It’s not easy being white!

Letters Page, New York Times

To the Editor:

As a white woman who lived my first 18 years in the Inwood section of Manhattan and the past 13 years living in the Bronx, I'd like to say there are plenty of public places I cannot go based on my skin color.

There are no public pools I would feel comfortable in, and I have no desire to travel to a less desirable area to use one. I don't go to Orchard Beach because it's just disgusting. I can't go to state parks, even those in Rockland and Northern Westchester Counties, because of the lack of security, noise and filth often created by those who reside in New York City.

So those who live in East Harlem may feel slighted because there are too many white people using the facilities at Randalls Island, but I have felt slighted my whole life in this city for the same reason. Only when you're white, you're not allowed to say anything, nor does anyone do anything about it. You just learn to deal with it.

Colleen Sussmann
Morris Park, the Bronx

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