White people, especially white males, were depicted as something close to the plague, to be avoided or at least isolated. That is why the promotion of Philip Bennett, "who is white," to the position of the paper's number 2 editor was so controversial. But listen to this: National reporter Darryl Fears, "who is black," was quoted as saying that Bennett's promotion over Eugene Robinson, "who is black," confirmed his "worst suspicions" about "the ability of African Americans and other minorities to rise to the highest level of the best papers in the world."
