [Aug. 22]. To suggest that an entire genre of music has not grown and evolved just as its listeners have is simply uneducated. There is more to hip-hop than the mainstream media choose to embrace. There is a whole world of music, from rapper Talib Kweli to hip-hop poet and singer Saul Williams, that isn't a painful "audio beat down." I have a hard time with labels like black music and white music. Why can't people just listen to music, period--rock, rap or whatever they want?

KOVARIK GLASCO Atlanta

Coates' Essay hit home with me. I am a 37-year-old black man born and raised in New York City. I grew up listening to R&B and of course hip-hop. But as the years passed, I too began listening to "white music." Let's be real: How many times must you hear lyrics about your hot car, how you degrade your (black) women, how you will mess someone up if he comes at you and your bling-bling a certain way? Sad to say, those repetitive strains are in R&B and rap music. I love Gavin DeGraw's I Don't Want To Be, Nickelback's How You Remind Me and Green Day's Time of Your Life. The lyrics of those songs hit home with anyone--black or white.

IRVING SMITH New York City