Editor:
Could I add a correction to Ruthanne Cecil’s correction (“Mailbox,” Feb. 4) of Barry Evans (“Field Notes,” Jan. 21)?
I may be wrong, but I don’t think Tonto ever said anything like “What do you mean, ‘we’?” That would be too blatant for even the racist perspective that created him.
However, the masked man and his faithful Indian companion are an apt couple to use when bringing up ethnic perspectives. From an Hispanic point of view, we see “idiot” riding along with “One Who Knows” (“kemosabe” sounding very much like a bastardized “Quien sabe”) .
Ms. Cecil, I think, confused the real Tonto with the one in the joke — ending with the punch line, “What you mean “we,” white man?” But then, again, the real Tonto isn’t any more real than the real joke. So, never mind ...
Alan Sanborn, Arcata
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Sweet Spot:* Alan Sanborn wins a Bon Boniere sundae for sending our favorite letter of the week.*
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