On America
Sir: I do not know Mr von Hoffman's qualications for the post of reporter on American affairs, but perhaps a word or two to what he unctuously calls 'dear English people' might not come amiss to set the record straight.
The city of Buffalo, New York, about which he is so sniggeringly comical, is about the size of Manchester. During the storms, a number of motorists were frozen to death in their trapped cars, hundreds of people were snowed in, business and industry came to a standstill, there was some looting and a great deal of misery. The city has been declared a disaster area and has not yet completely dug itself out.
Roots, whether great dramatic entertainment or not, is clearly far more important than Mr von Hoffman appears to think. For the first time, millions (I don't use the word lightly) of white people discovered that slavery was not altogether a benign institution, while an almost equal number of blacks found a sense of their own history as Americans. The argument over whether the programme over-emphasised certain historical points or diminished others has not yet ceased, nor have the repercussions of the film in a number of communities all over the country.
Mr von Hoffman clearly does not realise that one of the largest single
problems in this country is the conflict between blacks and whites, on which the showing of Roots is going to have a real influence.
Mr von Hoffman says, 'Prior to Carter, successive administrations had taught us that creating jobs by putting people on the public payroll got people to work too slowly and therefore added purchasing power too late to help the recession ...' He has, of course, overlooked the Public Works Administration under Roosevelt which did just the opposite, and on which, perhaps, the Carter administration is basing its plan. Jay Williams 13 Old Beach Road, Newport, Rhode Island, USA
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