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Southsider2k12
This is a fascinating article. I'm curious what other people think... Would you sell the letter if you were in this situation, and should her race make a difference in her answer?

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/6073114-537/j...BTnGu8;facebook

QUOTE
Destiny Mathis has no regrets with her recent “presidential” decision, but she’s catching flak for it nonetheless, especially from her own black community.

I’m talking about her controversial decision to sell a personalized handwritten letter from President Barack Obama that she received in February. The president wrote to Mathis, a single mother of three, in response to a letter she wrote to the him last year explaining her hardships and struggles. She also expressed her concerns for the last two years of Obama’s rocky presidency.

“Thanks for the moving letter, and the support,” Obama wrote in cursive in black ink on White House stationery. “You have such a positive spirit — please know that things will get better for you and your family.” He signed the letter, “You inspire me and I’m rooting for you. God bless, Barack Obama.”

Mathis, who campaigned hard for Obama in 2008, has already been on multiple national media outlets with the news of her decision. All the attention has prompted an avalanche of criticism toward her, and her decision, especially those from the black community.

“Barack Obama is the first black president of the United States and you are selling a letter he wrote to you personally?!” asked one black reader on a national media blog. “What’s wrong with you?!”

Other people have slammed her for having three children and then being desperate enough to sell the prized letter, which seems to me to be more of a moral criticism than a political or cultural one.

Mathis made the admittedly difficult decision to sell the letter to avoid eviction from her Hobart apartment. She also is doing it to help protect her family’s future, she told me last week while I was on vacation.

I couldn’t let this issue slip by, though, without piping in because I believe this has broader implications than a single mother trying to support her family by any means possible.

She is hoping, and somewhat expecting, to receive $11,000 for the letter via a third-party broker who deals regularly with such historical items.

Moments in Time is the New York-based firm that buys and sells autographed or signed documents, manuscripts and photos of historical importance or from famous people, including U.S. presidents. And $11,000, the letter’s estimated cost based on similar items, is a lot of cash for a piece of paper.

“To me, presidents are nothing but commodities,” explained Moments in Time owner Gary Zimet, who as of Tuesday afternoon has not yet found a buyer for the letter.

The more pressing question to me is this: Would you make the same choice if you were in Mathis’ struggling situation? How about if you didn’t need the money as badly?

Obama supporters may say no regardless of the situation. Obama critics would probably say yes, simply to get rid of it for any amount.

But what if you are an Obama fan who’s also black, like Mathis? Doesn’t this have to factor in to your decision making at least a little? Cultural pressure possibly? Or is this strictly a money issue, whitewashed of any racial context?

“You know some whites are going to be negative anyway, but I am shocked that the blacks are being so angry,” said Mathis, a Facebook friend of mine who often writes edgy if not controversial posts about her own black community.

“I was on the radio yesterday and the blacks were calling in with the most negative comments,” she added. “I have been criticized a lot. The blogs are relentless.”

Surprised? I’m not. I expected it when she first told me about all this.

I asked you, so I also asked myself the same question: Would I sell that letter?

In a heartbeat.
Ang
I'd sell it....
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