Racism Must Be Acknowledged

* Richard Machado’s racially motivated death threats put terror into the lives of many Asian UC Irvine students.

Yet the threats were discarded by deputy federal public defender Sylvia Torres-Guillen’s expert witness as simply an angry message that is more annoying than harmful.

You even neglected to use the word “racist” in your article. Would the racial element of this crime have been taken more seriously if it had been a Caucasian who sent racist threats to a group of Latinos?

Latino groups would have likely used the incident as an opportunity to justify the need for special programs, funding and political charity because of their belief of apparent widespread discrimination against their people.

The fact is, unfortunately, that racism exists among all ethnic groups, and that includes Latinos. Until society, the media and our legal system acknowledge this fact, “racist” will be nothing more than a buzzword used to serve the agenda of specific ethnic groups.

K. McCREA

Buena Park