Enough talk; act on racism

Re “Talking about race: Um, you first,” March 23

The article begins: “How do we start a national dialogue on race?” A better question is: Why should we? We spent the last half of the 20th century hammering the race issue. It’s time for healing, not rubbing dirt into a wound. Personally, I have never owned a slave, nor do I discriminate, and I must say that I am offended by those who would blame me for the evils of racism because I am white.

The fact is, most whites are not bigots. I believe that most blacks have other issues in life they would rather pursue. What we have is Sen. Barack Obama playing the race card. To achieve any kind of unification, it would take a centrist; Obama is too far to the left to achieve it. Looks as if the Democrats are shooting themselves in the foot yet again.

David Nelson

Torrance

If you’ve ever started a sentence with “I’m not a racist,” you are one. We are racists in the same way Christians believe in original sin. You cannot be a Christian without accepting the story of Adam and Eve and what happened in the Garden of Eden, either literally or metaphorically. Even if we can’t see guilt, we know it exists. We can feel the shame when we “sin.” It’s the same when it comes to feelings about race. There are those who believe that just making the statement, “I’m not a racist,” makes it true. If you believe that, then you probably believed President Bush’s declaration that Saddam Hussein was a real threat.

What Obama represents is the opportunity for this country to finally move beyond its persistent, subconscious racism, because he can open up the dialogue without rancor or shame in a way no other political leader can.

Tony Scirocco

San Pedro

Because it is almost impossible to pick up a newspaper or listen to a radio talk show without seeing or hearing thousands of words about race, it would seem that a “national dialogue on race” not only started a long time ago but is endless. And if an incident of such extreme triviality as someone complimenting a woman in a restaurant can be considered a “minefield,” isn’t it obvious that enormous progress has been made in the last half a century?

Marc Russell

Los Angeles