Don’t assume when writing headlines

I was quite intrigued by The Gazette's Oct. 27 front-page headline: “Are we as close as we think?” I wondered, who is this “we”?

It turned out the article was about racial and ethnic integration of neighborhoods. But reading the article led me to be even more puzzled. More than one person interviewed for the piece spoke of how they didn't feel close to their neighbors.

So who is “we” who mistakenly thinks “we are closer” than we actually are?

If The Gazette desires to help Iowans cultivate close, trusting relationships among all residents, a good beginning might be to not ground headlines on the assumption that the experiences and feelings of the white racial majority are the automatic property of “we,” and that different views belong to “others.”

Deborah Dakin

Mount Vernon