In your June 18 issue, a single response was written about “Co-opt City” (6/11), titled “Couldn’t Possibly Be True.” I would like to respond to the not-so-bright person who never takes time to find if it’s urban myth or urban fact.

This guy must be a cave dweller—there is no way you can tell me this was not for real. How dumb can you be? I read Dan Savage, and he may have some letters that are not for real, but someone with a shirt like that? Wake the hell up. I don’t care what the color of your skin is—it’s real, dude.

I own an “Uppity Negro” shirt and support Andrea Carter’s efforts to make as many people as possible aware of what is going on in black culture. As a matter of fact, I have had more white people stop me and ask about the shirt and its meaning than people of color. (That’s sad.) They then (presumably) take the time to visit the Web site to find out more and become informed.

The letter writer should step out of the bubble, open his eyes, ears, and mind, and stop wishing it would go away. That was not a Savage Love letter. That, my friend, is real life. Before you make yourself look worse, read what it’s about. Don’t say you don’t like something or that it “couldn’t possibly be true” until you have tried it.

Edgewood