Race and Rachael Ray?

"If Rachael Ray had been black, there are bookstores where her cookbook would not be displayed in the same section with all the other cookbooks. It would be displayed off in a special section for black authors.

This means that many people who were looking for cookbooks would not even see Ray's cookbook, much less buy it."

Those are the opening words of a very interesting article by Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institute, a well-known contemporary thinker whose opinions on race issues always attract a great deal of attention (both among those who agree and disagree).

Sowell's article isn't really about Rachael Ray, per se, but about the way authors of different races are treated in the publishing industry and whether current efforts to help insure attention for black authors, in particular, are working or backfiring.

I'm lucky Sowell used my fave--Rachael Ray--as an example. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have found this provocative article. Give it a read and think about your opinions on this fascinating topic! You can find a copy of Sowell's piece about honoring symbolism over substance at Recordnet.com.