myopia

Hello all, I have a possibly peculiar question: I'm currently enrolled in an M.A. program that I will complete this coming spring, and I'm planning on applying to Ph.D programs for the Fall 2014 season. The weakest part of my application is the GPA in this program. Although I have the second highest GPA of the students here, it is only in the 3.6ish range at the moment, and it worries me greatly how this will be perceived. After perusing this forum and other resources, it seems as though most M.A. programs consider a B or B+ to be a borderline failing grade, whereas here the professors seem to have a passionate hatred for grade inflation (I've taken non-degree graduate seminars at a more prestigious institution and received As for work that is notably worse than A-/B+ level work here). My letter writers have made clear that they mention the utter lack of grade inflation in letters of recommendation, but I am worried that having such a low M.A. GPA will prevent my letters or writing sample from even being read. Are my concerns justified? Would it come across as pitiful to attempt to explain this in my statement, or should I rely on my letter writers fully? Thanks!