3 JANUARY 2004, Page 24

Blacks and the New Deal

From Nick Georgano

Sir: I was interested in Geoffrey Wheatcroft's comment in his review of Conrad Black's biography of FDR (Books, 13/20 December) that 'during Roosevelt's administration the condition of black Americans barely improved'. This may have been generally true, but was not the perception of one black American waitress in New York in 1941. I was nine years old, and we were discussing a family problem (which the President could not possibly have helped with), but the waitress optimistically suggested: 'You should write to President Roosevelt; he's a good man. He's done a lot of good for our people.'

Nick Georgano

Blandford, Dorset